The Irish Sport Horse Studbook horses triumphed at every level on the international stage in 2016 but how did those horses reach international level?

Mighty Nice (ISH) and Paulank Brockagh (ISH) both won bronze medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Mighty Nice was then named USEF International Horse of the Year 2016 and his Cavan farmer/breeder William Kells finished the year with a lovely trip to Geneva show to receive a Rolex watch from the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) as the breeder of the Leading Event Horse in 2016.

These and other top level eventing results meant that the Irish Sport Horse Studbook was once again crowned as the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses leading Eventing Studbook in the World for 2016. Since the WBFSH rankings were established in 1994, the Irish Sport Horse Studbook has won the coveted eventing studbook rankings for 21 of the last 23 years.

In show jumping, the Irish Sport Horse Studbook recorded its best result at the FEI World Breeding Show jumping Championships for Young Horses in Lanaken, Belgium, when winning gold, silver and bronze medals in 2016.

Crowning a great weekend for his breeders, Frank and Laura Glynn of Killossery Lodge Stud, Rolestown, North County Dublin, the Ger O’Neill-ridden Killossery Kaiden (ISH) produced the only double clear of the competition when landing the six-year-old crown for KM Sport Horses.

Mikey Pender from Kildare claimed silver and bronze in the five-year-old final with the Irish Sport Horses Z Seven Caretina (ISH) and Z Seven Canya Dance (ISH), both owned by Team Z7 and bred by Marion Hughes from County Kilkenny.

During the year we pondered, how these horses were produced to top level?

I traced the progression of some of the above mentioned horse by producing videos of them for the Irish Sport Horse Facebook page during the year.

The trends were interesting and resulted in a more detailed analysis of the path to success (FEI Level) of young horses both eventing and show jumping in Ireland being carried out. It shows a clear difference between the production of young event horses and young show jumping horses.

The data shows, successful event horses, those that have competed at FEI level, have been identified in Ireland as young horses and sold as raw talent. Examining the international data, it shows that while 33% of young event horses started their career here through either or both the “Young Event Horse Series” or “Eventing Ireland Events” this means that 67% have been sold prior to officially competing in Ireland to be produced elsewhere. Of these 40% were sold directly to the US and the remaining 27% were produced in Britain through British Eventing events.

In contrast, from the 34 Irish Sport Horses that were identified as having finished in the top 250 in the Rolex rankings over the last 10 years, 69% were produced through the Irish Sport Horse studbook series prior to sale many of these horses also competed in the RDS young horse classes.

In examining more closely the Young Event Horse data and the Irish Sport Horse Studbook series data, it shows how effective both of those initiatives have been in the production pathway of young horses that go on to achieve international success.

From those horses entered in the Young Event Horse classes (formerly Future Event Horse League) in the years 2006 to 2010, a total 39% of these horses subsequently competed in international FEI level competitions. An impressive 19% of these horses from the Young Event Series went on to compete at CCI*** level eventing or better.

Similarly, when considering international show jumping in the years 2009 to 2016, of those horses that started their jumping careers in the Irish Sport Horse Studbook Show jumping series, 17% of them when on to compete at FEI International level. Further, if you confine the data to horses that are now old enough to compete at FEI level, then the statistic is even more impressive, with over 35% of horses now competing and winning at FEI level, started in the ISH Studbook competitions.

In show jumping, we have developed a very good model to enable breeders and producers to develop, train and showcase their Irish Sport Horses here in Ireland prior to sale. The primary objective of this is to assist breeders and producer to add value to the raw material i.e. their horses, here in Ireland prior to sale.

From a Government viewpoint, this is strategically very important as it adds to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the economy and overall employment here in Ireland, as the 2012 UCD report highlighted.

QUESTIONNAIRES

That UCD report is currently being updated and you will be receiving questionnaires in the post shortly. This report update is very important as it will form the basis for Sport Horse Industry plan for the future, please give of your time to complete the questionnaire as fully as possible.

By completing the questionnaires, you will be providing objective data, which will highlight the areas for potential growth and development in the sector which will aid the sourcing of inward investment for our industry.

In addition, all competed questionnaires will go into three separate draws for VIP trips to Badminton Horse Trials or Hickstead International Show this year for eventing or show jumping enthusiasts.