I, like millions of others, watched the victories of Tiger Roll and Tiger Woods in recent weeks. However, I also longed for similarly covered heroes and events within the world of equestrian sport.

Padraig Harrington did excellent commentary work on BBC’s coverage of the Masters in Augusta and said just the right thing: “It will be on all the news channels tonight, on general news; millions of people who have never taken part in golf will be looking at Tiger Woods’ comeback. It cannot get any better than that.”

Coverage

In terms of sponsorship and general media coverage, nothing helps more than people’s interest in the sport they are supporting or reporting. Tiger Roll’s parade on the Late Late Show was a huge advertisement for racing. The blanket coverage of Woods’ victory did the same many times over for golf.

So when some PR person approaches a major company for backing it is a huge benefit to have the eyes and minds of millions on the sport. Sadly this powerful argument cannot be made for equestrian sport and it is surprising that not enough effort is being exerted towards changing this narrative.

Two weeks ago the FEI held its annual Sports Forum in Lausanne, Switzerland and from what I could see this problem did not make it on to the main session agenda.

This is not necessarily the fault of the FEI, rather it is the fault of the sport itself for not raising its voice in support of a new beginning which could again bring the sport to the forefront of world consciousness and keep it there.

Sponsorship battle

It is unfortunate that at the moment there is a battle between major sponsors of international show jumping which is slowing and hindering rather than helping the long-term development of the sport.

That is the only conclusion one can draw when viewing the manner in which these companies are vying for the same premier events in world show jumping.

I believe we need the focus to be on one bigger sponsorship deal which could make all the difference to the sport.

It is not the FEI’s job to solve all of this, but rather entrepreneurs from within the sport itself.