Down the years I have read the Irish Field in its thousands and every once and a while a lead article in the Irish Horse World section really strikes a chord.

That was certainly the case in its pre-Christmas issue with this promising headline “HSI launches Membership Club”.

For a moment I thought could it be? Are we finally having a universal unified Irish equestrian membership that could give a strong voice to every rider, horse owner and sport horse breeder on this island of Ireland? Ah! But it was not so.

The story simply referred to an insurance plan for the industry. Yet it may be a start and who knows where it might lead.

When Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) came into being back in 2006, it did so not as a co-op or a semi-state body but rather as a limited company that refers to itself as the ‘national governing body of equestrian sport in Ireland’.

But it has no membership. It is like a head without a body. It rules but the ruled really have no unified voice. It can hire, fire, shift people around without any direct input or say-so from the people most affected by such decisions.

When a problem like delayed passports arises, only individuals can complain because there is no unified body of members to represent them. But could some way be found to create a universal sport horse body that would give a loud voice to all who participate in this industry?

Welcome for the new CEO

This is one of the questions that I hope will be put before Denis Duggan when we shortly welcome him as the new HSI CEO: innovation has been a hallmark of Mr. Duggan’s career to date. Perhaps he can find a way to give a much stronger voice to the people he has now committed to lead and serve. But innovation needs foundation and part of that foundation are the experts in various sections of the organisation who have helped bring us this far.

One can only hope that these hard workers will be left safely in place as Denis takes up his work.

When the Show Jumping Association of Ireland was founded in 1954, it was based upon a solid and often vocal membership from the four provinces. When The Irish Horse Board replaced Bord na gCapall in 1993 it did so as a co-operative society and it remains as such today. However, it has somehow lost its clout since being subsumed into the body of Horse Sport Ireland. These are considerations that must be squarely faced as the Irish sport horse industry moves forward with a new CEO.