We all know the situation we are in regarding the breeding of show jumping horses. It has been well documented and thrashed over. It is now a given fact that the only true route to breeding show jumpers for the international market is by putting good performance mares to top performance stallions.

Our most informed breeders here in Ireland have been attempting to do this for a very short time. Back in 1990, we had hardly even started. Ten years ago, less than a quarter of our foals were by continental stallions. Only now would those foals have grown to the point at which they could be competitive on the international circuit. The fact that so very few have done so, is just proof that we still had not matured in this business of breeding international show jumpers. In relation to the mares, 10 years is still too short a time to have developed the ones that can be the producers of top performers when put to a top stallion.

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Positives

All of that is now water under the bridge, so let us concentrate on the future and on the positives that we have at our disposal.

We are still the most horse-friendly country in the world. No amount of bad decisions or negative thought can take that away from us. We still have the most enthusiastic of breeders, whose handling of horses is as natural and beautiful as Ronaldo scoring goals.

We still have the possibility of almost year-round grazing for our young stock, something that other countries would die for.

With all of that going for us as a base to build on, we can top it up with better breeding decisions and more professional education and production. In doing so, we can create a future where we are doing what we now moan about not having done.

It is time for the moaning to stop and to get on with creating more like Loughview Lou-Lou Casterfield, Ecylipse or Lisona and a future that can blot out years of negativity.