FIONA Elliott. This is a name that may not be familiar to many, but she is a true friend of Irish eventing and her generosity needs to be acknowledged. She is the owner of Cooley Rorkes Drift, the Olympic eventing mount of Jonty Evans.

Readers of this column will know that some weeks ago Fiona received a tasty offer for the 11-year-old gelding and few would be able to resist such an approach. While her head might have said to take the money and run, Fiona’s appreciation for the work put into the gelding by Jonty led to her making a decision to accept a smaller amount of money from the rider.

Jonty was faced with a mammoth task. To raise £500,000 (€550,000) might have seemed impossible initially, but in a few short weeks the dream was realised and now the gelding will stay with the man who has guided him to the pre-eminent position he now holds. The nature of this crowdfunding appeal means that Cooley Rorkes Drift, affectionately known by his stable name of Art, is essentially the people’s horse, and his career will be followed more closely than ever.

Ireland’s love affair with the horses is perfectly exemplified by this story, and now we can all hope that Jonty and Art repay the faith of the public, and two anonymous donors who put up half of the total raised, with some sterling efforts in the months and years ahead.

While this good news story was taking place away from the glare of the Dublin Horse Show, the equestrian world descended on the RDS for the annual jamboree. The 144th show is bigger and better than ever, with Irish riders dominating the opening days. Sadly, that success was not carried into yesterday’s Nations Cup, but with two days remaining there are high hopes of further home success.

On Wednesday The Irish Field gathered significant stakeholders in the sport horse sector to a breakfast meeting to discuss issues relating to grooms working in the sector. This was the opening salvo in a series of discussions which will hopefully take place on how best to garner support for grooms, and to ensure that they get the recognition they deserve.

The Irish Horse World section of the paper has some highly informative and challenging reports on the issue and, with goodwill on all sides, I hope that grooms will come together to work for the betterment of their sector. Top riders know the value of a good groom.