WHAT a difference a year can make. Last season culminated with numerous hunts highlighting the financial struggle facing their point-to-point fixtures owing to the sizeable decrease in participation rates over the preceding years.

The reduced income from race entries and hunter certificates had ensured that the profitability of many meetings had been drastically reduced. All this combined to ensure that for many, the season began on an unsecure footing, albeit with potential support in the pipeline.

That support very much came to fruition with a much-needed financial injection from Horse Racing Ireland, which was announced in mid-December.

That saw an additional €722,000 being allocated to the point-to-point budget, bringing it to a total of €2.2 million, and allowed for an increase of €2,000 to the grant each hunt committee receives for staging a fixture.

One qualified medical officer was also supplied to ease further the burden on hunts, while also boosting prize money for all but the commercially lucrative four and five-year-old maidens. That increase to hunts has been a significant boost to recognise their work.

In a further effort to offset the financial void, many hunts have made considerable efforts to boost the attendances at their meetings.

Following a productive point-to-point seminar in January, the additional efforts of hunt committees have been noticeable on the ground, with the number of family fun day fixtures having taken place in recent weeks and months proving to be one of the undoubted stories of the spring.

Everything from pony racing, to face painting, dog shows, kids art competitions, bouncy castles and pony rides have featured heavily at many courses over the latter weeks of the season and it has provided a glimpse of what has been possible in a very short time.

With the efforts of those hunts being rewarded at their entrance gates, many have been bolstered by those initial efforts, and it is exciting to hear of the plans which are afoot for future fixtures to build upwards from them.