THE commitment of Irish breeders and the work of TIHA will ensure that the Traditional Irish Horse (TIH) is conserved and developed, contributing further Irish successes in equine sports and giving pleasure to countless leisure riders. Funding is urgently required to implement the TIHA’s breeding plans which are essential for the conservation and development of the TIH.

The unique selling points of Irish Sport Horses are contributed by their traditional genetics and without the Traditional Irish Horse (TIH), there is nothing about the Irish Sport Horse that is unique. Therefore we must work together to conserve and develop the TIH for the benefit of breeders, producers, customers, riders and the Irish Sport Horse industry writes the TIHA National Council.

The TIHA believes that rigorous stallion inspections are an essential part of breeding policy. The sudden suspension of 2016 stallion inspections without having an alternative in place does not engender confidence in the governance of the sport horse sector. The TIHA wants to ensure that the current hiatus or future approval criteria do not allow inferior stallions to gain approval.

Now more than ever, soundness, quality, pedigree and performance are required and stallions need a more rigorous selection process than any other sector because of their potential effect on the studbook. All the top sport horse studbooks Irish breeders have been encouraged to emulate comprehensive stallion selection processes, many of which are more rigorous than the current HSI system.

The TIHA proposes that as well as having to meet strict veterinary and X-ray requirements, stallions should be assessed in hand for conformation and movement AND assessed loose for athleticism. Otherwise badly conformed stallions and/or stallions which lack the necessary movement and athleticism could become approved for show jumper, eventer and leisure horse breeding.

The TIHA advocates a system that is tailored to the needs of each discipline and the attributes of each breed/type.

TIHA has also proposed that as thoroughbred (TB) and ISH (TIH) stallions are mainly used by traditional breeders, two of the three inspectors involved in inspecting these stallions should be suitably qualified TIHA inspectors.

The issue of unnecessary wastage of money on inspections can be addressed by a cost-effective system which concentrates on the essentials of the stallion inspection process rather than on putting on a show.

While HSI has recognised the TIHA and established a TIH sub-committee in 2015, it has yet to provide any meaningful funding for the TIH from its €1.8m budget. Without funding, none of the TIHA breeding policies can be implemented.

The TIHA welcome Minister Coveney’s provision of funding for the review of the Irish Sport Horse industry and the development of the Strategic Plan, Reaching New Heights, launched earlier this year. TIHA made a detailed submission towards the plan and some of its proposals are included in it. TIHA respectfully suggests that it be included in the Strategic Plan Implementation Committee and is willing to co-operate with all stakeholders to implement this plan for the betterment of the industry as a whole.

This feature was written by Hugh Leonard, Chris Ryan, Seamus Davis, Jim Cooke, William Micklem, Joan Bateman, Kevin Noone, Eamonn Gleeson and John Watson, TIHA National Council members.