THE infamous ‘huddle’ was absent everywhere at Cavan last week when the new coronavirus social etiquette of no handshakes was good naturedly adhered to and hand sanitizer dispensers were prominently displayed.

The usual loyal band of Irish Draught enthusiasts travelled over from England and while there were some welcome new faces amongst spectators, it was unlikely that ringside numbers would breach government recommendations of a maximum of 100 people at indoor gatherings.

Boosting the numbers were a dozen Mayo Sligo Leitrim Education and Training Board (MSLETB) Equine Traineeship students.

Gill Group’s Tiernan Gill, who spearheads this innovative course, organised the field trip. “The group was really well received by everyone involved. They spoke first with Heather Coyle and JP Rogan, from the Army Equation School. Heather was so informative and gave an overview of how the day was organised,” he said.

“She also explained what the format was and what the judges looked for, even down to explaining the distances for the jumping element. It was a real eye-opener for some candidates, as they were not at inspections like this before.”

Trish Dodd, one of the course tutors, had travelled up with the students and was also full of praise for the time JP Rogan and veterinary surgeon Hugh Suffern, took from a busy day to explain their roles.

“JP spoke also to us about the opportunities within the Army for a career with horses and definitely made an impression with two candidates, Edward Dodd and Gary McCafferty,” she said.

As part of the day, students completed a linear scoring form for a number of stallions and met Hugh Suffern at the vetting area where he explained about the vetting process, pre-vetting and x-ray procedures. He gave an in-depth explanation of what was required and what was unacceptable regarding soundness.

“Hugh was extremely informative about inherited problems that are looked for and reasons behind the approval process, plus his and other colleagues roles on the day including checking passports and soundness. The day finished with the added bonus of seeing some of the older stallions ridden over a track of fences,” added Trish.

During their feedback the following day, several students commentated on the fact that so few spectators were present on the day and as prospective breeders, felt this was something they themselves would continue to attend in the future.

Covid-19 impact

Predicting support for newly and non-approved stallions by mare owners takes on a new element this year with the main topic at Cavan being the impact the Covid-19 outbreak will have on both breeding and competition markets this year.

Liam Lynskey at the HSI stallion inspections \ Laurence Dunne Jumpinaction.net

Before ‘flattening the curve’ started to trend as the message to slow down the Coronavirus, ‘getting ahead of the curve’ (by using up and coming home-produced stallions) was a point made several times at Cavan.

The prospect of courier and transport companies becoming increasingly busy with food and medical supply deliveries was also discussed ringside, with the consensus being that for 2020, mare owners may well either ‘shop local’ or rest mares for a year.

Food for thought and not since 2001, when the foot and mouth outbreak affected Ireland, has there been a year when Cavan results now slot into a corner of the big picture.

WHAT THEY SAID

“It is hard to compare to compare [continental and Irish inspections] to be fair and really what they’re all trying to do on the continent is, it’s all about trying to have stallions. Nobody is really interested in mares” – Niall Hughes.

“While imported semen is very useful for outcrosses, as an industry we need to consider and support Irish-based stallions to ensure the investment made by stallion owners in Ireland continues to thrive in the future” – Alison Corbally, HSI director of breeding and programmes.

“I was looking for something like him [Kaiden Leva WD] for a year and bought him last year as a four-year-old, from Alan Waldman. Alan was keeping an eye out for one like him for a while and he rang me one morning and said ‘I think I have him’” – Vinnie Duffy.

“It’s great to have him [Cappa Capone] approved and he’ll go down the performance Draught route. That’s where the market is, nobody is ploughing fields anymore” – Jimmy Quinn.