IS eventing in the southern regions of Ireland being held to ransom? False promises of solutions have been handed out for months now, since February 1st actually when both parties involved – Eventing Ireland and the Event Organisers Group – told The Irish Field they were close to a resolution over a number of matters.

Fast forward almost three months, the same line is being rolled out and last Friday night’s last minute cancellation of Frankfort was followed by event riders making pleas on social media for the fallout to be repaired. The sad reality is that those riders – both professional and at youth level – are the ones losing out.

Short window

Pony, junior and young riders have a very short window, first of all in their age grade and secondly in the lead-up to a championship. The Europeans take place in July and August. Before that, youth athletes might have Junior or Leaving Certificate exams to sit and, in between, would have planned their runs to precision with their team managers in order to achieve the relevant MERs to compete.

I think most people involved in the sport will admit eventing won’t make you rich and how the professionals survive and keep the yard running is by selling horses and attracting good owners. At the moment, they can’t do either if horses are not getting out to events, building up a competition record and giving their owners enjoyment.

I know from having a (show jumping) horse with a professional rider in the past that I didn’t pay the fees to have the horse stay at home.

Salvage the season

There is still time to salvage a decent season if the impasse can finally be put in the rear view mirror.

I spoke personally to two event organisers this week who are “absolutely happy” to run events under the current insurance policy provided by Eventing Ireland – one of whom said they had the policy looked at by a person who has spent a lifetime in the insurance industry (see adjoining story on this page). Let’s hope both parties can come to an agreement this week and the eventing community can all enjoy a decent summer campaign.