WHEN did it start? Was it Judy Reynolds’ qualification into the Freestyle in Rio in 2016 or her steely performance in WEG this year where she was going to qualify come hell or high water? Ironically it was high water that prevented us from seeing her new Freestyle. A huge weather disappointment considering she was the first Irish rider ever to qualify for this event.

Was it the eventing team winning Silver at WEG and being the team to beat? Their dressage scores put them into second place right from the beginning ahead of Germany and The Netherlands, the traditional dressage powerhouses.

Or maybe we need to go back to the Pony Europeans held in Millstreet back in 2014, the first FEI pony championship to be held in Ireland for 25 years.

Perhaps we need to look across the pond where Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin continue to show the world that you don’t need to be born into riches on the continent in order to succeed at dressage.

Instead they showed that ordinary people, on horses that don’t cost the earth, can rise to the top. In their case, British Dressage has been supported by its Lottery and is run in conjunction with the showjumping and eventing disciplines.

It’s aptly named The World Class Programme. Its strategy is to increase the number of potential Olympic athletes in the squad, and strengthen their performance. This body is professional, has input from all stakeholders and has been shown to be hugely successful.

Either way, there’s a change taking place here in Ireland. You can see it in youngsters on ponies who are loping up the levels, showing no nerves even when competing overseas. These youngsters are also showing a very smooth transition onto horses and have brought vibrancy into dressage.

Is it they who have reignited the passion in adult riders who are now producing horses to a higher level? Is it a case of more money in Ireland, where we can buy better bred horses both at home and overseas? The undercurrent is one of confidence and professionalism.

It’s commonplace now to discuss your horse’s diet, training plan, physio needs, along with your own fitness and mindfulness.

Shows are proving to be a great atmosphere in which to immerse oneself, and inspire a much better performance than you’d planned.

At the recent Nationals in September, a remarkable number of qualified entries were from traditional showjumping and eventing lines. Is it the prevalence of showjumping, a well-supported and maintained sport in the country, that’s produced top quality horses and the great movers have found a new career?

FOCUS ON DRESSAGE

There are more dressage focused breeders in Ireland now, for example, the Slieve Bloom Stud, but is your average buyer still a bit hesitant to buy a purpose-bred dressage horse as opposed to an all-rounder that can be sold on a bit more easily if the partnership doesn’t work out. After all we’re a nation of jumpers right? Or is that changing?

Overall, dressage and eventing are under-supported in the sponsorship world. Yes, they are harder sports to understand as a casual spectator. Great riders make the moves look so easy that it can be hard to comprehend the years that go into training a horse to be physically and mentally able to perform.

At Badminton Horse Trials for example, they have top dressage riders/trainers commentating via localised radio to educate spectators as they watch the event.

This goes a long way to help non-dressage riders to understand the intricacies of this sport. If we had the sponsorship to allow dressage to flourish, what could this nation achieve? Could we start to look at Home Internationals and a WEG?

Right now additional support is needed to hold more two-day shows to get riders and horses ready for bigger competitions.

The only multiple day shows here are the National Championships, Winter Finals and the SER Classic, which are all run at a loss, and couldn’t run without the massive effort of volunteers.

FUNDING

Funding is needed to support the development of an Irish team. South East Region member, National dressage Champion in 2016 and 2017 and The Irish Pony Development Squad manager, Anne Marie Dunphy, in conjunction with Jillie Rogers, SER committee member, BHS Stage 5 Performance coach and Lead assessor for BHS Professional Qualifications, set up the Youth Development Squad (YDS) in order to get children established in dressage before they grew out of ponies.

This is a private initiative aimed at encouraging participation in, and education of, young riders in both dressage and equine management which greatly benefits the sport. YDS graduates have represented Ireland overseas and are starting to claim their spot on the podium.

If a similar programme was put in place on a grander scale and included adults, would we then have an Irish team for the Olympics to come?

The High Performance squad was announced earlier this year, however this new initiative is still very much in its infancy, with only one training session this year with para-trainer Stephen Moore.

We have several three-star events and a five-star show in the Dublin Horse Show.

With the well-known economic benefits associated with equestrian sport in Ireland, surely it’s dressage’s time for an international show?

Something to mull over…