TWO sigificant events collided seamlessly with each other in what was a turbo-charged week with far-reaching consequences for the Irish sport horse industry and all those involved in it.

One was national and the other international but both put the focus firmly on Ireland’s equine sector.

On the home front, interim chairman of Horse Sport Ireland, Jim Beecher, was not afraid to come out and nail his colours to the mast with a frank interview in this week’s Irish Horse World where he outlined an ambitious but do-able plan to transform our €700m sport horse sector from the grassroots up - effectively put the industry on a sound financial footing to ensure it can deliver for the ordinary owners, riders and breeders with the roll-out of a new national equestrian circuit, properly funded and supported.

The big players in any industry will always be able to look after themselves, the challenge has always been to deliver a return to the smaller operators, ironically the very sector that keeps the entire show on the road 365 days a year, pumping hard-earned cash, endless hours and plain hard work for very little, if any, financial return at the end of the day.

This is the sector that supports the feed companies, vets, farriers, physios, coaches, riding and hunt clubs - the bedrock on which Irish horses and equestrianism has been and continues to be built.

If a sound financial platform can finally be lowered into place to unlock both Government as well as national and international support, it’s a bold move that truly does have the potential to transform the Irish sport horse industry and we will be following the progress of it very closely in these pages.

The other event this week was the election of Kilkenny farmer and horse breeder, James Murphy, as the new chairman of Copa, the Horse Working Group in the European Union. In his first interview with Irish Horse World, he outlined the vital role horses play in rural economies, the thousands of jobs supported and crucially, how Ireland’s equine sector needs to become much more proactive in unlocking funding available under rural development.

On both the national and international stage, it’s high time Ireland’s equine sector stands up and be counted.