Caitriona Murphy

HORSE Sport Ireland’s sport horse marketing arm, the Irish Horse Gateway, has signed a deal to become an official partner to the Longines FEI European Eventing Championship 2015 scheduled for Blair Castle in Scotland on September 10th-13th.

The agreement, which was announced yesterday, also included the 2016 Blair Castle International Horse Trials.

The deal is estimated to have cost Horse Sport Ireland in the region of €20,000 and will be funded through rural development funding which is allocated on a project-by-project basis. In this case, the money is assigned for marketing of the Irish sport horse industry abroad.

The Irish Horse Gateway’s mission statement is to connect buyers to sellers of Irish horses and ponies and promote the success of Irish horses and ponies internationally and build upon its reputation worldwide.

As part of the deal, the Irish Horse Gateway will sponsor the international supporters pavilion, situated alongside the main arena at Blair Castle, have a dedicated fence on Ian Stark’s much anticipated cross-country course and a branded fence in British Showjumping competitions running throughout the weekend.

During the weekend Horse Sport Ireland will continue its project to collect and analyse data relating to the conformation of horses competing at the highest level in the discipline of eventing. Linear profiles will be completed for the horses competing that have agreed to participate in the study and the results used to help in the breeding of the next generation of top class horse athletes.

Elaine Hatton, HSI’s director of international marketing said: “It is a great opportunity to promote the Irish Horse Gateway on the European stage and in the UK and Scotland in particular where the Irish bred horses and ponies are increasingly popular.”