MADAM,

I READ Dickie Power’s letter to The Irish Field on the 25th of July 2020 and I have the following to say.

We have an appalling claims attitude in this country. We believe that if something unfortunate happens to us, even if it is our own fault, someone else must be to blame. Someone else must be held responsible and that there is a mountain of gold sitting there to award us compensation.

In my day, our riding instructor used to say, “you have to fall off nine times before you’ll be any good” and we did. Then we dusted ourselves off, learned and developed resilience.

Currently, there are only two UK insurers that are prepared to underwrite equestrian activities in Ireland. After a recent serious hunting accident, one of these insurers is revaluating its position around providing cover for hunt clubs and landowners in Ireland. Heretofore, land owner indemnity has been an simple extension to policies, this is now under review.

You will all recall in the not too distant past, the difficulties faced by show jumping, following the life changing injuries to two people and the lasting impact for them and the insurance costs to the SJI.

When it comes to getting insurance for any equine-related activity, we are solely reliant on these two UK insurers. Not one of the insurers operating in Ireland will underwrite show jumping, cross country events, pony club activities, dressage, eventing, hunting, riding schools or anything to do with riding or handling sport horses. We are extremely vulnerable and Brexit throws up more barriers to continuing the transaction of insurance business from the UK.

Some insurers in Ireland are very happy to insure our personal accident, our horseboxes, our 4x4s, our tractors and our farms. But don’t ask them to cover the liability for your local show, or your schooling grounds or your hunts.

While I applaud the efforts of Mr Sean Kilkenny in driving to Dublin to highlight his concerns, Irish Ministers have no jurisdiction to lobby UK insurers to underwrite Irish business. Perhaps the time has come for the Government to lobby global insurers with large operations in Ireland.

Accept responsibility

However, in the meantime, we all need to take a look at our participation in equestrian activities. We need to start to accept the responsibilities and risks associated with our sport, and do so on behalf of our children. If we cannot do this, we should not be participating. We should simply give it up.

In the past, a plaster cast meant that all your pals signed it. You were the centre of attention for a while. Now it means an appointment with a solicitor.

I was car park steward at Punchestown last Saturday. Everyone was very pleasant but I had witnessed a competitor the week before cantering their pony through the car park at an event. This is dangerous and forbidden. Parents needs to read the rules, understand them and control their children accordingly.

It is now incumbent on us all to take care of ourselves and to watch where we are going as stated by Justice Donal Binchy in a recent case where he overturned the award of a lower court. In other words, we need to take responsibility for ourselves.

If we don’t all start to accept the responsibility and consequences of our participation in equestrian pursuits, we may end up looking at horses and ponies in the Zoo.

We need to do what is asked of us by the stewards, remembering they are not paid to give us a good day.

Riding is a risky and often dangerous sport, but the thrill should far outweigh the danger and when I opt to take on a big hedge or wide ditch out on the hunting field, I must accept the thrill and the responsibility in equal measure. If we cannot do this, we have no business putting our “foot in the iron”, or allowing our children to do so. If we don’t want to break a bone, we should stay at home, lie safely on the couch with our kids, watch TV, eat pizza and drink cola.

Sean took his carriage to Leinster House to highlight his concerns about the lack of availability of affordable insurance. Unfortunately we must remember that the tragic deaths of two American tourists put the jaunting car business in the spotlight and into litigation.

How many more equestrian businesses will suffer as a result of the following incidences which are impacting our sport and insurers attitudes to it?

  • Squabbles, petty disputes and trouble making between committee members in Affiliates that are heading to the courts.
  • Children driven out from Dublin suburbs, with unsuitable ponies, parents towing trailers (probably some without a licence to do so) in their big 4x4s and at the end of the day when their child falls off, blaming the owners of the cross-country course and sueing.
  • Members in affiliates that have suffered “alleged life-changing injuries”, but said injuries have not stopped them from competing and winning on the circuit.
  • The shuffling of committee members and arguments over changes in roles that have gone legal.
  • The list goes on and on.

    • I have worked in the insurance business since 1981. I know of no cosy arrangement between insurers, the legal profession and/or the medical profession. As a matter of fact, they are nearly always at loggerheads with each other.

    There are some in the legal and the medical professions who need to be challenged about how they conduct their work. The insurers are regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

    Yours etc.,

    Eamonn P Egan

    Maynooth, Co Kildare