SHOWJUMPING Ireland has raised its fees for 2017 by an average of 22% across 13 of the 21 categories listed on their website this week.

The biggest increases come in for the visiting rider and visiting horse category, where the fees are being hiked a whopping 44% to €65 for four months. The adult owner fee and the pony owner fee is rising 20% from €100 to €120, while the adult owner/rider is up 15% to €150.

Meanwhile, junior rider membership fees are going up 18% from €55 to €65, with the same increase being applied to the safety officer/course designer/show secretary etc. category. The fee to register grade C/D ponies is rising from €45 to €60 (33%) and grade D/E horses from €65 to €85 (31%).

These fees differ significantly in places from our counterparts in British Showjumping, where, based on their 2016 fees, an adult owner pays £88 (approximately €103.50) and a junior rider £37 (€43.50). Although it will cost €65 to register a four-year-old horse under SJI rules (up 18% from 2016), the cost in Britain is just £22 (€25.80).

There has been widespread anger on social media this week surrounding the hiking of fees as it had also emerged in October that the SJI’s insurance premium had come down by €137,000.

However, speaking to The Irish Field yesterday, SJI chairman Ray Buchanan reiterated the fact that rising insurance and operational costs are driving the fees up. He pointed out that the SJI insurance cost is still 300% higher than it had been despite the fall in the direct cost terms of the insurance.

“There has been no rise of fees in five years. We understand that everybody is affected by this but in order to keep the business going we need to keep up,” Buchanan said.

Another reason contributing to the rise is the Association’s investment into horse and athlete development, with a massive emphasis on health and safety.