THERE are no medals to be awarded in this year’s Budget 2020 allocation of an extra €1 million to the grossly underfunded Irish sport horse sector. At €4 million, Horse Sport Ireland has just a tiny fraction of public funding compared to the €84 million given to the horse racing and greyhound sectors.

Yet, the entire country has an expectation that Ireland’s dedicated equestrians will bring home medals from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. For the first time in history, Ireland has qualified three teams in each of the main Olympic equestrian disciplines: show jumping, dressage and eventing. That, in itself, is a truly momentus achievement.