Mr. Greg Broderick:

We would of course get more international riders coming to Ireland if the prize money was better. More importantly, if the facilities and surfaces were improved, we could produce our horses to a higher standard. We are lacking in that respect at the minute. If that happens, the horses will be worth more money. Having better facilities available raises the bar for everything, for example, production and the standard of riding. It would have a domino effect.

I finished at the Vilamoura Equestrian Centre ten days ago and then spent eight days in Holland, Belgium, Germany and France looking for new horses. When I visited some of the very good breeding stables, I noticed that they were working with many international riders. When one tries to buy their best bred horses, they do not want to sell them. They are happy to keep them because the animals are working alongside Belgian or French international riders and the stables will sell them to those riders when the horses are old enough. Thanks to a considerable amount of investment, there is a network of good show facilities within two or three hours of the stables where they can do a great deal of their work. Many international riders are basing themselves around that infrastructure because it allows them to train well and work alongside breeders. When international riders take on horses, the better riders base themselves around those facilities.

They can produce the horses to a higher standard. When foreign customers come from places like the Middle East, the United States or Canada, they do not want horses that are not produced well. They want horses that are well ridden and well produced, and they want the facilities there for them to do that. Those horses are being sold for a lot of money and the money then trickles down the line to the breeders, who are able to invest in better mares and better stallions, and pay better stud fees. As the horses are being well procured to a higher standard, this raises the bar of everything else, so they are able to use a better type of mare or stallion, and to hold tough and give the horses international riders.

Unfortunately, the problem in Ireland is that the facilities and better prize money are not available, so the riders we see winning gold medals in the European championships on ponies or at junior level, like myself when I was 21, are all leaving Ireland and are in Europe and America, where horses are being produced to a higher standard. There is a bit of a breakdown between the breeders and those international riders, which is definitely affecting the business. If we had better facilities and better prize money in Ireland, we would keep a better standard of rider and produce horses to a better standard, which without question would have a domino effect down the line.