The industry is also responsible for the employment of about 5,000 people (full-time) in Ireland, and indeed, is much more open to the average breeder than the thoroughbred industry, in that many of the producers are private farmers, as opposed to studs.

So what is a sport horse?

The main composite breeds of the Irish Sport Horse are the Irish Draught and the Thoroughbred, with varying proportions of these breeds resulting in the production of Irish Sport Horses.

Irish Sport Horses compete at the top level of all equestrian disciplines, and are especially prominent in the eventing discipline. A measure of this success is the fact that last year the Irish Sport Horse Studbook was the leading studbook in the World Breeding Federation of Sport Horses (WBFSH) eventing rankings for the 11th consecutive year.

"The Sport Horse industry is huge, " said Tom Meagher of the Kedrah House Stud in Tipperary (a leading producer of Sport Horses in Ireland). "But the main market is in North America. , which needs six million riding horses each year. Ireland has a history of providing horses to this major market, and these horses are not just for competition - outside of eventing, showjumping and dressage, there is a huge market for horses that are simply for ordinary trail riding."

It might surprise people to realise the sorts of prices that are commanded by Sport Horses, where it is not uncommon to have a top, World Cup quality horse selling for between 1m and 4m.

But given that the price of shipping a horse to America can be in the region of 10,000, it means that any horse making the journey will be significantly more expensive that the transportation costs.

Primary responsibility for the Sport Horse industry in Ireland rests with the Irish Horse Board, a breeder's CoOperative Society founded in 1994. The main role of the Irish Horse Board is to maintain the Irish Horse Register, incorporating both the Irish Sport Horse and the Irish Draught Horse Studbooks. Each year the Irish Horse Board registers approximately 6,500 foals and 12,000 adult horses.

A number of schemes are available to the Sport Horse industry in Ireland aimed at improving the quality of Irish Horses. These schemes include Stallion Classification /Performance Testing, the Premier Mare Scheme and the Genetic Indexing of Showjumping Horses in Ireland. In 2005 the Irish Horse Board also introduced the Irish Draught Colt Retention Scheme to increase the quality of our native Irish Draught Horse.

In a bid to support the sport horse sector and acknowledge the best of Irish Sport Horse production the Horse Board sponsored a number of events throughout the country in 2005. In 2006 the Irish Horse Board has again allocated approximately 300,000 to the sponsorship of classes aimed at promoting Irish horses competing on home ground, including the Young Breeders Championship, which it is launching in conjunction with Teagasc, is launching the Young Breeders Championship. And in order to ensure that this wonderful reputation is maintained the Irish Horse Board has undertaken a major research project on the industry in order to prepare a Strategic Plan which will chart the way forward for the Sport Horse Industry in Ireland.

For more information on the Irish Sport Horse or on Irish Horse Board sponsored events and activities please visit www. irishsporthorse. com