Equestrian: The Equestrian Federation of Ireland (EFI) jumping committee has said it would not change its code of practice to suit any individual rider.
In its first public statement since Jessica Kürten's declaration last week that she would not be riding on the Irish team either at Dublin or at the World Equestrian Games in Germany at the end of the month, the jumping committee issued a statement yesterday declaring that "it cannot suspend its code of practice at the behest of one rider, no matter who that rider might be".
The committee was set up this April to take over the management of Irish international show jumping, a job that entails working with a large number of riders and horses. International team management was previously within the remit of the Show Jumping Association of Ireland.
Yesterday's statement also confirmed that Kürten will not be on the Irish team for next week's Dublin Horse Show. It had been hoped that mediation might result in a change of heart from the world number two, but the EFI statement set it in stone that the Dublin team will definitely be without the 37-year-old Co Antrim rider.
Team manager Robert Splaine has instead listed Marion Hughes, Cameron Hanley, Cian O'Connor, Captain Shane Carey and Billy Twomey as the quintet from which the Aga Khan team will be chosen at the RDS next week. The jumping committee, which is chaired by John Ledingham, also offered its unequivocal support for Splaine in his role as team manager and stated that the "selection of horses, riders and teams is done on the basis of results and form".
"Jessica Kürten's unavailability for both the 2006 Dublin Horse Show and the World Equestrian Games has been her decision," the statement continued.
As the controversy over her non-availability for the Irish team continued, Kürten was competing at the Spanish fixture in La Coruna, producing the form that makes her departure such a loss for Team Ireland. A fourth-place finish in the Grand Prix with her World Cup final runner-up Castle Forbes Libertina earned her a pay cheque of €10,000, and she was also second with her Olympic ride Castle Forbes Maike in a speed class.
Splaine has insisted since his appointment as team manager in March that horses and riders must be showing current form to earn a team place, but his request that the Dubai Grand Prix winner Quibell would have to prove herself before being guaranteed an Aga Khan Cup start was the last straw for Kürten. Having already been dropped from the Super League team in June, German-based Kürten declared that she had no intention of travelling to Dublin as fifth man.
As a result, Splaine will now be choosing his team for the second-last leg of the Samsung Super League from Marion Hughes with Heritage Transmission, Cameron Hanley (SIEC Hippica Kerman), Cian O'Connor with either Waterford Crystal or Echo Beach, Captain Shane Carey (Killossery) and Billy Twomey, who brings both Luidam and Anastasia to the RDS.
The Dublin five have a tough job ahead of them, with Ireland desperate for a good result in its bid to get out of the relegation zone in the Samsung Super League rankings before the September final in Barcelona. Home-ground advantage will never be more needed.
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