A dispute between a couple and the Irish Horse Board over the registration of a Dutch-owned stallion worth €1 million has been settled, the High Court has been told.
Richard and Heather Wright, Ard Cherrymount Stud, Clonmellon, Navan, Co Meath, claimed the horse board was biased against foreign horses by refusing to register an approved Dutch show-jumping stallion in the stud book of pedigree horses.
Mr Wright claimed the decision was also affected by the fact that three members of the horse board had stallions which would be in direct competition with his, if his was approved. The board denied all the claims and rejected as "simply ludicrous" the claim about fear of competition.
The Wrights are custodians of the Dutch-owned stallion, Ard VL Douglas, which they claim could be expected to cover 350 mares a year. They claimed the refusal to officially approve the stallion meant losses of €300,000 a year.
They sought High Court orders requiring the board to register the stallion in the stud book in which horses and all their known ancestors must be registered. The stallion is on lease from VDL stud in the Netherlands, and has a stated value of some €1 million.
When the case was mentioned before Mr Justice Éamon de Valera yesterday, he was told it had been settled, but no details were given. The judge struck out the proceedings with no order as to costs.
In an affidavit, Mr Wright said horses were required under EU regulations to be registered in the stud book here and may be categorised as approved or unapproved.
Without approval, an animal would not be expected to cover the top mares here and would not be entitled to grant funding. A son of an unapproved stallion could also never be himself approved.
He said Ard VL Douglas had passed initial assessment stages of a lengthy approval process, but X-rays disclosed a condition of the forefeet known as "side bones".
While disagreeing that non-palpable sidebones should be a reason for non-approval, Mr Wright said he believed that, if there was little or no progress of ossification when the stallion was due for review at the end of 2005, the horse board would approve him.
However, while there was no progress in ossification, the board told him in April 2005 the unapproved classification would not be altered.
The board said the fundamental reason for refusing to register the stallion was because it has side bones. Discriminating against stallions suffering from sidebones was important to preserve and protect the Irish equine gene pool, it said.