THE 138TH Dublin Horse show which closed yesterday evening attracted more than 100,000 people and was one of the most successful in recent years, according to Michael Duffy, chief executive of the Royal Dublin Society.
Mr Duffy announced a change in the date of the show for next year when it will take place from August 15-19th, a week later than normal, because of the Olympic Games in London.
“There is a schedule for the competitions and this meant there had to be a change of date and we will be a week later but this should not make any great change to the event,” he said.
“Had we to hold it in July or push it into September, that would have been different but we think a delay of one week is not going to impact dramatically.”
Mr Duffy said he hoped this year’s show would break even as it had in the recent past when a modest surplus had been achieved.
In previous years, the show had seen a €350,000 deficit. The event costs almost €4 million to stage.
Discussions would take place later in the year, he said, with the title sponsor, Discover Ireland, on continuing sponsorship. He hoped it would remain in the role.
“Talking to riders, breeders, trade stand operators, I have been getting a very positive feedback and we expect when the final figures are totted up, in excess of 100,000 people will have come here since Wednesday when the show opened,” he said.
He said a combination of factors had driven higher attendances this year and these included the fact that many people were holidaying at home, the broadening of attractions available at the event and better marketing and ticketing facilities.
Mr Duffy said there was also evidence that horse sales had stood up to their usual standard and the buyers who have been brought in from abroad by Horse Sport Ireland were purchasing Irish horses.
“This is the showcase for the Irish sport horse industry and while it is hard to get concrete evidence of sales, we know from the general talk around the place sales are taking place,” he said.
He confirmed again the Royal Dublin Society would be examining the possibility of holding an agricultural “signature” event in the future which would replace the Spring Show.
“There was a major reaction to the possibility of a revival when it was mentioned earlier in the week and most of the reaction was very positive. There is nothing concrete as yet but we will be looking at the possibilities down the line.”
He said further changes to the way the show was being run would be discussed in the review which takes place after the event, and this year there had been changes to the traffic flow in the aisles of the trade stands.
One of the stand operators who had a very successful week was the Northern Ireland Equestrian College, based in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, which runs equine training courses up to BSc honours level.
“There were a huge number of enquiries about courses, especially on Friday and Saturday and we had a very busy few days here,” said Nessa Toher, a graduate of the college who is now one of the lecturing staff at the campus.