THERE WAS not a hint of recession yesterday at the RDS showgrounds when every seat in the main arena was taken and all corporate areas filled for the highlight of the day’s events, the Meydan FEI Nations Cup for the Aga Khan trophy.
And by the end of a most satisfactory, sun-drenched day the only downside was Ireland’s failure to win the coveted trophy. Then again, no one in the capacity crowd envied the Italians their win.
Their team came here bottom of a league of 10 and it was a fairytale experience for them and the hundreds of Italian supporters who were at the grounds for the colourful event.
President Mary McAleese was there for the deciding rounds of the competition, which this year was run on a basis similar to the Eurovision Song Competition, with a qualifying first round which Ireland managed to get through.
Veteran showgoers reckoned that this has been one of the best years for the RDS Horse Show which has now almost completed its 136th year, plenty of time you might say for the organisers to get the event running extremely smoothly.
An early visitor to the showgrounds yesterday was a relative of the US president, Said Obama,. He was a guest of the amateur show jumper Sheikh Samir Mirdad.
He told the media he was promoting the Sarah Hussein Obama Trust set up to preserve their home in the village Kogelo and help raise revenue for education, medical supplies for the surrounding poor region.
“I believe he will come to Kenya but I don’t want to speculate, because those matters involve the country of the US and I can’t be their spokesman,” he said.
“But I believe at some point he is going to come to Kenya,” he said but he was unaware of the president’s plans to visit Ireland any time in the future despite the family links in south Offaly.
Another early visitor to the showgrounds yesterday was Tánaiste Mary Coughlan who hosted lunch and had a business meeting with international buyers of Irish equine supplies and services who are in Ireland this week for a major conference in Kilkenny.
Ms Coughlan said she always enjoyed the Dublin Horse Show, a wonderful showcase for the Irish horse industry, which generated much employment across the country.
Figures released earlier this week by Horse Sport Ireland said the sport horse industry was estimated by a recent UCD study to be worth €400 million annually to the Irish economy.
It said it provided employment to approximately 20,000 individuals on a full- and part-time basis and there were 53,000 participants in the equestrian sector.
The best estimate is that there are 110,000 sport horses in Ireland with a mare herd of approximately 12,000 which produces approximately 9,500 foals annually for the 12,000 breeders.
Attention today at the showgrounds will focus on the arrival of some of Ireland’s most famous racehorses when the inaugural running of the “Racehorse to Riding Horse” competition takes place.
Famous stars of the turf like Moscow Flyer, Brave Inca, Good Thyne and Kicking King will be among the animals to be looked at to see if they would make useful and suitable riding horses.
The class was introduced by the RDS to showcase how an ex-racehorse can adapt to a different discipline once their racing days are over.