BREEDING & PRODUCTION:THE WEATHER was kind to Horse Show fans yesterday and the grounds were bathed in sullen sunlight for most of the day, providing a gentle background to the Nations Cup competition, which is the highlight of this Horse Show week.
The President, Mary McAleese, and her husband, Dr Martin McAleese, were there to see the entertaining competition for the Aga Khan trophy, where Irish veteran rider Eddie Macken performed badly in his first round but completed a flawless second round.
Not even Macken, who was invited to bolster the Irish, could help Ireland win this prestigious event but he did deliver enough to restore a sense of pride which has been taking a battering in recent times.
The IFA Horse Project Team leader Tim O'Regan said the production of sport horses in Ireland - which are the centrepiece of the annual Dublin Horse Show - was very much a farm-based activity and worth €400 million to the Irish economy.Mr O'Regan said surveys by Teagasc indicated that the breeding and production of sport horses generally took place as a subsidiary enterprise on mainstream farms.
"Many farmers have tremendous knowledge and skill in horse production, and of course it is a source of great pride to a farm family when a horse they have bred goes on to achieve success for future owners."
The industry employs about 12,000 people, but as many are part-time or seasonal, the full-time job equivalent is estimated at 5,200.A significant feature of farm horse breeding and production is that the level of output has expanded substantially in the past decade, by about 40 per cent.
This probably reflected the increased demand for leisure activities, Mr O'Regan said, as well as the interest among farmers and other landowners in keeping horses.Fáilte Ireland, which is the title sponsor of this event, has been working on developing the Horse Show as a showcase for the Irish sport horse industry and for the development of both the sports horse industry and trekking here in Ireland.
A health and safety investigation has begun into an incident at the Dublin Horse Show in which a six-year-old girl was injured when a trade stand collapsed on her.
The child, who was accompanied by her parents, was injured when the stand, occupied by the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, fell on her. She was taken to the Children's Hospital in Crumlin where last night she was understood to be "comfortable".