EQUESTRIAN: The chairman of show jumping's selection panel has embarked on a damage limitation exercise in response to a letter from the owner of Jessica Kurten's top horses in which it is stated the horses will not be available to the Irish team in 2006.
Although the exact contents of the original letter have not been divulged, it is believed that Lady Forbes, who owns Kurten's Olympic horse Castle Forbes Maike, as well as Quibell and Castle Forbes Libertina, stated that the withdrawal of her horses from the Irish team was as a direct result of Kurten's non-selection for the 2005 World Cup series.
Lady Forbes' letter, which arrived in the Show Jumping Association of Ireland's (SJAI) Co Kildare headquarters on Monday, was given to chairman of selectors Taylor Vard by SJAI secretary general John Lyttle at a meeting in Dublin the same day.
Vard responded yesterday with a letter explaining the reasoning behind Kurten being overlooked for all three World Cup shows which she applied for.
Vard had said after last month's selectors' meeting that the World Cup invitations had been given as a reward to the riders who were on the squad for the Samsung Super League final in Barcelona.
Overlooking Kurten for the 2005 World Cup fixtures had not been a deliberate snub, he said at the time.
Vard told The Irish Times last night that he had explained the reasons behind the World Cup selections in his letter to Lady Forbes.
"I've explained why international affairs made their selections and why they didn't include Jessica," he said.
"There were a number of other riders who had put themselves forward, like Trevor Coyle, Conor Swail and Harry Marshall and who didn't get selected. It wasn't just Jessica."
Kurten, who last week rose to sixth in the world rider rankings, had applied to go to the World Cup fixtures in Stuttgart, Geneva and Mechelen.
She was named as reserve rider for Stuttgart and Mechelen, but the nominations for the eight shows before the New Year went to Cian O'Connor, Dermott Lennon, Billy Twomey and Shane Breen.
Captain Shane Carey, who jumped in the Super League final, did not put himself forward for World Cup selection.
"I'm hoping that this can be resolved shortly and that we will have the use of Lady Georgina Forbes' horses for 2006," Vard said last night.
"At the couple of shows they did this year, they were of huge benefit towards keeping us in the Super League, and we would like to have Jessica and those horses involved next year."
Lady Forbes declined to comment when contacted last night.
Kurten, who is in America preparing for the $1 million Las Vegas Invitational which starts on Friday, was unavailable for comment.
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