EQUESTRIAN: Surprise jump in registrations

It has come as a surprise, even to Showjumping Ireland, that membership and registration figures for January are up, albeit marginally, on the same time last year.

Last month, Tony Hurley — the new SJI chairman, having defeated Liam Murphy in a vote on Tuesday — expected that there would be a fall-off this year. He based this on the general economic malaise afflicting the country, rather than the 25% increase in fees for membership and horse registration, which resulted from the near quadrupling of the body’s insurance premium.

However, membership applications have shown a rise of 2.8% on last year, while horse registrations are up 4.3%, according to SJI. Show affiliations are also defying predictions, said Hurley yesterday, though he cautioned of a reversal in the coming months.