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Last week, Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) announced that Gerry Mullins had been re-appointed chairman of its Senior High Performance Show Jumping Committee.
This came as something of a surprise to many since at the end of last season, following disagreements with HSI management, the former army rider had resigned from the same the post.
Efforts by his close associates to have him reinstated were rejected out of hand by a full meeting of the 19-member HSI board just before Christmas.
Yet last week the same board quietly approved Mullins’ re-appointment for the 2018 season.
In my view, the answer as to why this happened is quite simple – they had nobody else that could fill this role in the successful manner that Mullins previously has.
They had nobody else with the single-minded vision for the senior team that he has.
Neither did they have anyone with the same finger on the pulse of the Irish diaspora riders that he has.
They did not have a leader, who along with his associates, could effectively drum up financial sponsorship for the team.
VISION
They did not have someone who could envision giving up a chance at Aga Khan victory with a view to winning the European Championship.
Nor did they have a cohort of activists who could orchestrate a social media campaign that would have our Irish senior show jumping side declared RTÉ Sport’s Team of the Year.
In an era when prices for the best jumping horses in the world are in the millions, by right, our small nation should not be able to currently mount a senior team that can successfully compete at the very top level of international competition.
But because of the talent, ingenuity and networking of our riders in exile, we do.
They have won the approval and support of some of the richest owners in the sport and this has allowed them access to team horses that we could not buy.
Gerry Mullins and his associates are wired into this extraordinary development and it is no wonder that there was strong support for his return from this sector.
Success or otherwise, Olympic qualification at this year’s World Equestrian Games in the USA will be a measure of whether or not the board of HSI has made the right decision.
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