Commenting on the recent announcement by Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) that Alison Corbally had departed from her role as director of breeding and programmes within the organisation, Irish Horse Board chair Tiernan Gill of Ballina had this to say: “Alison is a lady who dedicated her life and energy and her vast knowledge of breeding policies to the people of Ireland and it is only now her hard work and dedication is coming to fruition.”These sentiments were echoed by chair and organiser of the Clarecastle Agricultural Show in Co Clare, Michael Slattery: “Alison has devoted many years of her life to the promotion of the Irish Sport Horse and this is her legacy. She has been of great assistance in my many dealings with HSI.”
Commenting on the recent announcement by Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) that Alison Corbally had departed from her role as director of breeding and programmes within the organisation, Irish Horse Board chair Tiernan Gill of Ballina had this to say: “Alison is a lady who dedicated her life and energy and her vast knowledge of breeding policies to the people of Ireland and it is only now her hard work and dedication is coming to fruition.”
These sentiments were echoed by chair and organiser of the Clarecastle Agricultural Show in Co Clare, Michael Slattery: “Alison has devoted many years of her life to the promotion of the Irish Sport Horse and this is her legacy. She has been of great assistance in my many dealings with HSI.”
During her 15-year term with HSI and before that at Necarne Agricultural Collage in Fermanagh, I have witnessed Alison in action; stallion inspections, mare selections, young breeder championships, foal championships, breeder awards and developer classes at shows where she helped local dreams be realised, all touched by her energetic presence.
I have read her outlines of initiatives in genetics, veterinary, production and coaching in the Breeder Magazine – all aimed at providing information to help breeders and producers make decisions. I have seen her bring about innovative programmes that revolutionised and modernised our Irish sport horse industry, as she negotiated her way through the labyrinth that is this very personal and volatile sector of Irish agriculture.
But there are no words that I or anybody else can say, that will better express the vision which she brought to her work than those in her article for the Irish Field’s stallion supplement of 2021. Celebrating the recent successes of Irish-breds she recalled: “The breeding goal of the newly designed Irish Sport Horse breeding programme back in 2010 was to produce a performance horse that is sound, athletic, with good paces and suitable temperament, capable of winning at the highest international level. With the support of progressive breeders making insightful decisions and using all the tools and initiatives made available to them to produce their youngstock here in Ireland, that programme is now delivering as our Irish-breds are consistently winning abroad.”
There could no better valedictory of Alison’s departure than that! One can only hope that her deep knowledge and love or our Irish horse will find new projects and outlets during the years ahead. She still has much to add to her legacy.
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