The British government has offered its support to a major inquiry launched yesterday into the four deaths in four months on the British eventing circuit. Sports minister Kate Hoey has pledged government support and agreed to meet with British Horse Trials Association (BHTA) chairman Jane Holderness-Roddam to discuss the fatalities, which are also the subject of a world-wide inquiry announced this week by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI).
In response to the recent spate of fatal accidents, a considerable number of changes have been made to the cross-country track at the European Young Rider Championships in Necarne Castle, Co Fermanagh, and to the British three-star course at Blenheim, where Irish rider Sam Moore was killed in a fall two years ago.
"We have a duty to be ultra-careful," Necarne Castle ground jury member Lord Carew said yesterday about Kitty Keys's 28-fence course that will form the focal point of tomorrow's action in Irvinestown.
"We've made a lot of changes in the interest of safety; not to the fences themselves, because Kitty has done a great job, but on the take-off and landing sides in the interest of horse and rider safety."
An open letter has been drafted by the FEI three-day event committee, which is headed by Frans van Meggelen, director of next month's Dutch fixture at Boekelo where a forum on safety in the sport has been convened. The letter expresses the committee's concerns at the recent fatalities, but says that there will be no change to the scoring system until full discussions have taken place at the Dutch meeting.
The tragedies may have overshadowed the sport recently, but the young riders at Necarne Castle for the European championships are determined to put eventing back into a good light. Germany's Ulrich Bormann and the Irish export Westwood Legal Star head the individual placings after the first day of dressage and, with Bormann's compatriot Stephanie Leister-Mayer slotting into joint-third, the Germans also top the team standings.
Best of the Irish is Katie O'Sullivan in equal 16th on Cash Flow, but the home side is languishing in sixth of the six teams.
