EQUESTRIANISM:IT IS "a fantastic accolade" that 16 Irish-bred horses are representing nine countries in the Olympic Games, Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney has said.
Five horses are representing Ireland while three are representing the United States and two representing Team Great Britain. These include High Kingdom, which will be ridden by Queen Elizabeth’s granddaughter Zara Phillips.
Irish-bred horses will also compete for Canada, New Zealand, Ecuador, Jamaica, Switzerland and Sweden.
“To breed a horse that is good enough to be selected for the Olympic Games is a great honour,” Mr Coveney said. “Ireland is known throughout the world as a horse breeding nation and this is even further evidence of our prowess in the breeding of sport horses”. He said the sport horse sector was worth more than €400 million a year to the Irish economy and supported the equivalent of 16,000 full-time jobs.
