What happens now will define what happens next.

There’s been a shift in tone this week.
Official statements. Shared language. A push for calm.
On the surface, it looks like progress.
But beneath it?

The pressure hasn’t gone anywhere.

The Game Has Changed—But the Players Haven’t

Today, Eventing Ireland Board released a statement piece to EI Members. We have been sent it by a ton of grassroots eventers. It was positive, just not overly descriptive.

Here’s some of what it said:

“Eventing Ireland and the Event Organisers Group have been working tirelessly to find a solution to the current impasse, preventing a full schedule of events in the Southern Regions.”

“Together, we have made huge progress with Health and Safety and Sustainability.”

“Eventing Ireland and the Event Organisers Group are committed to finalising the solution as quickly as possible for the good of the sport.”

It’s clean. It’s coordinated. It seems like progress. It even seems positive.
It signals movement. They finish by asking for everyone’s patience.

But those watching this unfold—riders, volunteers, venue owners—still have questions.
What they want now are Timelines. Commitments. Clarity.

What We Know

We know a lot of work has gone in this week. We know there are a lot of calls and “meetings”.

From reliable sources on both sides, it is understood that a meeting is expected to take place early next week to bring key parties together. That meeting matters.

If it happens—and if it delivers something meaningful—it could mark a real turning point.

But if it doesn’t? If it’s postponed, deflected, diluted? or even worse, we come out with bullshit and superficial commitments that aren’t followed through on and events are pulled last minute so the EI Board is put under serious pressure again… then we have a major issue coming.

Then this hasn’t been any progress, and EI is being played here.
The dialogue this week will simply have been a tactic to stall momentum and wait for the noise to die down.

23,000 and Counting—This Is Being Watched

Since Tuesday, over 23,500 people have read the first two articles in this series.
They’ve been shared across every corner of the sport—and far beyond it.

And people haven’t just reached out to express frustration, anger, resentment and with information.
They’ve reached out because they care. For eventing, for people, for the sport, for the industry….
Because they’re watching closely to see what happens next in Irish Eventing.

They’ve seen what this sport can be.
They understand what’s at stake.
And they don’t want a handful of people manipulating its direction behind closed doors.

The name and reputation of the entire industry should not be shaped by a few individuals pulling strings in the dark. People we simply do not trust. You’ve given us no reason to. Lets see what you do in the meeting early next week.

Rebuild bridges? or continue to burn them down?

To Those Pulling the Strings Quietly—We See You

You know who you are.
We know who you are.
And you know that we know.

You’ve felt the pressure this week. Good.
You’ve reacted to it. Good.
You’ve moved faster in the last five days than in the last five weeks. Good.

Because you realised that the narrative is no longer yours to control. It is ours.

That’s fine. We will always be professional and are not stupid enough to be baited.
But let’s be very clear: if this meeting next week is another exercise in delay, in deflection, in hoping we go quiet— you’ll see just how much is still left unsaid. If events start getting pulled again due to last minute glitches or hitches, then you’ll know what we can do.

There is always a way to get the truth out there, especially when you’re a media brand.

We won’t be going anywhere across the days and weeks ahead.
We’re simply giving space—for real action to take place.

But we are watching.
And we are prepared.

If the spin keeps spinning? 

Then what hasn’t yet been written… will be.

Just so we are clear on where our headspace is and where we stand… We think this is a move to take momentum away from the narrative, from the pressure being pushed back on the people pulling the strings, from all those that initially believed the lies and manipulation. They have clarity and understanding now… we have so much more to add… so much more we haven’t said…

This Isn’t Over—It’s Entering a New Phase

Nobody wants this to drag on.
Nobody wants to write, or read, or fight over this forever.

What we want is simple:
Grassroots riders back out.
Events back on (and not being pulled last minute).
A sport that moves forward with integrity—not illusion.

Public Acceptance that Insurance Cover is fit for purpose needs to be clear and transparent, otherwise what happened at Frankfort, will happen again and again and again…

So if that meeting happens, and progress is real—good.
If it doesn’t?
Then this isn’t over. It’s just begun.

We don’t need to raise voices.
We just need to raise the curtain—again and we will go a whole lot deeper.

Horse Sport Ireland—Your Silence Is Not Neutral

At this point, the absence of Horse Sport Ireland is no longer a footnote.
It’s a feature. Just another game of Hide and Seek with the people supposed to be leading the industry. They are surely world champions at this stage. Hide and Seek Masters.

They are the national governing body.
They oversee the affiliate bodies (even after the incredible changes they made to the constitution).
They manage funding, structure, and recognition.

And in one of the most destabilising moments for Irish Eventing in recent memory—they have done nothing.

They didn’t step in when events started falling.
They didn’t intervene when riders were left hanging.
They haven’t said a word since this began.

Ask anyone in equestrian sport and they’ll say the same:
Horse Sport Ireland is silent when it matters most.

They are professional at traditional PR—wait it out, say nothing, let it blow over.
But let’s be honest:
That’s politics. That’s self-preservation.
That’s not leadership.

If this were any other industry—if Eventing Ireland were a “subsidiary” and Horse Sport Ireland the umbrella—someone at the top would have stepped in long ago.

Instead?

They’ve backed away.
Not because they don’t know.
But because they’re hoping silence will outlast accountability.

That’s not just weak. It could be said that this is cowardice, dressed as strategy by HSI. Silence is golden isn’t it… this industry is mad and its leadership, it could be said, leave a lot to be desired. Again and Again and Again.

The Industry Deserves Better Than Optics

We are watching this unfold in real time.
And what comes next will say everything about the future of the sport:

Will the people involved meet and deliver real change?
Or will this be yet another performance to pause the pressure?

No more delays.
No more statements that sound like answers but give none.

There has to be proof through results in the days ahead, after the meeting early next week that the people pulling the strings, with personal grudges and agendas are willing to be part of the change and not the problem. We find it hard to believe with the info we have. We have no trust.

We are giving you time to Prove it. Otherwise, we’ll be spot on and this is simply you playing the EI Board.

Either this meeting happens early next week and meaningful progress follows—
or the conversation picks back up, louder, sharper, and with far fewer gloves on.

This is the moment.
And how it’s handled will define what happens next.