The year has been a busy one for those of the equestrian persuasion all over the world - with the Athens Olympic Games in August being the main focus for those involved in the Olympic disciplines of Showjumping, Dressage and Eventing the actual event turned out to be possibly the biggest nightmare of all modern Olympic Games.

The Germans looked set to win an unprecedented bagful of medals - the team gold for eventing, dressage and showjumping - but this was not to happen when the Team Eventing Gold was taken off the Germans after an error by Bettina Hoy, who also lost the Individual Gold medal in this shakeup. Bettina's horse Ringwood Cockatoo then also tested positive so either way these medals were going to be lost. The Team Gold for Showjumping, awarded to Germany now looks like it will be given to the USA after Ludger Beerbaum's horse Goldfever also tested positive.

The Individual Gold for showjumping also looks like it will be lost for Ireland after Cian O'Connor's horse Waterford Crystal tested positive to human schizophrenia drugs - and the handling of this situation by all concerned has turned out to be a possible script for Jilly Cooper to produce a new best seller - except that some might be so bold as to say that it is simply too far fetched and the public wouldn't go for it because it is too unbelievable!

And then we hear that the final placement of the medals, which currently hang in limbo, may not be made until as late as 2006 - none of which is good for the sport and all of which sadly may give the IOC the rumoured excuse they have been looking for, to remove the Equestrian events from the Olympic Games.

The elation with which Ireland greeted their conquering hero quickly turned to anger when it was discovered that the horse had tested positive to drugs which are commonly believed to have no place in the treatment of horses - and Cian then had to try and explain what had happened and why - he and his vet James Sheeran appeared in many interviews on TV, radio and newspapers - and this was very sad - the homecoming for Cian was wonderful and gave a huge lift to equestrian sport in Ireland, with riding schools experiencing huge increases in the numbers coming for lessons from both children and adults.

I doubt that anyone thinks that Ireland and Cian O'COnnor will keep the Gold medal for showjumping but hopefully good will come out of this debacle - and the good that will hopefully come out of it will be that there will be a new transparency within the sport from both the National and International levels and that the sport will, across the board, be cleaned up - then we can again encourage owners, sponsors and spectators back into the sport.

Equestrian Federations throughout the world must become more adept at telling the membership what is happening as the members in each country are tired of being kept in the dark and given no information as was proved with the Australian situation where the Federation were "caught out" when emails went to incorrect addresses - these emails from very high officials commented that they should just "tough it out" and not give any information regarding the positive A sample result on the Australian Olympic representative - this is no longer good enough anywhere in the world. It is the grass roots membership who make it possible for the elite of the sport to be the elite and they have a right to know what is going on.

But enough of this - this is about the whole year in review - enough said on the above issues for now.

The jumpingaround.com crew had another great year, making some great new friends, catching up with old friends and enjoying the visits of many Australians to Irish shores.

Our year began in Australia with the Victorian western districts circuit which was, as always fabulous and the Mortlake Show which included the 21st birthday of Irish based Aussie, Scottie Barclay which gave everyone a chance to catch up. The Australia Pacific League World Cup Final, which was held at the Sydney Olympic Games venue in late January capped off our Aussie 'home visit" - and it was unbearably hot! For the coverage of these events please go to Archives on the News Page and look at January 2004.

The jumpingaround.com crew then headed to Ireland, collected horses and headed to Towerlands in Essex for the Overseas Challenge for Young Riders, where Scottie was a team member for Australia.

This is a fabulous event and one which I cannot recommend highy enough to Young Riders - get your Federations organised and get a team together and head there for a fantastic week of jumping at a brilliant venue which I understand has already begun its facelift since new owners, the Gredleys have taken up residency! Hopefully in 2005 there will be teams from more countries - contact the BSJA for information or contact Mike Florence at Towerlands in Braintree, Essex, UK.

Seen left, modelling the Aussie "wear for feeding horses" are Rebecca Allen and Amy Johnstone, in Towerlands for the Overseas Challenge.

Below - far left Andrew Long and far right Scottie Barclay give the great "gals" in the canteen an Aussie farwell and thanks for looking after them so well during their stay at Towerlands.

Throughout the year we covered many shows around Ireland from Millstreet "down the bottom" of Ireland to Tyrella in the North and the quality of horses has continued to impress us - the breeding programs in place in Ireland are seeing the mixing of continental blood with the traditional Irish lines and no doubt the future is looking bright as we saw some stunning youngsters at the breed shows we went to and some super jumpers in the young horse classes - and that doesn't even touch on some of the really super young Grand Prix horses around the country.

The following are the "pick of the photos" from 2004 and we hope you enjoy seeing them as much as we enjoyed taking them!

2005 will again be a big year - and on our "intended list" is again the coverage of the European Championships for Young Riders and Juniors which we believe will be held in Switzerland this time, Dublin Show which will be a highlight of the year and we will also be getting to the continent for shows as well as bringing you all the latest news, both good and bad, as it breaks!

Pictured left: Rebecca Allen caught up with old showjumping buddy Rowan Willis at Towerlands - Rowan has been based in the UK for some years and doing well on the National Grand Prix circuit.

Not sure of Rowan's plans but if anyone knows how to contact Rowan please email jumpingaround.com by clicking here as we would like to keep people at home "in the know" by catching up with him in 2005.

Looking more like a couple of visiting movie stars than Aussie showjumpers, Cat Simpson catches up with Rusty in Ireland (right).

Cat has been working for the prestigious Fornaughts Stud doing yearling preps, in County Kildare during 2004 and news just in says that she has a new and very exciting job for 2005 - still within the racing industry - we will bring you more news on Cat next year so stayed tuned!

And then we found another familiar face "in the crowd" when Ian and Pat Mouser, together with daughter Kim and the two grand-daughters arrived in Ireland with Carrick Clover and Clover Flush.

Ian and Pat of Tonimbuk Equestrian Park in Victoria, Australia made the move to Ireland mid way through 2004 and seem very content to stay. The two stallions are currently being ridden by Edward Doyle who rode Clover Flush as a young horse when owned by Carmel Ryan, his breeder.

Victorian, Michelle "Aussie" Jewel spent 9 months working in Ireland - Aussie worked in the breeding centre of Kill International Equestrian Centre and was involved with their live serving stallion and also foaling down.

Aussie also got to experience grooming for young horses at shows with the ultimate being grooming for Dublin Horse Show which is surely one of the most exciting horse shows on the world calendar.