Wednesday, 3rd November, 2004 saw the opening day of the Leinster Indoor invaded by the television cameras, radio microphones and main stream media cameras - the feeding frenzy was on! Somebody had informed the press that Cian O'Connor was jumping at Kill Equestrian Centre in County Kildare.

Cian has been "unavailable for comment" after the break in at the EFI offices was discovered on Monday morning quoting "legal advice" as his reason for the silence. Cian, a young man who is very adept at media interviews has been under siege since the unravelling of possibly one of the nastiest stories to ever hit the equestrian world - stories of doping, horse abuse and general dirty dealings which sound more and more like the script of a B Grade gangster movie - but what has happened will change the face of showjumping forever - and hopefully the changes will be for the good of the sport but it will be a rough and rocky road on the way there.

Unfortunately the press intrusion at the Leinster Indoor Championships was not a welcome one as it put pressure on all attending as everyone who wore jodphurs was asked for opinions as were the supporters of the sport who had come to watch their riders and horses competing in the qualifying rounds - this did not make for a happy environment, and made it difficult for riders and grooms to "simply get on with their jobs" but the message which did come through loud and clear was that all those involved in the sport simply want the truth to be told and matters dealt with so that they could all just "get on with the job"!

The TV cameras were there to film Cian in the competition ring and under normal circumstances this would be seen as a wonderful thing for our sport - publicity is what we need to encourage sponsors and owners into showjumping - but this was not the publicity the sport needed. Marion Hughes, one of Ireland's Athens Olympic team was also at Kill Equestrian Centre but there was no footage of her beautiful rounds throughout the day on young, up and coming horses - it was all about backdrop footage for the evening news as Cian O'Connor's "fall from grace" was documented in every minute detail.

Surely the time has come now for the game playing to end and for everyone involved in this mess to come clean so that things can be cleaned up and only then can the sport move forward - it is hard enough to encourage sponsors and owners and this is simply making it harder and it is also possibly giving the International Olympic Committee the excuse they have been looking for to remove equestrian sport from the Olympic Games.

For those involved at the grass roots level of showjumping this must be a very confusing time as they must be left wondering whether the coaches and riders they have admired for so long are really "as they seem" - this concern is being translated in a very real way as I understand from talking to various schools that the boom the Riding Schools experienced after Cian and Waterford Crystal won the Gold has now dropped off dramatically with some schools reporting that lesson numbers dropped well below what they were prior to the Gold medal win.

I am still of the opinion, and admit that I may be wearing rose coloured glasses, that the majority of riders at the top level of the exciting sport of showjumping are legitimate and decent people who have a great love and admiration for the horses they ride and would not be involved in cruel and illegal practices. I would like to hope that we will all get answers and I believe these answers must come from the FEI as well as from the Federations throughout the world - as many know I have written editorials asking questions of the Australian Equestrian Federation, which they have not been delighted with but to give them credit they have answered the questions which have been asked and hopefully in the weeks and months to come they will continue to do so as there will be many more questions arising as a result of what is currently happening in Ireland.

And the last word goes to Rodrigo Pessoa who has been quoted as saying that he wants the matter settled by the truth being told and he went on to say that he was not interested in being awarded the Gold medal, if things went against O'Connor, as this was "no way to win a gold"!

Hopefully there will be no more developments during the next few days, allowing those who are competing at the Leinster Indoor Championships to enjoy their show at the fabulous facility in Kill, County Kildare - the focus of what an amazing place this is has been lost as it was buried in the "Cian story" - the sport of showjumping is more than one man and his horse and hopefully people worldwide will realise this and enjoy it for what it is "brave riders and courageous horses flying through the air as they jump huge and wide fences giving a magnificent display of the incredible athleticism of the horse and the great rapport between man and horse" - that is why we all "do" this showjumping thing!