Cynthia Bowers: HOY future bright despite loss

Cynthia Bowers.

Over the past month or so there has been comment about the Horse of the Year Show that does not fully represent the recent history.

There is no doubt that a group of showjumping enthusiasts including Kevin Hansen did a great job in the late 1990s when they won the Horse of the Year Show for Hastings. Along with the support of a dedicated group of volunteers under the auspices of Showjumping Hawke's Bay Kevin grew the show into the significant event that it is today.

None of this was plain sailing and over the years the show had varying levels of financial success, with the low point being in 2010 when it made a loss of $220,000.

To his credit, Kevin enabled Showjumping Hawke's Bay to fund this loss by offering his house as collateral for a loan. Repayment of this loan is the responsibility of Showjumping Hawke's Bay and to this day the debt is still being paid off. Showjumping Hawke's Bay earns the funds to do this by hiring out its equipment (jumps, stabling and other infrastructure) to Horse of the Year (Hawke's Bay) so indirectly the current organisation is repaying the 2010 debt.

By 2011 it was evident the Horse of the Year Show had outgrown the capacity of Showjumping Hawke's Bay to govern an event of its size. The show's owner, Equestrian Sports New Zealand, made it clear it expected a new governance structure to be put in place if the show was to stay in Hastings.

At this point Hastings District Council, Equestrian Sports New Zealand and Showjumping Hawke's Bay formed the new company, Horse of the Year (Hawke's Bay) Limited. The new company negotiated an agreement for the show to be held in Hastings until 2027. If these changes had not been made it is highly likely the HOY Show would now be hosted somewhere else in New Zealand.

In 2014 EventPro (Kevin Hansen)'s initial two-year contract expired and Kevin put a proposal to the board requesting an increase in remuneration of almost 50 per cent.

As a matter of sound business practice the board and Kevin agreed that the event management of the show should be put out for tender. This was seen as the best way of establishing a fair event management fee. Unfortunately Kevin made a decision not to tender so the board continued with a rigorous recruitment process. SMC Events, being the most experienced and best-resourced applicant, won the contract. As chair of the HOY board I have always given full credit to the Hansen family and the wonderful volunteers at Showjumping Hawke's Bay for the legacy that they have given Hastings in the form of the Horse of the Year Show. But times change and major events like the HOY Show need to continue to develop and adapt. We need to acknowledge the past but put it behind us and set our sights firmly on the future. The financial loss of this year's show has been a disappointment to the board, SMC and our shareholders. In hindsight though it was a tall ask to expect a new event manager to take over the event, with its chequered financial history, and make it profitable in year one.

In spite of the loss, the board is satisfied that SMC has made a positive impact on the event. For example, the positive satisfaction rating by competitors has risen from 66 per cent in 2015 to 92 per cent this year. With 12 months' HOY experience under their belts and good stakeholder support we are confident SMC will make a success of next year's show. They have already sold more than 70 per cent of the trade sites for 2017.

We welcome the recommendations of the Waterhouse report, recently commissioned by Hastings District Council, and are already well under way in implementing some of these. The Horse of the Year Show is a major national sporting event and it is much more than competition at the top level. It provides competition for novice and young riders and pony club children as well as for top-level competitors. It provides a great retail opportunity for the more than 200 trade site holders, many of which are locals. It provides revenue for many local businesses and indirectly supports jobs in our community.

Above all HOY provides a great opportunity to showcase the very best of Hastings and Hawke's Bay and it pumps $12 million into our economy.

Just imagine how great it could be if negativity was cast aside and we all worked together to look to the future and to capitalise on the opportunity that is being offered to the region.

- Cynthia Bowers is chairman of Horse of the Year (Hawke's Bay) Limited and has written this Talking Point in that capacity. Ms Bowers is also Deputy Mayor of Hastings.

- Views expressed here are the writer's opinion and not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz