Heather Pollard: Horse of the Year panache gone

Helen McNaught on Carnutelabryere at the 2016 Horse of the Year (HOY). Photo / Warren Buckland

Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth " Proverbs xxvii.

For me this quote sums up the failure of the David Mee-led SMC company and the HOY HB Ltd Company chaired by Cynthia Bowers, to come even close to a successful 2016 Horse of the Year Show.

From the outset of the appointment of SMC by HOYL, a campaign was launched to downplay the success of the show in previous years, and to boast that they were going to do everything better, bigger and brighter. This arrogant, ill-advised approach stuck in the gullet of those of us who, over 17 years, have witnessed Kevin Hansen and his team take HOY to an internationally acclaimed equestrian spectacle second to none in Australasia.

The staunch yet rocky journey for Kevin and his company, Event Pro, would have stalled well before 2015 when it was cut short by Bowers and her board, were it not for the passion and love that Kevin has for all things equestrian.

The extent of this dedication was seen in 2010 when Event Pro suffered a big loss from HOY due to the then major sponsor reneging on a promised sponsorship of $150,000. To offset this loss and to ensure that they could pursue their vision, Kevin and his wife, Sue, mortgaged their home to pay the deficit.

In stark contrast to Kevin's and Sue's fervent belief in themselves and the product they were bringing to Hawke's Bay, is the comment by David Mee in Hawke's Bay Today " June 3rd 2016 " "If it {HOY} wasn't a sound investment, we wouldn't be sticking around".

As at 2015, Kevin and his company hadn't yet seen through to its fruition, the concept hatched in the late 1990s " there were plans in place to further- maybe complete, the dream.

BUT " in 2013, on to the scene came the newly established HOY HB Ltd Board.

My understanding is that this board was set up to support Event Pro " provide a platform and extra people to help, people to relieve some of the huge financial responsibility by boosting funding and funding options.

In my opinion, though, what transpired was that the servant became the master.

There can be no other rational answer as to why in 2015 the aforesaid board required Kevin Hansen and his company to tender for what was their show.

Wisely, Event Pro chose to not be part of the tender process. To have done so would have been to accede to the authority, initiative and control of HOYL. And so SMC was appointed to manage the 2016 HOY show. This Auckland-based company came with no knowledge of the world of Equestrian but came, according to Ms Bowers, with an ability "to pay a share of any deficit if the event ran at a loss. For my board, that is a huge positive in that SMC has the confidence to back themselves to make a profit". {HB Today " 1/6/2015}

I believe that from the outset, SMC was out of its depth. They had no personal contacts with the equestrian industry and no first-hand knowledge of how to execute the myriad of requirements that confronted them.

However, it is HOY HB Ltd. that I believe, is the primary villain in this mess.

The result of the appointment of SMC to take over the management of Horse of the Year is that the grandeur of HOY has been destroyed. In my opinion, shared by others, HOY will not recover from this 2016 setback.

Building a structure of the immensity that was HOY is about creating relationships; it's about trust, respect, caring and communication " it is not about begging and expecting hand-outs.

Cynthia Bowers and her present board of Richard Dee, Vicki Glynn and John Pearce failed to recognise the above with Ms Bowers stating in "HB Today" " June 9th " that "I don't think I have done anything wrong in terms of my chairmanship. I am satisfied with all of the decisions that my board has made".

So, after two monumental administrative errors, the 2016 show not living up to the presentation calibre of previous years, and the show suffering a loss of $170,000, Cynthia Bowers is still "satisfied" with her and her board's performance.

I believe all board members should resign with the company being disbanded or liquidated.

The panache, excitement and beauty of HOY will be no more.

HOY will still happen somewhere. Competitors will still turn up but it will revert to being "just another show" as it was before Kevin Hansen envisaged otherwise all those years ago.

I submit a sad but true commentary.

- Heather Pollard, who lives in Napier, is a former competitor at Horse of the Year, was a volunteer some years ago and has been to every Horse of the Year since its inception in Hawke's Bay in 1999.

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