The Irish Sport Horse has commanded huge respect amongst horse owners and competitors of other nations, winning international, championship and Olympic medals for Great Britain (Shear L’eau, Supreme Rock), USA (Custom Made and Brazil (Special Envoy). The Irish Studbook continues to top the World Breeders Federation of Sport Horse (WBFSH) rankings for event horses based on competition results. The production of young horses through competition (training, novice and intermediate levels) has been an acknowledged format for identifying horses with the potential to excel at the highest levels of competition. However increasing production costs may be affecting the profitability of sport horse production. Reduced profit margins or possible negative returns may reduce the number of producers and this combined with the scientific improvements within other studbooks may threaten to reduce the potential for the Irish Sport Horse to retain its WBFSH event horse ranking. Furthermore, prize money offered in novice and intermediate competition appear to represent only nominal returns and fail to meet the costs of training and production.