Last year 780 adult horses were registered and 604 foals in the North while 500 horses registered as foals were named on the system.
According to David Kirkpatrick 2500 - 3000 passports were processed last year including 54 for donkeys.
The Breeders Challenge event which has a first prize of £1000 and goes to tenth place is being reviewed by the NIHB because of lack of support but credit must go to last years winner Seapatrick Orchard County bred by Tom and Linda Magee and owned by Michael McCann.
Of the 12 stallions which went through to Cavan from the North for inspection three were chosen to go for performance testing last year.
David Kirkpatrick reminded breeders of the foal bank facility on the NI website and that all members are entitled to send adverts to sell horses on net site free of charge.
He added that the board continued to support the NI Stallion parade and would extend this to include the four year old championship at National Balmoral and the Future Event horse at Ballygraffan horse trials.
He said: " As you will see there is a fantastic influx of new blood onto the board - Alan Robertson, William Collins, Patricia Connon, Paddy Treanor and Rut Loney. Thanks to all the retiring members for their contributions, Ken Bolton,Harold Lusk and Noel McKee. Roy Shields and Jean Mitchell, a founding member who were up for renewal are also standing down for personal reasons."
Chairman Helen Troughton said that 2007 was significant with the formation of Horse Sport Ireland and the appointment of Hugh McCusker on the main HSI board and herself on the breeding advisory board. "This is the first time breeders in Northern Ireland have been directly represented on the Irish Horse Board.
She added: "We in NI had the publication of the Strategy for the Equine Industry in Northern Ireland and followed by the formation of the Equine Council for Northern Ireland. The NIHB has been involved with the strategy from the outset and is also represented on the Council. An action plan is being developed and it is hoped that a secretariat will be established in the near future.
Helen stated: "At a recent meeting of the Irish Horse Board we were asked to consider what the purpose of the board was – was it solely to serve the breeder or was it there to serve the industry.The consensus of opinion was that the board was there to try and predict the future trends of the industry and then to pass that information onto the breeder.
"This has been made easier, now with the formation of Horse Sport Ireland, because, for the first time ever, within Ireland, the breeders and the riders have been brought together, so hopefully we can all look forward to greater progress in the future."
She added: "I think you will agree on one thing - stallions are always blamed when things go wrong and the mare gets the credit when it goes according to plan.
On the other hand, if you think about it, in general the stallions have been vetted sound and are performance tested but yet the number of mares with some amount of performance is still small and sound – well maybe ! However in Europe both stallions and mares are performance tested and graded. Could this be a reason for their success? "
Helen said that in Europe riders and breeders work closely together so the horses bred are actually what the competition sectors require. Well now, as I have said, with Horse Sport Ireland we too will have this opportunity.
She praised the recent breeders night in Cavan. " There we had some of the top riders in showjumping, eventing and dressage explaining what they looked for in a competition horse. We had riders from The Army Equitation School, Niall Quirke, Peter Leonard all emphasising performance – movement, athleticism but with a temperament that can be worked with.Equally important, it was performance - but without compromising conformation."
The NIHB opinion is that that mares should also be looked at more closely and will be reinstating mare grading this year.
Helen Troughton added: "The NIHB is a breeder's cooperative, and we would like to be able to acknowledge more of the breeders of the successful horses bred here in Northern Ireland but we need your help to do it. Please let us know when your horse wins an important award so as we can put together a roll of honour for our equine partners and give the breeders the recognition they deserve."
This year breeding awards were presented to Brendan McSorley of Fintona for Irish Independent Echo Beach and William Lyttle of Caledon for the event horse Nullibor. Former Nations cup rider and trainer George Stewart was presented with an Achievement award. Janine Mulgrew from Ballygawley who won a Young Breeder judges award through the Irish Sporthorse Studbook and visited Germany to compete also addressed the meeting and received an award from the Board.
She compared the young judges in Europe to here and said they were so ahead of the game judging horses on the ground as youngstock that it was no wonder the Europeans were getting so much success at international level.
Damien McDonald of HSI gave a comprehensive report on Horse Sport Ireland and its plans. He said exciting times were ahead and it was an all Ireland body which endeavoured to encompass the whole of Ireland.
He covered all aspects of HSI and said it was important a breeding database of each sporthorse was eventually set up similar to the racing sector where everyone could see pedigrees and performance at the touch of a button. Damien answered many questions from the floor and Hamilton Hassard of Intervet sponsored the AGM and supper.
Jim McEvoy former chairman of the NI Horse Board was also given a special award at the AGM for his contribution to the sporthorse industry and work for the NIHB.