THE Irish pony eventing team were on top form at the FEI European Pony Eventing Championships in Westerstede, Germany, last week taking the European silver medal and had three individuals finishing in the top 10.

Team manager, Jane Kinsella, had selected Carla Williamson on Galco, Jessica O’Ryan on Carhu Melody, Bonnie O’Neill on Woody Sammy and Isabelle Walsh on Lucky For Some for her squad, while Sophie Swain on Here Comes Trouble and Zara McCarthy on Romans Special Envoy competed as individuals.

All the Irish competitors passed the trot up last Wednesday, with competition getting underway with dressage on Thursday and Friday. Walsh, Swain and O’Neill were up first for the Irish on Thursday, with O’Ryan, McCarthy and Williamson riding their tests on Friday.

Williamson performed a super dressage test, scoring 27.9, with McCarthy the next best of the Irish on 32.3. Williamson and Galco remained on their dressage score after riding a superb clear cross-country round on Saturday, which put her into the individual gold medal position at that stage. Meanwhile, McCarthy and Romans Special Envoy also rode clear across the country to put them in seventh place individually, less than a fence outside the medals. O’Ryan and O’Neill also rode faultless rounds, while Swain and Walsh each had both jumping and time penalties. The team performance put them in bronze medal position after cross-country. Before the show jumping phase, France were in the lead, followed by Germany.

Influential

Sunday’s show jumping phase proved influential. O’Ryan jumped a super clear, but was just outside the time allowed and so incurred 0.4 of a time penalty for a final score of 35.8 and individual seventh place, making her best of the Irish.

An unfortunate eight show jumping faults for Williamson put her just a fraction behind O’Ryan on 35.9 for eighth place individually, while four faults and 0.4 of a time penalty gave McCarthy a final of score 36.7 to claim another top 10 placing for Ireland in ninth.

O’Neill incurred eight faults and 1.2 time penalties to give her a finishing score of 45.0 for 16th place, while Swain jumped a faultless round within the time to finish on 58.9 in 21st place. Walsh completed with eight jumping faults and 5.2 time penalties for a final score of 74.3 and 26th place individually.

Ireland finished on a final team score of 116.7, which was good enough for the silver medal. France were not going to be caught, finishing on a team total of 91.0 to take the gold medal, while Britain took bronze on 119.3. Germany slipped back to fourth place.

Such was the strength of the French squad, they claimed the top four places individually, with the winner Emma Lemaitre on Flash Des Etoiles and third placed Matis Cogniet on Gimmick De Blonde both finishing on their dressage scores of 29.1 and 32.0 respectively. Silver medallist Ella Rinaldi on Boston Du Verdon scored an incredible 23.9 for dressage, but incurred a few time penalties in both jumping phases to finish on 29.9. Fourth placed Tifaniie Villeton on Babylon Night Graves incurred four faults in show jumping to give them a final score of 33.8.

The Irish Pony Eventing team and their ponies celebrating their silver medal finish at the FEI European Pony Eventing Championships \ FEI

Proud manager

“It was an incredible five days of competition for our six squad members at the superb venue of Westerstede,” Kinsella said. “The competition started with a fantastic opening ceremony in the town square with the athletes parading behind the mounted band and the mayor officially welcoming all the nations and opening the 2024 European Pony Championships. There was huge support for the Irish squad, and it was something these athletes will remember forever.

“The athletes put in a solid performance in the dressage phase in 27-degree heat and walking the cros-country course, we knew that this was not going to be a dressage competition. We did however feel well prepared following a good season’s competition in Ireland, an invaluable trip to the Nations Cup in Oudkarspel, The Netherlands, in April and to the incredible training that the squad had done with our HP XC coach, 2024 Badminton winner Caroline Powell in Clonmahon House prior to travel.

“From the first fence, every question was max dimension and technically challenging. It’s a relatively flat area but they used the terrain fantastically, running the competitors through the woods as well as the open and used man-made undulations in effective, imaginative and challenging ways. The competitors had to concentrate the entire way: there were three waters to navigate, eight combinations and questions until the end of a 3,700m, seven minute, seven second track.

“The difficulty of this track was borne out in the results where there were 11 eliminations and only 11 combinations clear inside the time, four of which were Irish!”

Thunder and lightning

Kinsella continued: “The excitement didn’t stop there on the Saturday - as the last pony finished the track a tropical storm hit bringing rain, thunder and lightning like you’ve never seen. The fire brigade arrived, and ponies had to be evacuated from their flooded stables. Thankfully the storm passed, and the competition was able to continue.

“The show jumping was as expected - strong and the time was tight. Full 1.10m and again technically challenging. Sophie Swain and Here Comes Trouble, our youngest squad member was the first rider to finish clear inside the time, one of only five combinations to achieve this. Jessica O’Ryan and Carhu Melody also left all the poles standing, adding just 0.4 to her dressage score.

“The atmosphere was electric, and the Irish riders were brilliant under intense pressure to bring home the silver. Our most experienced team member Carla Williamson did an incredible job leading the team throughout the competition and had all the pressure on her shoulders having again put herself in individual gold medal position following both a superb dressage and cross-country round. Unfortunately, two fences in the final phase dropped her out of the individual medals.

“The atmosphere throughout the competition was fantastic. A real celebration of the talent we have in the underage ranks. Competition was strong from the start and the French team were superb taking the individual gold and the top four individual spots on their big moving, blood ponies. The Irish squad did fantastically well, occupying three of the top 10 positions in a tough competition, securing the silver medal and were complimented on their riding throughout.

“I am absolutely thrilled with the performances of the six Irish riders at the European Championships. They supported each other throughout, rode brilliantly and worked hard to secure the team silver medal. Seeing talent like this in our youth ranks is exciting and with the correct support systems in place, the future of equestrian sport in Ireland is bright.

“I cannot thank our HP coaches Paddy O’Donnell and Caroline Powell, our grooms Rebekah McNally and John O’Regan, our team vet Tim O’Hagan, the parents and personal coaches enough. Without them these results would not happen. Can I also make a special thank you to Mandy Boyle and the GMMF who have supported the squad throughout the year, with subsidised training and a travel bursary. And to our wonderful sponsors GAIN, Equieire, Bucas, KEP - Italia, Dubarry, TRM nutrition, Flex-on and Berney Bros – a huge thank you!”