ABIGAIL Lyle struck the right note on her first international outing of the 2024 season, winning the Grand Prix Kür (Freestyle to Music) at the three-star show in Addington Manor, England on St Patrick’s weekend.

The Bangor, Co Down native’s upbeat techno mix music freestyle programme, which included an expressive extended canter movement, saw her score an unbeatable 74.995% with her own and Caroline Clarry’s Harmony’s Rosseau gelding Giraldo for her first-ever international Freestyle win.

Reflecting on her Addington show performance, Abi said: “Giraldo was with me this evening and he was so good in the Grand Prix placing third on 70.326%. My first time to have the Irish national anthem played at the prize-giving ceremony, what an honour.”

Consistent performances followed at the four-star shows in Hagen, Germany and Le Mans, France, where Abi and Giraldo placed fifth in the Freestyle to Music in May. Horse Sport Ireland dressage High Performance director Anne Marie Dunphy nominated Abi and Giraldo at the start of June to represent Team Ireland in individual dressage at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

At their final CDI show before heading off to the Château de Versailles in July, Abi and 13-year-old KWPN Giraldo, bred by Leon Eggink, scored 67.723% for fourth place in the Grand Prix Special at Hartpury in England.

Resilience

In April, when all her focus should have been on achieving her Olympic selection, Abi Lyle proved what a courageous woman she is, when bravely recording a compelling television interview with BBC Northern Ireland, describing how she feared for her life after being attacked by her ex-partner Jonathan Creswell.

He was found dead one day after the start of his trial for the accused murder and rape of show jumper Katie Simpson. Abi was due to give harrowing evidence at the trial of physical and mental abuse by Creswell, who was previously jailed for six months in 2010 after pleading guilty to assaulting her.

Abi’s extraordinary resilience in the face of adversity would pay off on a beautiful July day at one of the world’s great heritage sites just outside Paris. In front of packed stands with sweeping views of the Château de Versailles, Lyle and Giraldo produced a superb clean test to score 69.441% and finish sixth of the 10 combinations in Group B.

It wasn’t enough to see the pair make it to the individual Freestyle to Music final, however, Abi was thrilled with the performance: “I love my horse. So here we are, but what an amazing ride as well. I just feel so grateful”.

Merveldt runner-up

Dual Olympian Anna Merveldt and Esporim were nominated as one of the reserve combinations for the Paris Olympic Games. In May, Anna and the 15-year-old Lusitano stallion Esporim, owned by Mario Greco, Michael Higgins and Giovanna Mazza, scored a personal best of 75.175% for second place in the Freestyle to Music class at the five-star show in Munich-Riem, Germany.

With Anna having moved back to Ireland in December 2023, it was announced at the end of July that, with Merveldt no longer being based in Italy, the rider and owners agreed to “say goodbye to the green team. It has been a great partnership, Anna being a fabulous rider and Esporim an exceptional horse, a really special one,” said owner Giovanna Mazza, who has taken over the reins to enjoy the horse herself.

Judy Reynolds and Rockman Royal NG were nominated as one of the reserve combinations for the Paris Olympic Games. They placed third in the consolation Grand Prix at the French four-star show in Le Mans in June. Judy had a top-10 placing with For Fun 51 at the three-star show in Exloo, The Netherlands the month before.

Amsterdam-based Jennifer Harnett and her 15-year-old Lusitano stallion Eximio placed sixth in the Grand Prix at the three-star show in Neustadt Dosse, Germany in August.

Harnett and Eximio posted an international personal best score of 70.075% in the Grand Prix Kür (Freestyle to Music) at the Dutch three-star show in Leeuwarden at the end of October.

Dream come true

At small tour level, Tipperary-based Róisín Henry described her international debut at Hartpury in July with the 12-year-old Lusitano stallion Habil as “a dream come true”. The Carl Hester-trained rider scored 69.471% for second place in the Prix St Georges class and claimed another podium finish, scoring 69.412% for second in the Intermediate One class.

Roisin Henry and Habil made their international debut in Hartpury, placing second in the Prix St-Georges \ Jess Photography

Dual national champion Dane Rawlins took over the ride on the 13-year-old Westphalian gelding Etoile from his daughter Anne Marie at the start of 2024, placing seventh in the three-star Grand Prix Special in Addington.

At the same venue, 15-year-old Sophia Doheny finished her first-ever senior international Grand Prix Kür with Enrico for a top 12 on 67.685%. Sophia and Batiqar secured a podium finish in the FEI Junior Team test class at Addington and they would go on to represent Ireland at the FEI Dressage Junior European Championships in Opglabeek, Belgium in July.

Laragh Byrne and Steendieks Dali Gold secured their Euro pony team selection by scoring 68.784% to win the FEI Pony Individual class at Hickstead in May. With Anne Marie Dunphy Paris-bound, Vida Tansey was the Irish chef in Belgium, where the pony team of Byrne, Aoife Nee (Maracuja AG) and Kate Murphy (Top Hero 2) would place 11th.

Children on Horses rider Millie Cosgrave won the FEI Children Team Competition in Jardy, France in June on a 69.40% total. At the FEI Dressage Children on Horses European Championships, Millie scored 67.717% with Let’s Dance for 37th place.

Millie Cosgrave and Let's Dance, pictured at Addington, won the FEI Children Team Competition in Jardy, France in June \ Aisling Deverell

Cloud over the sport

There was a cloud over the sport of international dressage throughout the year. There were high profile FEI investigations into horse welfare issues involving former Olympic champion Charlotte Dujardin, Canadian Olympic dressage rider Evi Strasser and her daughter Tanya Strasser-Shostak, which rocked the sport in 2024.

Earlier this month, the FEI announced they had suspended Dujardin for one year and imposed a fine of CHF 10,000 (€10,736).

Maribel Alonso, chair of the FEI Dressage technical committee, advised the FEI general assembly in November of ‘significant media criticism of the sport, especially in relation to high profile cases involving failings of equine welfare in the sport’. Referring to the FEI Dressage Stakeholders meeting on October 1st, she referenced a ‘collective acknowledgement that there is a loss of public trust in the sport and this situation must be addressed by all stakeholders immediately’.

In August, Samorin in Slovakia withdrew as the host venue for the 2025 FEI Dressage European Championships to be replaced in November by the French venue of Crozet.

Transition

2025 could be a season in transition for Irish international dressage. At end of 2024, only one Irish combination, Abi Lyle and Giraldo, met the MER (Minimum Eligibility Requirement) for the 2025 FEI Dressage European Senior Championships. Ideally, any Horse Sport Ireland High Performance Dressage Director should have a squad of MER qualified senior riders and horses to select from.

The challenge for 2025 will be for Ireland to just field a team in France. The ongoing high performance stand-off involving Horse Sport Ireland and the affiliates is not helping. Let us hope that all parties reach a comprehensive and meaningful final resolution to the debilitating and unrelenting Horse Sport Ireland High Performance saga in 2025.