HAVING earned their places on the Irish team from results gathered in young horse classes throughout the summer, Ireland sent the best of our Irish riders and horses to the WBFSH World Breeding Championships for Young Horses in Lanaken, Belgium, and they did not disappoint, winning two golds and a bronze.

In the seven-year-olds, Mikey Pender with Marion Hughes home-bred HHS Mercedes (Can Ya Makan x Couletto) won gold while Michael Duffy riding the Ballypatrick-bred BP Royalty (Comme Il Faut x OBOS Quality 004) took bronze.

“Hopefully it encourages a few people to breed and we can see those horses here in the future. I’m very motivated about young horses,” Pender said after his victory.

In the five-year-old division, young rider Niamh McEvoy rode the KWPN mare Orange De Baugy (Dominator Z x Barbarian) to win the gold for owner Greg Broderick. The mare will be offered for sale in the Ballypatrick auction on December 28th.

Niamh McEvoy won gold in Lanaken with Orange de Baugy \ EquusPix photography

“She’s such a special mare. I knew from the first time I sat on her. She’s just unbelievable. She’s got so much power, so much blood, her feeling is just unbelievable,” McEvoy said.

This showed not only the strength and depth of talented young horses, but also the myriad of superb young, world-class, riders competing here in Ireland.