TEAM Ireland Equestrian’s Eventing High Performance Manager Ginny Elliot will be in Luhmuhlen, Germany this weekend along with dressage and show jumping coaches Ferdi Eilberg and Michael Quirke to work with the Irish riders who are competing there.

The event is one of only five four-star events in the world each year and will be a very significant factor in deciding what combinations will be long listed for the Alltech World Equestrian Games (WEG), which take place in Kentucky in September. As well as being hugely important in their own right, the games also provide an opportunity for Ireland to qualify a team for the London Olympics by finishing in the top five (excluding hosts Great Britain).

Four Irish riders will now travel to Luhmuhlen, these being: Melanie Ashe with Rathmolyon Flight; Brian Curran-Cournane with Dunran Castle; Michael Ryan with Ballylynch Adventure and Patricia Ryan with Fernhill Clover Mist. Unfortunately three other Irish riders, Ciaran Glynn, Mark Kyle and Louise Lyons have withdrawn over the last week.

Speaking before leaving for Germany, Ginny Elliot stressed the importance of the event as a trial for the World Equestrian Games which will also be at four-star level.

“I made it clear at the start of the year that I would like to see combinations who want to be considered for WEG doing one of the early season four-star competitions. Luhmuhlen this weekend is really the last chance for riders to put in a four-star performance before WEG as the next four-star competition in Burghley in September is too close to the Games.” she said.

Ms. Elliot pointed out that there had been a big increase in the number of Irish combinations competing at four-star level so far this year.

“If the four combinations line up on Thursday it will mean that 14 different Irish combinations have competed in the three four-star competitions so far this year. Last year the corresponding figure was five.

"There have been some very strong performances in these events and indeed in the end of season four-stars last year. While there have been one or two blips, to be competitive at championship level we need riders competing in four stars,“ she said.

Ms. Elliot said that she would name the long list for the Alltech World Equestrian Games at the end of next week.

“I have yet to decide how many combinations will be on the list, as a lot depends on how things go next weekend. However it looks like we will only be able to take five combinations rather than six to the games due to the prohibitive cost of flying horses to the USA. This is not ideal but if we want to be able to fund an effective training and preparation programme we have to make compromises,” she concluded.
 

Ginny Elliot