Horse Sport Ireland and GAIN Equine Nutrition Pony Medal Reception

Horse Sport Ireland together with GAIN Equine Nutrition, sponsors of Team Ireland Equestrian’s underage teams in Show Jumping, Eventing and Dressage, hosted a medal reception on Wednesday Jan 31st for Ireland’s Pony Show Jumping Team Gold medallists and Eventing Team Bronze medallists in the Lyrath Hotel, Co. Kilkenny.

L-R Henry Corbally (Glanbia Chairman) with members of the Pony Show Jumping gold medal winning Irish team Harry Allen, Gary Marshall (Team manager), Seamus Hughes-Kennedy, Abbie Sweetnam and Ronan Murphy (HSI, CEO) at the GAIN Pony Medal Reception at the Lyrath Hotel in Kilkenny (Photo: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile)

MC Brendan McArdle  opened the event with welcome speeches from HSI CEO Ronan Murphy and Glanbia Chairman Henry Corbally. Special guests on the night who addressed guests, congratulated Ireland’s medallists and imparted words of advice to them, included London Olympian Joseph Murphy and 2017 Melbourne Cup winning trainer Joseph O’Brien, who in 2009 achieved an individual Bronze Medal at the European Eventing Pony Championships.

The Show Jumping and Eventing team managers Gary Marshall and Becky Cullen attended on the night with their management team.

Speaking about the event HSI CEO Ronan Murphy said;

“2017 was a tremendous year for Irish Pony Riders including Pony Show Jumping Team Gold, individual Gold, individual Silver and Pony Eventing Team Bronze. It is great to see such wonderful achievements from these talented riders at such a young age, this gives me huge confidence in Team Ireland Equestrian in the coming years. Our pony riders are an integral part of our High Performance development pathways and their achievements in 2017 sets a very high standard for future success. It is this talent pool which provides Team Ireland with the foundation for sustained success at the highest level in equestrian sport. I would like to acknowledge the enormous input from our high performance managers and committees, coaches, vets, management teams, parents, owners and grooms who all work tirelessly for the sport. A special thanks to GAIN and all Team Ireland sponsors who have supported our teams during 2017. We look forward to working together in the future as we continue to build a world class high performance programme for Team Ireland Equestrian.”

L-R Henry Corbally (Glanbia Chairman)  with members of the Pony Eventing bronze medal winning Irish team Hannah Adams, Zara Nelson, Becky Cullen (Team manager), Jennifer Kuehnle, Cameron Kiernan, Romy McCarthy, Isabelle Comerford and Ronan Murphy (HSI, CEO)  (Photo: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile)

Henry Corbally, Chairman of Glanbia said:

’’Glanbia and GAIN Equine Nutrition are very proud sponsors of Team Ireland Equestrian underage Show Jumping and Eventing teams. They have had a hugely successful year and we were delighted to host this event in recognition of their achievements in 2017. I would like to take this opportunity to wish all Team Ireland Equestrian competitors the very best for 2018.”

Mary Delaney, Head of Sales, GAIN Equine Nutrition added:

“The achievements of the underage pony teams in 2018 was phenomenal. Their success is testament to their talent, commitment and hard work. We would like to congratulate the teams as well as their parents, owners and trainers who all contributed so significantly to this success. GAIN Equine Nutrition is honoured to be the official sponsor of the Team Ireland Equestrian underage teams.”

Team Ireland Equestrian European Championship Results 2017:

GAIN Pony Show Jumping Team Gold Medallists

Team Manager: Gary Marshall

Athletes: Harry Allen (Ind Gold)

Kate Derwin (Ind Silver)

Ciaran Nallon

Abbie Sweetnam

Seamus Hughes Kennedy (reserve)

GAIN Pony Eventing Team Bronze Medallists

Team Manager: Becky Cullen

Athletes: Jennifer Kuehnle

Zara Nelson

Isabelle Comerford

Hannah Adams

Cameron Kiernan (reserve)

Romy McCarthy (reserve)

The European Championships for Pony Showjumping and Pony Eventing took place in Kaposvar (HUN) from the 25th to 30th July 2017.