SHOW jumping moves up to five-star level this weekend, with Irish riders competing in the World Cup show at 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, and also at Wellington in Florida, where half a million dollars is on offer in Saturday's Grand Prix. Jessica Kurten and Denis Lynch are the Irish entries at the Dutch show, and both will hope to make an impact in Sunday's World Cup Qualifier.

LAST night (Tuesday, 23 March) the Greenwich Council's Planning Committee voted in favour of the planning application submitted by the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) for the temporary use of land at Greenwich Park for the London 2012 Equestrian and Modern Pentathlon events.

THE RDS will host a new International competition for 7 & 8 year old show jumping horses at the 2010 Fáilte Ireland Dublin Horse Show. This new class is the first recommendation adopted from the RDS Expert Breeding Group, set up under the Chairmanship of Dr Patrick Wall.

JESSICA Kurten today (Wednesday) scooped The Irish Times/Irish Sports Council ‘Sportswoman of the Month Award’ for February, her seventh time to win the category since the awards began in 2004.

IRISH riders will be flying the flag in six different countries this weekend, in jumping, eventing and dressage. In Wellington, Florida, three members of last week's third-placed Irish Nations' Cup team will be joined by Andrew Bourns for the three-star show, where a World Cup Qualifying class takes place on Saturday.

TEAM Ireland Equestrian Jumping Manager Robert Splaine has declared the Irish team that will take part in the four-star Florida Nations' Cup in Wellington, USA this week (Friday March 5). The Irish team is (in alphabetical order): Kevin Babington; Souvenir, Darragh Kenny; Obelix and Gale Force, Richie Moloney; Brooke van de Zuuthoeve, Shane Sweetnam: Rolette and Zamiro 16,

A TOTAL of 36 Irish riders will campaign in competitions throughout the world this weekend with 139 horses, 40 of them Irish-bred. Team Ireland Equestrian will be represented in Show Jumping, Eventing and Dressage in three locations in Florida, two in Portugal and one each in California, Germany, Spain and France. Highlight of the weekend should be the US Nations' Cup in Wellington, Florida.

IRELAND'S Jessica Kurten today (Sunday) won the Swedish World Cup Qualifier class at Gothenburg's five-star show with Lady Georgina Forbes's mare 'Castle Forbes Libertina', while fellow Northerner Dermott Lennon claimed third place.

WITH a top class international field lining out for tonight's (Friday) big jump-off class at Gothenburg, Sweden, two Irish riders made it into the top ten, with Antrim-born Jessica Kurten claiming the runner-up spot on Lady Georgina Forbes's gifted mare 'Castle Forbes Libertina'.
The competition, a qualifier for Sunday's World Cup class at the five-star show, saw nine combinations make it through to the second round from a startlist of 46.