Ireland to field four Nations Cup teams in Florida this weekend

The Irish flag will truly be flying in Wellington, Florida, this weekend as Team Ireland Equestrian will be represented in four Nations Cup competitions at the Winter Equestrian Festival. Team Ireland Equestrian will be represented by teams in the Senior Nations Cup on Friday and in the Young Rider (U21), Junior (U18) and Children On Horses (U14) Nations Cup classes, all of which take place on Saturday.

The Team Manager for the senior team is Robert Splaine,  Team Manager for the Junior and Young rider teams will be Comdt, John Ledingham with Michael Blake acting as Chef d’Equipe for the Children on Horses team.

The squads are detailed below. Horses for the underage teams will be confirmed later this week.

On Wednesday night, Horse Sport Ireland will host a reception in Wellington to acknowledge US based owners who provide horses for Irish teams.

Horse Sport Ireland, Chief Executive Damian McDonald said:

“Ireland is very fortunate to have very talented and hardworking riders. However, we owe a debt of gratitude to the owners who provide our riders with horses for Irish teams at all levels. Without their support it would not be possible for Ireland to be so competitive on the world stage” he said.

Senior Nations Cup squad:

• Kevin Babington with Mark Q (ISH) owned by Kevin Babington & Deirdre Bourns
• Darragh Kenny with Red Star D’Argent owned by Alvarez Moya Horse SL
• Richie Moloney with Carrabis Z -owned by Equinimity LLC
• Cian O’Connor with Sam Du Challois owned by Ronnoco Jump Ltd & Jean-Claude Jobin
• Conor Swail with Martha Louise owned by Ariel & Susan Grange or Viva Colombia owned by Conor Swail & Ilan Ferder
• Shane Sweetnam with Buckle Up owned by Shane Sweetnam & The Blue Buckle Group
• 1st Reserve: Darragh Kerins with Thunder D’Amaury owned by Darragh Kerins & Maarten Huygens

Young Rider (U21) Nations Cup team:

• Noelle Barry
• Cormac Hanley
• Paraic Kenny
• Jenny Rankin

Junior (U18) Nations Cup team:

• Philip Carey
• Jennifer Kuehnle
• Conor McMahon
• Jack Ryan

Children On Horses (U14) Nations Cup team:

• John Gallagher
• Dan Geaney
• Caelinn Leahy

You can follow the teams’ progress on the Horse Sport Ireland website, Team Ireland Equestrian Facebook page and on Twitter (@TeamIRLEq)

Timings at Wellington are detailed below.

Friday:

• Senior Nations Cup- Friday 00.00 GMT (Saturday morning)

Saturday:

• Young Rider Nations Cup Round 1 16.00 GMT
• Junior Nations Cup Round 1 18.00 GMT
• Children On Horses Nations Cup Round 1 20.00 GMT
• Children On Horses Nations Cup Round 2 22.00 GMT
• Junior Nations Cup Round 2 23.30 GMT
• Young Rider Nations Cup Round 2 01.00 GMT (Sunday morning)

Sunday:

• Children On Horses Grand Prix 13.00 GMT
• Junior Grand Prix 15.00 GMT
• Young Rider Grand Prix 17.00 GMT
• Grand Prix 19.00 GMT