Irish girls beat Europe’s best to win Dutch Pony Nations Cup

A magnificent performance from an all-girl Irish Under 16 Show Jumping team has seen them win today’s FEI Pony Nations Cup at Wierden in The Netherlands.

(Photo: FotoTrailer/Dutch Youngster Festival & Outdoor Wierden)

The Irish quartet of Orla Duffy (Atlanta), Katie Power (Ghost Rider) Lucy Shanahan (Caliber-De) and Ella Quigley (Clemens) had been in second place at the halfway stage on just two time faults – one fault behind leaders Great Britain. Ireland added just one time fault to their total in the second round to finish on three faults, while Britain had to settle for second when they finished on five faults. The home team from The Netherlands finished third, ahead of Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Belgium and Germany.

Speaking afterwards, Irish Chef d’Equipe Gary Marshall was thrilled to win such a close contest,

“We are over the moon. We were second after the first round and Britain were looking strong. Our last rider Ella Quigley had to keep the pressure on Britain which she did by jumping clear. I really am blessed in the situation that I am in with such a strong pool of riders to choose from. Total it was all about Girl Power!”

Horse Sport Ireland CEO Ronan Murphy added:

“I want to congratulate Gary Marshall and all his team on a fantastic result. It was a hard-fought victory and once again our riders were a credit to themselves, their families and their trainers. I want to especially thank all our Team Ireland Equestrian sponsors who help make results such as these possible.”

Heavy rain at the Dutch venue caused the Junior (U18) Nations Cup to be postponed after just three horses had jumped. The competition is set to resume on Friday morning.