Tipperary showjumper helps Irish Young Rider Eventing team win silver!

The GAIN Equine Nutrition Irish Young Rider (under 21) Eventing team had a stellar performance at the FEI Young Rider Eventing Championship in Montelibretti, Italy, to claim the team silver medal and Kildare native Alannah Kelly won individual bronze.

Sue Shortt’s team of Alannah Kelly, Heather O’Connor, Godfrey Gibbons and Chloe Fagan got off to a strong start after the opening dressage phase, sitting in second place. Saturday’s cross country proved testing and Ireland rose to the challenge moving into the top spot.

Westmeath’s Chloe Fagan also moved from individual silver after dressage to individual gold post cross-country. Unfortunately, a small injury to her own Comte Ligniere Z meant she did not complete the final phase.

Following Fagan’s withdrawal Ireland moved into team bronze, behind Germany and home nation Italy.

With very small margins between the top three teams, it was still all to play for.

Clear rounds in the show jumping phase were not common, with only four riders jumping clear and three of these riders exceeded the time allowed.

One fence down for Kelly and the Irish Sport Horse Cooley Bounce, owned by Caroline Kelly, saw her move up the leaderboard to finish on the podium in third place.

Individual athlete and Tipperary native, Daniel Meagher, riding James Meagher’s A Classic Sportfield (ISH), had a brilliant championship debut finishing on a score of 39.6 in fifth place.

Galway’s Gibbons riding Milchem Free Spirit (ISH) had two fences down in the final phase to finish in seventh place individually. Waterford’s Heather O’Connor and HSH Has It All (ISH) finished 12^th.

Ireland’s success in the show jumping arena saw them move up a place on podium to claim the team silver medal.