Horse Sport Ireland show jumping team manager Rodrigo Pessoa has announced a shortlist of horses and riders for this years Longines FEI European Show Jumping Championships, which take place at Gothenburg in Sweden from August 21st to 27th.

The Irish show jumping team for the European Championships will be sponsored by Devenish and The Underwriting Exchange.

The shortlisted riders will be working together with Rodrigo Pessoa over the coming months and to implement their plans ahead of the Championships in conjunction with the team manager.

The Irish shortlist of riders for the 2017 Longines European Show Jumping Championships in alphabetical order are:

Bertram Allen with Hector Van D'Abdijhoeve (owned by Noel Delahunty) & Molly Malone V (owned by Ballywalter Farms)

Mark McAuley with Utchan De Belheme (owned by Jocelyn Berthelot)

Shane Breen with Golden Hawk (owned by Prince Sultan & Breen Equestrian)

Cian O'Connor with Good Luck (owned by Adena Springs & Ronnoco Jump Ltd)

Daniel Coyle with Cita (owned by Susan & Ariel Grange) & Grafton (owned by Susan and Ariel Grange)

Denis Lynch with All Star 5 (owned by Thomas Straumann & Denis Lynch) & RMF Echo (owned by Rushy Marsh Farm LLC)

Shane Sweetnam with Chaqui Z (owned by Spy Coast Farm LLC & Shane Sweetnam)

Rodrigo Pessoa, who will announce his final squad of five riders closer to the Championships, said: "After six months of getting to know the horses and riders it is not easy to come up with a shortlist. We have a lot of depth of talent an plenty of riders to choose from but at some stage need to draw line and make our choice. Typically the the squad show up for themselves with their performances but we will be very vigilant over the coming weeks in watching all their performances before we pick the final team. Ultimately our aim at the European Championships will be to fight for a medal - that has to be our objective."

The European Championships are held every two years and all show jumping competitions at the 2017 Championships will be held at the 40,000-seater Ullevi Stadium in the heart of Gothenburg. Championship medals will be awarded in both team and individual competitions. The last European Championships were held at Aachen, Germany in 2015 where The Netherlands claimed the team gold medal while Dutch rider Jeroen Dubbeldam also took individual gold.

Ireland won the European Championship team gold medal once before, at Arnhem in The Netherlands, in 2001 with a team that included Kevin Babington, Jessica Kürten, Peter Charles and Dermott Lennon. Ireland won the team bronze medal in 1979 with the team on that occasion being John Roche, Gerry Mullins, Con Power and Eddie Macken. Peter Charles won the individual European Championship gold medal for Ireland in 1995, while Eddie Macken won the individual silver medal in 1977.

Ireland will also send two Under 25 riders to Gothenburg for the Lövsta Future Challenge. Twenty show jumping riders from 10 nations will compete in both team and individual competitions. Irish Development Team Manager Michael Blake will select two Irish Under 25 riders to send to Gothenburg in the coming months.