RULE Britannia was the theme of the 2021 European eventing championships. Team gold for Great Britain and a clean sweep in the individual medals by Nicola Wilson, Piggy March and Sarah Bullimore.

Who were the winners on the breeding scene? Seven of the top-10 horses represented a German studbook. Two out of three individual medal-winning horses were bred on continental lines; the Holsteiner, JL Dublin and the home-bred Corouet, claimed by the Oldenburg studbook.

Seperating this pair and providing valuable publicity for the Irish Sport Horse is Brookfield Inocent, the horse that vindicated his owner’s decision to not have him travel to Tokyo as reserve horse.

Bred in Wicklow by John Mulvey, the 12-year-old became the 20th Irish Sport Horse on a British medalwinning team at the European championships in this millennium. The number of Irish Sport Horses at the European championships has dropped from 11 two years ago to five last week.

The French have always been self-sufficient in event horses and Germany has since developed their own line of eventers since the era of Ringwood Cockatoo and Twinkle Bee. Breeding successful event horses is still a niche market or happy accident for German breeders but they now have the goods.

The Italian team, another traditional market for Irish-breds, had a mixture of home and French-breds at Avenches.

So it was over to Brookfield Inocent (GB), MP Imagine If One (Shannondale Sarco – Fast Morning Flight, by Errigal Flight. Breeder: John and Patricia (Hassett) McMahon) and a trio on the Irish team: Ballybolger Talisman (Puissance (ISH) [TIH] – Ali Row xx, by Ali Royal. Rosemary Ponsonby), Jewelent (Valent – Bellaney Jewel xx, by Rosalier. Woods Rosbotham) and LEB Lias Jewel (Limmerick (HOLST) – LEB Liath, by Colin Diamond (ISH) [TIH]. Jo Breheny) to represent the ISH suffix this year.

One Traditional Irish Horse (Ballybolger Talisman) at these European championships is a concern for fans of traditional breeding and reflects breeding choices made in the past 30 years. From a marketing viewpoint, the fact that many of the leading British riders, particularly those with a large social media following, are competing continental-breds can influence buying patterns.

However, everything is cyclical. Five years ago, after a lacklustre cross-country day at the Rio Olympics for Team GB, one disconsolate team member remarked “But we brought the best we had, we didn’t leave any horse behind.”

Now the British team could field at least three formidable teams from its rider and horsepower ranks.

Like his Ballybolger namesake, Chris Bartle appears to be a talisman. A gamechanger coach for the German eventing team, he has worked the same magic on his native team since 2017, the year after Team GB’s Rio disappointment.

Years ago at a seminar, one earnest breeder asked the late Tommy Brennan how one could breed another Murphy Himself. His instant reply: “Breed another Ian Stark!”

Riders, team trainers, owners and of course horses all play their part in medal success.

Bloodlines, fashions and medals come and go. Tryon, Luhmühlen and Tokyo all produced great Irish-bred and rider highlights. At Avenches, the Irish medal link came courtesy of a one-mare owner John Mulvey. And that will give hope to other breeders.

WHAT THE BREEDER SAID:

“Gobsmacked! What a weekend it was. Brookfield Inocent didn’t get his chance in Tokyo but I was delighted for Piggy that he got selected for the Euros and knew he had a great chance. He was the only Irish Sport Horse on the team too,” said John Mulvey of his home-bred.

“Winning team gold and individual silver was such a fantastic result. At the same time, we had ‘Ernie’ [Tranquility Bay] jumping for Ireland in Lanaken in the six-year-old final. He looks an exciting horse for the future and we were very, very proud to see him. It’s very exciting to follow his adventure.

“For a small breeder, in the same weekend, to have two home-breds competing at that level, it’s just fantastic!”

DID YOU KNOW?

    • Credit for this snippet goes to John Watson, who recalls that Inocent had the stable next to Puissance at Michael Hutchinson’s yard “and Hermes de Reve was on the other side.”
    • Inocent, a son of the two-time World Cup final winner and US Horse of the Year ‘I Love You’ and out of a Landgraf I dam, produced Brookfield Inocent, while his stable companion Puissance is the sire of Sam Watson’s latest cross-country specialist Ballybolger Talisman. Grovine de Reve, currently the leading Irish Sport Horse in the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) rankings, is by the third of that Ballyquirke Stud-based trio: Hermes de Reve.
    • It will be a close finish in the upcoming WBFSH final rankings for the leading Irish Sport Horse event horse. Grovine de Reve, after consistent results at Pau, Kentucky and Tokyo, finishes the WBFSH calendar year on 278 points. Pre-Avenches, Brookfield Inocent was just 72 points behind.
    • Individual gold medal winner Nicola Wilson was on the British silver medal team at Blair Castle six years ago on the John O’Brien-bred One Too Many NJ (Chacoa). That horse was originally produced by Brookfield Inocent’s breeder, John Mulvey.
    • It was an excellent week of results, from Avenches and Balmoral to Lanaken, for the Rosbotham family’s Valent, the sire of 14th-placed Jewelent.
    • From Imperial Cavalier (Cavalier Royale. Breeder: John Brennan) through to Brookfield Inocent, there has been at least one Irish Sport Horse on every British medal-winning team in the past decade.
    • Chris Bartle was a member of the British gold medal team at the 1997 European championships, hosted at Burghley. His horse was the Irish-bred Word Perfect (Crozier xx. Breeder: Myrtle Crozier) and the pair went on to win Badminton the following year.
    • Team GB bronze medallist Sarah Bullimore was one of only two riders competing on home-breds at these championships. Her medal winner Corouet (Balou du Rouet) is out of Lilly Corinne, the mare Bullimore rode at the 2015 European championships, held on home ground at Blair Castle. The second home-bred at Avenches was Belgium’s Guantanamo van Alsingen (BWP. Wandor van de Mispelaere), bred by rider Kris Vervaecke.
    • This is the second individual silver medal won at the European championships by Piggy March and both with Irish Sport Horses. 12 years ago, she won her first silver with the Wexford-bred Some Day Soon (Kiltealy Spring. Breeder: Donald Murphy).

    • 2021 European Championships medal winners

    Gold – JL Dublin (HOLST. Diarado (HOLST) – Zarinna, by Cantano. Breeder: Volker Göttsche-Götze.

    Silver – Brookfield Inocent (ISH. Inocent (KWPN) – Shalie’s Pet, by Kings Servant. Breeder: John Mulvey.

    Bronze – Corouet (OLD. Balou du Rouet (OLD) – Lilly Corinne, by Lovis Corinth. Breeder: Sarah Bullimore.