Isabel Hurley

THE Irish event team were congratulated on their performance at WEG where their sixth place finish earned them qualification for the Rio Olympic Games in 2016.

Chairman of Horse Sport Ireland Pat Wall expressed his delight at the eventing team’s achievement in Normandy. The entire Irish team was mounted on Irish Sport Horses.

“Full compliments to our Irish team and to eventing coach Nick Turner for qualifying for Rio. We came back with a great result going forward to 2016. This is fantastic as now that Ireland’s eventers have qualified for the Olympics, it makes it so much easier to plan and to train for that major event, rather than be running around trying to qualify. An owner is much more likely to keep his or her horse and it’s so much easier from a training point of view and indeed easier for sponsorship too,’’ Pat Wall told The Irish Field.

“Things could have gone a little better in WEG for our team overall in terms of having just that little bit of luck that you need at these events. Fenyas Elegance apparently lost a shoe in the dressage and got a bit excited and with a bit of luck there, we could well have picked up a better score there.

“Sarah (Ennis) and Joseph Murphy were brilliant in the show jumping but every single one of the Irish team and the back-up support played their part in gaining us Olympic qualification. The ground conditions in Normandy were like what you get in Ireland, the cross-country was a fair test but our horses rose to the challenge. It’s very important that our team did well in cross-country as Ireland produces so many eventers.

“It was great to see the huge support from the amount of Irish people who travelled to WEG to support our teams,’’ said Wall.

Irish Eventing High Performance Manager Nick Turner said: “I’m absolutely delighted with the team over the last few days. Each of them have encountered at least one challenging situation but all have shown great determination to deliver Olympic qualification for Ireland. I am extremely proud of all of the riders and am grateful to them all as well as their owners and grooms.

“I would also like to say a special thanks to my support crew that have worked tirelessly in the background: Terry Boon (dressage coach), Ian Fearon (show jumping coach), Hugh Suffern (veterinary surgeon) and Nigel Perrott ( farrier). This was a huge achievement considering the nations that were placed behind us,’’ said Turner.

Tragic loss of talented Wild Lone

SADLY the cross-country course exacted a heavy toll for Team GB. Harry Meade’s talented campaigner, the brave Irish-bred Wild Lone died shortly after completing the course.

Owned by Peter and Charlotte Opperman, the 13-year-old gelding had completed the course clear with 26.4 time penalties to slot into 25th place. The pair had finished Friday’s dressage test in 88th place.

Meade had just dismounted Wild Lone after the cross-country when the horse collapsed and died shortly afterwards despite best veterinary efforts to help him.

As per FEI Veterinary Regulations, a post mortem will be carried out to establish the cause of death, thought most likely to have been a heart attack.

Professor Yves Rossier, the FEI’s Foreign Veterinary Delegate at the event, reported that all other horses finished the course in good condition.

Wild Lone, who finished third in Badminton, was bred by Galway’s Dr P.J. Geraghty and was by Doranstown Hallo out of Cloverbeg.

The horse was looked after at WEG by his devoted groom Jess Errington.

Meade claimed the ground conditions played no part in the horse’s death. He said: “I want to make a statement to say the ground conditions and terrain played no part in what happened. Wild Lone has completed five four-stars, he hasn’t missed any work and he was as fit as he has ever been. He gave me a wonderful ride.

“I’ve ridden him since he was a four-year-old. I said to my father (Olympic gold medallist Richard Meade), when he was a six-year-old, that he could be the best cross-country horse in the world and I think he probably was.”

Traffic and muck detract from WEG

TRAFFIC woes and the sodden ground combined in Normandy to send some international visitors home with a headache and a sour taste in their mouths.

Rain had deluged the cross-country at Haras du Pin leading to heavy going and mud galore but while little can be done about that, it was the traffic nightmare that irked many visitors along with complaints over toilet facilities and food outlets.

Three and four hour traffic snarl-ups were common leading to inevitable frustration among spectators.

Some Kiwi visitors were gridlocked for three hours, only getting to spend three hours at the venue before they faced more gridlock for a further two hours.

Other visitors were stuck in traffic for almost five hours and described their experience as “absolute madness”.

Another was four hours in traffic and gave up, returning to watch the action on a big screen in a nearby village.

Other people abandoned their cars on the roadside after making little progress in three hours, walking the last 6kms to the venue, missing their eventing heroes as a result.

A bus load of Germans travelled 40 hours to the venue but only arrived in time to see the last few competitors before they had to face the marathon return journey.

Other WEG visitors posted negative online comments about food availability and the near open-air toilets which were also in short supply. One person posted there were only 100 toilets for 50,000 visitors.