THE 2025 Irish Horse World Awards took place at The K Club in Co Kildare today, December 9th. Stars of the sport gathered and were honoured for their achievements throughout the year in front of industry stakeholders and members of the media.
The Irish Field/Gain Equine Nutrition Star of the Month winners were also awarded on the day.
The winners were:
The Irish Field Dressage rider of the year: Katie Reilly
Grade III international para dressage, 17-year-old Katie Reilly and the former Olympic medal-winning mare Keystone Dawn Chorus made their international debut in Doha, Qatar in February 2025. They scored five international wins at the CPEDI3* shows in Wellington Heckfield and Hartpury in Britain, including an international personal best score of 75.194% in the Para Grand Prix Freestyle III at Hartpury in July.
Remarkably, at the age of just 17, Katie represented Ireland at her second consecutive European Championships in Ermelo, The Netherlands in September. She was a member of the Irish team that placed a fantastic eighth at the Europeans and she and Keystone Dawn Chorus scored 72.167% for an impressive sixth place in the Grade III Grand Prix championship class.
Katie is the highest ranked under 18 para dressage rider in the world, ranked third in the Grade III word rankings and is the highest Irish rider on the overall para dressage world ranking list. A native of Ticknevin, County Kildare, she is now based in the UK.
The Irish Field Senior Eventer of the year: Ian Cassells
Ian Cassells had an extraordinary year to remember in 2025. His championship debut aboard Millridge Atlantis ended in a team silver medal for the Irish eventing team which marked the first European eventing team medal in 30 years, and a 14th place finish individually after three strong phases.
Just a few weeks later, Ian went to the WBFSH World Breeding Championships for young horses in Le Lion d’Angers where he set a record achievement for an Irish rider when winning a medal in both age divisions. Cassells won silver in the six-year-old championship on Rutland Flamenco and bronze in the seven-year-old class on Noa W.
Among his other top international results was third in the four-star long at Ballindenisk with Millridge Atlantis and 13th at Badminton with Master Point. He is now ranked 17th in the world rankings, second best of the Irish riders.
On the domestic circuit, he won both divisions of the EI115 at Crecora in July, the EI110 A at Ballindenisk in May with Rutland Flamenco and the EI110 in Tyrella with Noa W, among many many other places from a his impressive string of horses. He is based in Newcastle, Co Dublin and has become a force to be reckoned with.
The Irish Field Junior eventer of the year: Momo Sheehy
2025 was somewhat of a breakout year for Co Cork’s Momo Sheehy who is The Irish Field Junior eventer of the year for 2025. She kicked off her year by winning two EI115s at Tyrella and went on to score at international level in the CCI3*-L at Ballindenisk International. She was selected for the Young Rider Championships in Strzegom, Poland where she helped the Irish win team silver with a vital clear show jumping round on the final day which also saw her finish best of the Irish in eighth place with HHS Noble Call.
She also showed her class and talent when finishing ninth at four-star level in Millstreet and made her senior team debut Nations Cup final in Boekelo, also riding HHS Noble Call. Her performances saw her rise to fourth place in the young rider world rankings.
The Irish Field Senior show jumper of the year: Daniel Coyle
For the second year in-a-row, The Irish Field Senior show jumper of the year is Daniel Coyle. Daniel was the most successful Irish rider in 2025 with 20 international wins, of which seven came at the five-star level. He scored a further 39 podium places across the year, 16 of them at the highest five-star level. Those five-star wins include the Queen Elizabeth II Cup Grand Prix at the prestigious Spruce Meadows, Calgary, in July with Incredible, and that pair also won the CSIO4* Grand Prix in Vancouver in May where they were on the winning Nations Cup team.
Who could forget the first day at the Longines FEI European Championships in A Coruna in July when he stormed to win the speed class with Legacy before going on to win the 3* Grand Prix at the venue. Multiple other top results with Farrell and Legacy, sees him finish out the year ranked number 10 in the world and this week he will compete in the Rolex Top 10 final in Geneva for the very first time.
The Irish Field Junior show jumper of the year: Emily Moloney
17-year-old Kilkenny show jumper Emily Moloney produced a stunning performance over four days at the FEI Junior European championships in Riesenbeck, Germany to win both team and individual gold riding Temple Alice, owned by her father Eddie and TSI Equestrian. The pair were one of just two combinations to keep a clean sheet over the course of the championship to be crowned the European champions.
Just last month, Emily won the 1.40m Junior Grand Prix at Sentower Park aboard Tick A Lu, as well as a 1.30m and a 1.25m class on Cruising on the Ridge, the same horse who won two international classes at Lier in September. Other international wins include at CSI2* Mullingar and at Sentower Park in April. Emily also had much success on the national circuit including a 1.35m Spring Tour Grand Prix win last February. Hailing from Warrington in Co Kilkenny, Emily comes from a dynasty of show jumpers.
Full report on the day's events will appear in the Irish Field this Saturday.
STAR OF THE MONTH WINNERS
JANUARY: Courtney Akkari
FEBRUARY: Emily Moloney
MARCH: Tim Brennan
APRIL: Irish pony team
MAY: Nancy Lyons Teehan
JUNE: Niamh McEvoy
JULY: Emily Moloney
AUGUST: Cian McMunn
SEPTEMBER: Sarah Ennis
OCTOBER: Donal Callery
NOVEMBER: Irish show jumping team
OVERALL: Niamh McEvoy