THE list of the 11 teams which will participate in the opening leg of the Longines League of Nations in Abu Dhabi on February 13th has been released, with Ireland among them.

Having won in Dubai last season, the green jackets will be hopeful of repeating the dose on February 13th, with new manager Jessica Kürten blending youth and experience as Trevor Breen is joined in the team by his brother Shane, Mikey Pender and Niamh McEvoy.

Breen will partner Highland President and Pender rides the Irish Sport Horse HHS Los Angeles, the same pairings that helped earn Ireland their success last year.

McEvoy, who picked up a first five-star success at the 2025 Dublin Horse Show, has been in fantastic form and deservedly earns a debut call-up to the five-star ranks.

McEvoy lines up with Olympic GL FVD, with whom she helped Ireland win the three-star Nations Cup in Vejer de la Frontera last October.

Shane Breen makes his Longines League of Nations debut and comes into the series in fine form with BP Arctic Blue (see page 76).

“We are very much looking forward to the opening leg of the Longines League of Nations,” Kürten said.

“It is a team of experienced combinations mixed with younger pairings, and it gives them the chance to make their mark early in the season, in what is a prestigious competition.”

Qualification

The winning team of the previous year’s Final, Great Britain, gains automatic qualification for this year’s League, and in Abu Dhabi the host nation the UAE will also earn a slot to compete.

The remaining nine places go to the nine highest-ranked show jumping nations in the world, which is determined by combining the points of the top-six riders from each nation, including one U25 rider, on the Longines ranking list.

For 2026, the USA, Belgium, Ireland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland and Brazil all made the cut, with the latter returning to the series having been relegated in 2025.

The USA are fielding an all-female team, while winners of the inaugural Longines League of Nations trophy in 2024, Germany, will include Marco Kutscher, Daniel Deusser, Sophie Hinners and Jorne Sprehe.

Reigning champions, Great Britain, meanwhile are putting forward a young team of newcomer Jodie Hall McAteer, alongside Tim Gredley, Joe Stockdale and Jack Whitaker.

The series, which was rebranded in 2024, will consist of four qualifying events. After Abu Dhabi, they are Ocala in March, Rotterdam in June, and St Tropez in September, before the final again takes place in Barcelona in October.