THE phenomenon that is Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro added another World Cup victory to their tally of Olympic, World and European titles in Las Vegas last April, leaving Edward Gal and Undercover trailing almost 10% in their wake. Dujardin’s dominance looked to be assured when she notched up winning 85+% scores in both the Grand Prix and the Special at Hartpury CDI in July, and the only question ahead of the Aachen European Championships appeared to be whether Britain could add team gold to the individual medals Dujardin would undoubtedly take home.

In the event, Dujardin and “Blueberry” made some uncharacteristic errors in the Grand Prix, on which the team result is based, although they nonetheless remained at the top of the leader board. Gal was a close second, and his score combined with the efforts of Hans Peter Minderhoud and Diderik van Silfhout allowed Holland to bring home the gold medal. Host nation Germany were left to take the bronze medal in the shadow of scandal, after an unlevel Totilas did not achieve his usual high scores and was withdrawn before the Special.

The scandal did not dissipate during the Grand Prix Special, which would decide the first round of individual medals. Dujardin and Valegro looked back at their spectacular best, but Edward Gal was eliminated after blood was found in Undercover’s mouth. This provided a bittersweet moment for Gal’s partner Minderhoud, as it left the way clear for him to claim his first individual medal, the bronze, behind Dujardin and Germany’s Kristina Broring-Sprehe.

In the freestyle, Broring-Sprehe produced a magnificent and harmonious test on her black stallion Desperados, and when the British combination made some mistakes in the changes it looked as though they might have to settle for second place. As it happened, their artistic marks allowed them to retain their lead by a tiny margin, but ahead of an Olympic year, Broring-Sprehe succeeded in showing that maybe Valegro can be beaten.

Perhaps the sweetest moment of the championships at Aachen came when Spanish rider Beatriz Ferrer-Salat took the bronze medal in the freestyle on Delgado, a horse who has been plagued with injury throughout his career. Their tests epitomised harmony, partnership and elegance, and ahead of Rio, they look like a force to be reckoned with, having won the World Cup Qualifiers in both Lyon and Stuttgart in recent weeks.

IRISH ACTION

Ireland’s Judy Reynolds was unfortunate not to qualify for the Special at the Europeans. With her parent’s 13-year-old gelding Vancouver K, she had displayed spectacular form in the run up to the championships, including podium placings at Rotterdam CDI*** and two top-six finishes at Hagen CDI****. Her Grand Prix score of 69.486% left her just half a mark off the cut.

This partnership’s scores have increased enormously over the last year and their achievements have been reflected in their rapid ascent of the world rankings. After recent top-five finishes at the World Cup qualifiers in both Lyon and Odense, Reynolds and Vancouver K are well on track to achieve qualification for the Rio Olympics next year.

Closer to home, World Equestrian Games team member Roland Tong debuted his rising star Ambience at Hartpury CDI this summer, finishing eighth in the Grand Prix and fifth in the Special. Tong has since notched up several strong international results on Sandra Kirkpatrick’s gelding, among then a fifth in the Special at Saumur CDI*** and a second in the same test at Le Mans CDI***.

Horse Sport Ireland fielded their first full team of four riders at the Pony European Championships in Malmo, Sweden. Led by chef d’equipe Anne Marie Dunphy, Alana Cazabon Sullivan, Robyn O’Neill, Katie Burns and Sofie Walshe acquitted themselves well, and Dunphy is looking forward to channelling the emerging talent next year. Bethany Quinn and Yvette Truesdale’s veteran international campaigner Has To Be Fun represented Ireland at the European Young Rider Championships in Vidauban, France.

NATIONAL LEVEL

The National Winter Finals were the most prominent date in Dressage Ireland’s spring calendar, and once again they offered competitors the opportunity to qualify for the Hickstead Masters. An impressive entry contested two days of tests at Cavan Equestrian Centre, and saw Anne Marie Dunphy emerge as National Winter Champion. Riding her talented black son of Ronaldo, Urbanus, Dunphy scored 67.00% to take a clear victory by a margin of almost 5%.

Results from Cavan gave an indication of what was to come from Ireland’s U25 riders, who enjoyed a year of unprecedented success. Tara Hayes left senior riders trailing in her wake when she won the Novice Category I Championship. She then went on to become U25 National Winter Champion, the first part of a double that would see her repeat this feat at the National Championships in September.

The young Kildare-based rider also led the Irish charge abroad at two high profile shows in the summer months. She took a championship title at the Hickstead Masters, before becoming Novice Pony Champion and being part of the third-placed team at the BYRDS Home International in Richmond, all on board her ultra-consistent campaigner Bantiss Holy Joe.

The Silver Spurs Finals saw yet another victory for Tara Hayes in the pony section, while Killian Murphy topped the leader board in the U12s. Sandra Blake Farrell’s students Kevin Acres and Shannon Cussen took the Junior and U25 classes respectively, while Courtney Stuart topped off a successful year by becoming Open U25 Champion.

Northern Ireland Dressage and the South East Region held festivals at Danescroft, The Meadows and Spruce Lodge respectively. Lucy Adams was unbeatable at Small Tour at both Danescroft and Spruce Lodge on Get-Set, while at The Meadows, Courtney Stuart topped the leader board. At Big Tour, Sandra Blake Farrell also did a double, taking the championships at both Northern venues. The Big Tour championship at the Eurostar SER Classic at Spruce Lodge meanwhile went to Marguerite McSweeney on the home-produced Salancio.

The National Championships at Cavan in September saw many foreign-based Irish riders making the trip home to contest this show. Roland Tong was one of these, and riding Ambience he won his second national title. Judy Reynolds was another, and while Vancouver K was left at home, his stablemate Zigal took all three titles at Small Tour. At the lower levels the standout performance came from Heike Holstein on her homebred mare Sambuca, who, at only six years old, took the medium, advanced medium and advanced medium freestyle titles.

PARA DRESSAGE

Experienced international campaigners Rosemary Gaffney, Helen Kearney, Kate Kerr Horan and Breda Bernie accounted for much of Ireland’s international success this year, and they were joined at the European Championships in Deauville by emerging talent Kathryn Gallagher.

Ahead of the championships, Ireland looked to have a solid chance of securing qualification for the Rio Paralympics. Kearney had enjoyed a successful first international season on her new ride Rock and Roll, regularly scoring 70+% at CPEDIs, while Breda Bernie achieved three podium placings at Bishop Burton on Donal Healy’s former eventer Master Mexico. Newly classified as a Grade III rider after an accident which saw her fracture her leg in over 20 places, Rosemary Gaffney’s form improved throughout the summer, culminating with a win in the Freestyle, again at Bishop Burton. Kathryn Gallagher made a fantastic international debut to finish third in the Freestyle on over 70% there, and World Equestrian Games rider Kate Kerr Horan was consistently successful on board Arlande throughout the year.

Unfortunately both Master Mexico and Gaffney’s ride Aldham Mill Dubloon were side-lined in the immediate run-up to Deauville and the remaining team of Kathryn Gallagher, Kate Kerr Horan, and Helen Kearney did not even have the luxury of a discard score.

Nonetheless they finished 11th as a team, with all riders achieving top-10 placings. Kate Kerr Horan qualified for the freestyle at Grade II and finished sixth. Britain maintained their unbeaten record to take the team gold once again.

For Ireland’s para riders, focus now turns to trying to obtain paralympic qualification through improving their world rankings.