THERE were plenty of reasons to celebrate in the Irish camp at the FEI European Championships for ponies, held at Le Mans in France last week (July 29th until August 2nd), which saw dressage, show jumping and eventing running side by side.

The Irish contingent brought home team and individual silver medals from both the show jumping and eventing competitions.

Not only did Ted Fagan claim the individual show jumping silver medal, but he also helped his teammates to take the team silver, riding the 10-year-old mare Ballyfore Rosie - all this on his first visit to European Championships for ponies.

Irish show jumping chef d’equipe Denis Flannelly had named his team as Tipperary’s Charlie Flynn on Montana, Westmeath’s Ted Fagan on Ballyfore Rosie, Kilkenny’s Robbie Sheehan on Pjotr van de Groenheuvel and Waterford’s Sam Widger on BP Bon Jovi, as well as Limerick’s Jack Dore on K Little Hero.

Into the lead

Following Wednesday’s horse inspection, show jumping over courses at 1.30m set by Xavier Trouilhet (FRA) commenced on Thursday, with the first qualifying competition.

From a start list of 40, Ted Fagan came out best when winning the class with Ballyfore Rosie, with a clear round in a very fast time of 63.17 seconds.

This put them into the lead individually and, at the same time, put a clear round on the board for the Irish team. It also meant that Ted proceeded on a zero score, with the other competitors’ times measured against his.

Two other Irish riders also finished in the top 10. Sam Widger rode the eight-year-old gelding BP Bon Jovi into fourth place in 70.35, while Robbie Sheehan placed seventh on Pjotr van de Groenheuvel in 70.70.

The Irish team finished the round on a score of 7.35, which put them into the lead of the eight participating teams at that point, ahead of Great Britain in second (14.14) and France in third on 15.79.

Friday saw the second individual competition and the team final being held. In round one, Fagan maintained his clean sheet, while teammates Charlie Flynn on Montana, Widger and Sheehan each picked up four faults, adding eight to the team score.

In round two, Fagan was clear again, with Flynn and Sheehan also keeping a clean sheet, while Widger’s score of four faults was discarded and nothing further was added to the team total of 15.35. Dore did not qualify for the individual final, but jumped a super double clear. Meanwhile, Great Britain’s team members finished on a zero score in both rounds to add nothing to their previous score of 14.14, which was enough to claim the gold medal.

Both teams were quite a margin ahead of Belgium, who had been in fifth position after the first competition on 18.50, but fared better than other teams in the second to finish on a score of 38.50 and take the bronze medal.

The Irish pony show jumping team on the podium after claiming the silver medal at the FEI Jumping European Championship for Ponies in Le Mans \ foto-job.com

Pressure

The pressure was on for the final individual contest, which saw 23 young athletes line up to take on another two rounds of jumping. Fagan had kept his cool throughout and had jumped immaculate clear rounds to sit on a zero score and in the lead going into Sunday’s final. At that stage, Sheehan was in sixth place on 7.76, Widger in ninth on 11.59 and Flynn sat just outside the top 10 on 12.05.

Fagan jumped clear again in the first round and pulses were racing as he took to the arena for the last time and the Irish contingent jumped every fence with him as he flew round again… But it wasn’t to be this time, as a pole fell and he picked up four faults, putting him into second place behind Sophie Rogers (GBR) on Neil 55, who finished just fractions ahead on 3.63 to take the gold medal. Another British rider, Lucia Nicole Caroline on Holly Blue took bronze on a final score of 4.65. Widger placed fifth for Ireland on 11.59, closely followed by Flynn in sixth on 12.05.

Delighted

“I’m absolutely delighted to come home with two silver medals from the European Championships in Le Mans, France,” Ted Fagan told The Irish Field. “The standard was incredibly high, so to stay clear over four rounds of jumping makes it even more special.

“This time last year, I never thought Ballyfore Rosie and I would make a European team, but we’ve come such a long way together, winning multiple national and international classes, including the Sentower Grand Prix in April this year. Rosie was amazing all week and handled everything so well. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner.

Ted continued: “I’d like to thank my coach, Brian Cassidy, and everyone at Ballypatrick. Also thanks to Denis Flannelly, Liz Brennan, HSI and the team sponsors for giving me the opportunity to represent my country and to my teammates and friends, who made our trips away so special. Also to Amy and the extended team at Mullingar equestrian centre and, lastly, my family - especially my parents, who have helped me achieve my goals.”