THE first Irish Horse World front page photograph of 2025 (Saturday, January 4th) was a hunting one featuring a grey, Catherine Power having caught Olympian Michael Ryan, who was hunting hounds that day, jumping a hedge from the Scarteens’ meet at Knockcarron.
A week later, Siobhan English’s photograph also featured a grey hunter, but this one was partnered side saddle by well-known show horse rider Maria McNamara who was looking incredibly stylish out with the East Galways.
Myles Harney, whipper-in with the Limerick Harriers, took centre stage on January 18th jumping off a big double bank on a chesnut and, keeping it all on an even-keel, Grainne Davoren was photographed clearing a drain riding a bay side saddle at the Tara Harriers’ ladies meet on January 25th.
On Saturday, February 8th, Clodagh Spain was depicted dismounting Frankie Dettori-style from a bay at the North Tipperarys’ meet at Puckane while, seven days later, Phonsie Wardell and the Connemara mare Ballybrit Kate showed plenty of energy jumping a hedge during the Kildare Foxhounds’ meet from Cut Bush.
We were missing a grey until Saturday, March 1st when first whipper-in David Beecher, moving up into the huntsman’s role for the Co Limerick Foxhounds’ meet at Lough Gur, was photographed jumping a hunt fence set in a hedge and then we finally got a coloured horse, a skewbald to be exact, at the Islands’ closing meet of the season where Anna Ruth was caught hailing a cab by Aoife Kavanagh.
Hunting returned to the front page on November 1st when 10-year-old Tommy O’Hanlon was seen jumping off a bank on his coloured pony when out with the Scarteens from Murroe.
The following Saturday there was a great shot of Robyn O’Reilly and Kitty Aspel jumping a wall upsides on their two grey ponies at the opening meet of the Tipperary Foxhounds.
The opening meet of the Kildare Foxhounds was depicted on the Irish Horse World cover of November 15th by huntsman Padhraic Moynihan moving off with hounds from Dunmurry. Two weeks later an Alex Heffernan shot of Jessica O’Leary jumping off a bank when hunting with the Wicklow Foxhounds took centre stage.
We had two grey horses tackling a drain while out with the Kildare Foxhounds on the front page of December 6th, one doing so with aplomb under Jasper Kelly while the other, strangely going in the opposite direction, wasn’t doing so.
Our stars
Lorraine O’Sullivan’s photograph on the front page of the Irish Horse World on Saturday, February 1st was of the winners of the 2024 The Irish Field/Irish Horse World and Gain Equine Nutrition awards at The K Club following the annual lunch. There were two full pages of photographs inside.
There were two front pages on Saturday, April 5th. One an eventing shot, which is mentioned elsewhere, while the other, which fronted the Sport Horse Stallions Guide, featured Derryglen Stud’s Kafka vh Heffinck.
As he covers a lot of Irish Pony Club activities, Mel Doyle’s photographs rarely make the front page but, on Saturday, June 21st, there was a brilliant shot of the youngest competitor at the national minimus championships at Killossery Lodge Stud, six-year-old Faye Doran of the Killinick Branch, clearing a cross-country fence on the 18-year-old Canoy.
Osca Photography was on duty for the Dressage Ireland national championships at Ballindenisk where Kevin Acres claimed the Grand Prix with Ganesh, earning the combination front page status on September 6th.
Just over a month later, there was a contrasting shot of Chloe Conneely and her skewbald gelding Clifford galloping through the water’s edge at the County Galway Hunt pre-season beach ride.
It was a matter of two for the price of one on October 18th as Emma Carton and Gavin Morrissey were captured jumping upsides at the Culmullen cross-country chase.
As this piece started so shall it end with the front page of December 13th featuring a collage of some of the 2025 The Irish Field/Irish Horse World and Gain Equine Nutrition award winners at The K Club. Again, there were two full pages of photographs inside.
Clodagh Spain dismounts after a great day with the North Tipperary Foxhounds with Lough Derg in the background \ Catherine Power
Show jumping
Supplied by the FEI for the front page of the Irish Horse World on Saturday, February 22nd, Martin Dokupil’s brilliant photograph of the water jump at Abu Dhabi was further enhanced as it was being jumped by Jason Foley on Chedington Hazy Toulana, members of the Irish team who won the first leg of the 2025 Longines League of Nations.
The next photograph of a show jumper to feature, on March 22nd, came from the other side of the world, Wellington in Florida, where Sportfot captured Tim Brennan on his way to landing a $50,000 Under 25 Grand Prix on Diadema Della Caccia.
The next month, it was back to Abu Dhabi and on Saturday, April 19th, Helen Cruden’s shot featured Cian O’Connor following his second-place finish on the grey Iron Man in the 1.60m President’s Cup.
The following day, Jumpinaction covered the TRM/Showjumpers Club Spring Tour Final at CoilÓg and Ciara Bryne’s photograph of Robin Carey winning the overall final and league on Luicruz featured on the front page of April 26th.
Photographed by Tori O’Connor, one of the country’s younger show jumpers, Alayna Hawkins claimed the limelight on May 12th as winner of the 138cms six and seven-year-old qualifier RDS Dublin Horse Show qualifier at The Meadows on Kiltiernan Silver Sally. Staying in Northern Ireland, Jessica Burke’s win with Express Trend in the CSI2* Grand Prix at Balmoral featured two weeks later.
A regular front page star in 2023, Niamh McEvoy didn’t make the cover of the Irish Horse World in 2025 until Saturday, June 7th when she did so on board Olympic GI Fvd following their win in the CSI2* at Mullingar five days earlier.
That run of female show jumpers was brought to an end the following weekend when the team of Cian O’Connor, Tom Wachman, Seamus Hughes Kennedy and Bertram Allen, along with chef d’equipe Michael Blake, stood tall on the podium at La Baule following their win in the CSIO5* Nations’ Cup.
A collage of action shots of Tabitha Kyle, Paddy Reape, Alice Wachman and Emily Moloney took centre stage on Saturday, July 12th following their team gold medal win at the European Junior show jumping championships in Riesenbeck. A bit like buses, we had another collage from the German venue seven days later, again those Junior riders featured as did the silver medal-winning Young Riders team of Niamh McEvoy, Tom Wachman, Coen Williams, Timmy Brennan and Max Foley.
Thanks to Tadhg Ryan Bit-Media, another young rider, 16-year-old Senan Reape, had the front page of the Irish Horse World of August 2nd to himself following his first CSI2* Grand Prix win at the Millstreet International Horse Show with Creevagh Special. The slightly older Darragh Kenny appeared on page one of this Saturday’s 40-page Dublin Horse Show guide which was re-produced on the front page of The Irish Field itself.
Racing took a backseat again the following Saturday to show jumping, showing and fashion with Cian McMunn (team silver and individual gold) and Charlie Flynn (team silver medallist) claiming the honours on the cover of the Irish Horse World following their exploits in the European pony show jumping championships at Le Mans.
At the recent The Irish Field/Irish Horse World awards lunch, where she was crowned the Gain Equine Nutrition Star of the Year, Niamh McEvoy said her most memorable win of 2025 was her first ever 5* victory which came on Flora du Mesnil in the Dublin Stakes at the RDS.
Ballypatrick Stables-based McEvoy won six classes at this year’s Dublin Horse Show and while her three young horse championships successes were covered inside the paper, Aisling-Creative’s photograph of the Tyrone native and Flora du Mesnil on their victory lap in the Main Arena appeared on the front page of the Irish Horse World of August 16th.
It took some time for Mikey Pender to feature on the front page this season but, on board HHS Private Ryan, he did so on October 4th following their gold medal victory in the five-year-old final of the FEI WBFSH Jumping World Breeding Championships for Young Horses in Lanaken. Co Down’s Conor Swail got his turn on November 22nd after he landed the CSI5* Longines Jumping World Cup on Casturano at Toronto.
As the year drew to a close, one of the country’s top young riders, Tim Brennan, claimed the limelight on Saturday, December 20th having won the U25 Grand Prix in Geneva on the grey mare Diadema Della Caccia.
Susie Berry won the CCI2*-S at Thoresby with Wild Atlantic Way \ Tim Wilkinson EquiConsulting
Eventing
Taken seven days earlier, an Anne Hughes photograph of Ava McKay and the grey Cloonalee Tomboy featured on the front page of the Irish Horse World on Saturday, March 15th following the annual pre-season two-phase event run by the Northern Region of Eventing Ireland at Tyrella.
The campaign proper got under way at the Co Down venue on March 22nd and the following Saturday, the front page carried a photograph of Co Kilkenny-based John Tilley jumping one of the MINS parallel fences on his way to winning the EI115 (Open) on Licence To Cooley.
The eventers were on a roll as Tim Wilkinson’s shot of Irish Olympic rider Susie Berry appeared on the cover on April 5th following her win on Wild Atlantic Way of the CCI2*-S at Thoresby.
The first Saturday of the following month also starred an England-based Irish rider on the front page and this was Padraig McCarthy who featured in a Pam Cunningham Irish Eventing Times shot as he won the featured CCI4*-L at Ballindenisk.
Your chances of making the front page of the Irish Horse World are greatly helped if you’re on a grey as was Austin O’Connor on Saturday, May 17th when Nigel Goddard’s shot captured him celebrating his third-place finish at Badminton on Colorado Blue.
Two weeks later, and thanks to EquusPix, readers had the rare sighting one page one of a palomino landing over a hedge following the win of the Kim O’Gorman-ridden Californian Wolf in the EI115 at Hillcrest.
Co Meath’s Stephanie Stammschroer only competed in four Eventing Ireland one-days this year but her last-time-out win with Master Swatch in the EI115 (Open) at Grove brought her to the attention of readers on Saturday, June 28th thanks to Louise O’Brien.
Momo Sheehy and another grey eventer, HHS Noble Call, graced the front page of August 30th, following their eighth-place finish in the European Young Riders eventing championships at Strzegom, Poland where they helped Ireland to a team silver medal. And again, if you are Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue, a second-place finish at Burghley will get you feature coverage on September 13th.
A week later, and thanks to Lyndsey Robinson, eventing once held sway through Patrick Whelan and MBF Corbeagh, winners of the EI110 (Open) at Flowerhill (2).
Eventing ruled again on September 27th through the efforts of Ian Cassells, Robbie Kearns, Padraig McCarthy and Aoife Clark on two greys and two bays who claimed the team silver medal at the European eventing championships at Blenheim Palace. Cassells had the stage to himself on October 25th jumping one of the stunning fences at Le Lion d’Angers en route to winning the silver medal in the CCI2*-L for six-year-olds on Ruthland Flamenco; he finished in the bronze medal position in the CCI3*-L for seven-year-olds with Noa W.
Showing
Sagittarian Photography was on site for the Show of the East at Greenogue Equestrian at the beginning of April and their photograph of the lead rein show hunter pony championship winner Zara Butler with her mother Mary and Ballinacarrig Tyrion graced the front page of Saturday, April 12th.
The next showing photograph to make the cover of the Irish Horse World (on Saturday, July 5th) was Susan Finnerty’s shot of Emily Woods on her side-saddle champion Coco Carel at Charleville show.
Hollycreek Sir Sydney had his eyes closed but a delighted and wide-awake Caitlin McMullon held a cup aloft in Rynes Walker’s photograph of the celebrations following their wins in the mini championship and supreme ridden pony championship at Sligo County Show.
On Saturday, August 23rd, a clenched fist in the air marked Grace Maxwell Murphy’s victory in the ridden championship at the 100th Connemara Pony Show at Clifden on board the stallion Glencarrig Douvan, also winner of the supreme in-hand title at the Co Galway showgrounds.