IRISH pony riders dominated at the International Pony Show in Opglabbeek, Belgium, last weekend where a second place finish in the Nations Cup was followed by a 1-2-3 in last Sunday’s Grand Prix.

In Saturday’s Pony Nations Cup, Gary Marshall’s Irish team of Ciaran Nallon (Rexter D’Or), Lucy Shanahan (Caliber-De), Kate Derwin (Cul Ban Mistress (CP)) and Seamus Hughes Kennedy (Cuffesgrange Cavalidam (ISH)) finished in second place on the podium with a team total of eight faults, just one fence off the winning Belgium team on four faults.

Hughes Kennedy and anchor rider Kate Derwin both produced fabulous double clear rounds, of which there were only five in the competition. Nallon returned with two fences down in round one but improved in the second round, just picking up four faults, while Shanahan produced two solid jumping round, with four faults both times out.

The Netherlands took third place on the podium with a total of 10 faults.

On Sunday, the riders continued their domination when green jackets filled the podium of the International Pony Grand Prix.

From 47 starters, eight combinations produced a first round clear. Remarkably, four riders went on to jump a second clear against the clock and the three fastest of those were all Irish. Riding the Clive Swindell-owned nine-year-old Connemara Pony, Cul Ban Mistress (Silver Shadow x Dunloughan Lad), Kate Derwin crossed the line clear in 35.32 to take the winners trophy and €750. Derwin’s win comes less than a month after she won the Fontainebleau Grand Prix in French in April with the same mount.

Ciaran Nallon and Kate Wachman’s Rexter D’Or (Dexter Leam Pondi (CP) x Elf d’OR) were just under a second slower in 36.17 seconds to take the runner-up spot, while Lucy Shanahan and Sandra Duffy’s Caliber-De completed the Irish clean sweep by finishing third, with a double clear in 36.86 seconds.

Speaking to The Irish Field, pony team manager Gary Marshall said: “May 14th (Sunday) was my birthday and the riders said to me ‘we’re going to give the best birthday present’. Then they went in, against some of the top riders in Europe, and fought their hearts out. It was a big show and designed by one of the world’s top course builders in Frank Rothenburg. They went in there and gave me the one, two, three.

“This year, unlike last year, there is a lot of good ponies in the country, so we have good mounts going forward.”

Marshall added: “Even in the Grand Prix, there was medal-winning ponies there getting eliminated, that illustrates how tough the track was. The parents were so upbeat, and it was a good upbeat feeling. In the Nations Cup, we were so unlucky, there was only one fence between us. It really was a fantastic show.”