Isabel Hurley
OFFICIALLY opened by Agriculture Minister Michael Creed on Tuesday night, international action has been buzzing at Millstreet all week for the FEI Young Rider, Junior and Children on Horses European Championships.
A parade of 28 nations through the town created a colourful spectacle before a night of music and celebrations signalled the start to a week of competitive action which will reach a climax this weekend.
The Green Glens is packed with over 150 horseboxes alone this week sporting badges from all over Europe with almost 300 riders taking part.
The three indoors and 16 all-weather arenas were all buzzing with action and for the first time, the championship action is available to watch live on ClipMyHorse.tv while the feature classes are available to FEI subscribers on FEI TV.
Teams came from near and far including riders from Austria, Britain, Germany, Croatia, Spain, Italy, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Turkey and Ukraine.
There was joy for the Spanish Children On Horses team when they landed the win on Thursday to take the gold team medal with Germany eventually taking silver and the Italians bronze.
On Tuesday, six nations went clear in this category: France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Hungary and Poland - with Austria and Spain on one penalty apiece. Belgium, Denmark, Norway and Russia were all bunched closely behind, each with just one pole on the floor, with two more rounds to come.
Over 130cms tracks designed by Switzerland’s Gerard Lachat, 10 teams made it into the second round: Spain (1), Germany (4), Hungary (4), Italy (4), Britain (4), France (8), Austria (9), Russia (13) and Denmark (16). Spain stayed completely clear in round two to finish on just one penalty overall. Germany and Italy stayed on four penalties, triggering a jump-off for the silver and bronze. With the nerves getting the better of the Italian team, the Germans took silver and the Italians took the last spot on the podium.
Friday morning’s action for the juniors featured 1.40m tracks with 13 fences and 16 jumping obstacles in all, with the last line featuring the water causing problems for many riders.
With a jump-off for the medals, the Belgium junior team took gold with Italy claiming silver and Britain taking the bronze.
The Irish young rider team were leading as round two got underway yesterday afternoon as we went to press (results and reports next week).
The weekend action at Millstreet features the individual finals and promises to bring action at the Green Glens to a thrilling close with the Children on Horses Individual Championship starting at 12.30pm, while Sunday will see the Young Rider Individual Championship start at 10.30am, followed by the Junior Individual Championship at 2.30pm. Main sponsors of the European Championships include Devenish Nutrition and Failte Ireland.
Meanwhile, the annual Millstreet International Horse Show is on August 9th-14th, entries are now open online, and this year’s show boasts a prize fund of some €190,000. There is more information available from www.millstreethorseshow.ie