THERE was championship fever in the air at the Horse Sport Ireland medal reception in the Druid Glen Hotel in Co Wicklow on Thursday afternoon, as the incredible 12 medals won at youth and senior level in 2018 were celebrated.

Riders and owners travelled from far and wide, including overseas, to attend the uplifting reception, which drove home the enormous amount of equestrian talent Ireland has to offer.

CEO of Horse Sport Ireland, Ronan Murphy opened the afternoon, welcoming guests and acknowledging the owners of team horses, Team Ireland sponsors, High Performance directors, riders and their back room team, as well as Sport Ireland.

“Our successes would not have been possible without the commitments or passion and dedication of our Team Ireland horse owners. The owners of the Irish team horses have played an integral part in the success Team Ireland have had this year and I would like to thank you all for your continued support and generosity,” he said.

The afternoon got underway with the presentation of awards to the gold, silver and bronze medal winners from the World Breeding Championships for young horses. While gold medal winner Richard Howley wasn’t able to make it to Co Wicklow, Tipperary show jumper Darragh Ryan did fly home from his new position as a rider with Cian O’Connor in Germany to collect his prize.

Joanne Hurley of Gain Equine Nutrition, sponsor of the youth teams, presented the underage medal winners with their gifts in recognition of their outstanding achievements. “It is fantastic to see so much talent within the room, to see these kids have the drive and ambition and talent to go out there and represent Irish equestrian sports,” Hurley said.

Sally Corscadden, Ian Fearon and Ian Woodhead were presented with the 2018 Coach of the Year Awards following their achievements as a combined unit at the 2018 World Equestrian Games, taking home a team and individual silver with the senior eventing team.

The senior eventing medal-winning team reflected on their 2018 success before MC Brendan McArdle presented team vet Marcus Swail and farrier Nigel Perrin with a special recognition award for their contribution to the fantastic season, much to the delight of the guests.

Horse Sport Ireland chairman Joe Reynolds delivered the closing speech, again extending his congratulations to all the medal winners. “It was very impressive to watch that team [eventers] working from the fringes of where I was in WEG. We are very lucky that we have a dream team of magic and support staff. When you see the amount of young people who got medals today, you would have to say the sport is in a good place and it looks good for the future.

“The board are working on funding models. We didn’t get the sort of money we wanted in the Budget and it was very disappointing but we are hopeful and expecting that that situation will improve by the time we go to Tokyo,” Reynolds added.

Roll of honour

CHILDREN ON HORSES SHOW JUMPING – TEAM SILVER

Rhys Williams – Individual gold

Lucy Morton

Sarah Fitzgerald

Ciaran Foley

Isobel Hughes-Kennedy

JUNIOR SHOW JUMPING – TEAM BRONZE

Jason Foley – Individual gold

Kate Derwin

Jack Ryan

Harry Allen

Cian Harrison

PONY EVENTING – TEAM SILVER

Sophie Foyle – Individual silver

Chloe Fagan

Isabelle Comerford

Harry Swan

Harry Love

Ava Banahan

PONY SHOW JUMPING

Max Wachman – individual silver

WORLD BREEDING CHAMPIONSHIPS – 5YO

Richard Howley (Uppercourt Cappucino) – GOLD

Darragh Ryan (CSF Sire George) – SILVER

Mikey Pender (HHS Vancouver) – BRONZE

WORLD EQUESTRIAN GAMES – TEAM SILVER

Padraig McCarthy – individual silver

Sarah Ennis

Sam Watson

Cathal Daniels

Patricia Ryan