THE year 2023 proved to be one of highs and lows for Ireland’s international dressage riders. Appropriately on St Patrick’s Day, Irish Olympian Anna Merveldt made a good start to her season, with a podium finish for second place in the Grand Prix class at the three-star show in Ornago, Italy. April saw Merveldt score 74.425% for second place in the Grand Prix Kür in Gössendorf, Austria. Anna then clinched a rare Irish international dressage victory, winning the Grand Prix Kür in Ornago in May with the 14-year-old Lusitano stallion Esporim.

Amsterdam-based Irish rider Jennifer Harnett and her 14-year-old Lusitano stallion Eximio scored 68.085% for second place in the Grand Prix Special at the three-star show in Sint-Truiden, Belgium, in the first week of April. The same month, Sophia Doheny (14) set a new Irish record, with Enrico, as the youngest Irish rider to compete in a Grand Prix class at the CDN show in Le Mans, France.

Sweet summer

In May, Horse Sport Ireland announced that Anne Marie Dunphy would replace Johann Hinnemann as High Performance Director for Senior Dressage, while retaining her post as Youth Dressage High Performance Director. At the end of the month, Dubliner Kevin Acres and Con McCarthy’s 12-year-old KWPN gelding Ganesh delivered a career-best international performance for third place in the Grand Prix Special class at the three-star show in Lipica, Slovenia. 2023 proved to be a breakthrough season for Acres, as he was also crowned the new national champion at Mullingar Equestrian in September.

County Waterford native Lilly Larkin had a memorable weekend at the Haras de Jardy international pony dressage show in France in June. She posted her first international win in the FEI Pony Freestyle to Music class with the 18-year-old Dutch-bred Welsh pony Blokland Hoeve’s Amor scoring a personal best of 72.550% for an impressive third podium finish at the show. The first ever Irish Junior team of Cillian Curran, Sophia Doheny and Jessica Grogan competed at the European Championships in Kronberg, Germany, in July finishing in 15th place. July also saw the Irish pony team of Oscar O’Connor, Lilly Larkin and Laragh Byrne place 13th at the Europeans in Le Mans, France.

Abi Lyle and the 12-year-old Fabregas gelding Farrell placed third in the Grand Prix Kür at Tolbert CDI3*in The Netherlands. Abi then went on to score an international personal best of 75.555% with the 12-year-old KWPN gelding Giraldo for second place in the Grand Prix Kür at the three-star show in Hartpury, Britain, in July.

Despite some technical issues with her music before her freestyle test at Hartpury, Sorrell Klatzko kept her concentration to deliver a top five placing and impressive personal best international score of 74.465% with the 10-year-old Totilas progeny Turbo. Comber-based Carolyn Mellor and her 12-year-old KWPN gelding VSH Gouverneur M made it three Irish in the top nine at Hartpury completing on 69.420%. Competing at just their third big tour international show as a combination, Judy Reynolds and the 13-year-old Westphalian Rockman Royal NG by Rock Forever, owned by former HSI high performance dressage director Johann Hinnemann, placed second in the three-star Grand Prix in Lipica, Slovenia, in May. The new partnership scored 70.217% to slot into second place in the four-star Grand Prix at Neustadt Dosse, Germany, in August. The same month Horse Sport Ireland announced the appointment of Simone Hession as chairperson of the dressage high performance advisory group committee.

Bitter disappointment

In what was undoubtedly the low point of the international season, Ireland’s hopes of qualifying a team for the 2024 Paris Olympics Games were left hanging by a thread at the FEI Dressage European Championships in Riesenbeck, Germany, in September. “Very disappointed with the final outcome” was the verdict of HSI High Performance Director for Senior Dressage, Anne Marie Dunphy. Team Ireland’s woes were apparent before the competition proper got underway. Sorrell Klatzko’s championship jinx continued with Turbo withdrawn after being held in the first horse inspection. The remaining three team riders faced an uphill task. Things took a turn for the worse when Judy Reynolds reported that Rockman Royal NG was “feeling a bit flat” having reacted to an insect bite the evening before his test. Their score of 63.401% put them behind the first Irish combination into the arena, Abi Lyle and Farrell completing on a 64.037% total.

Anna Merveldt and Esporim delivered the best of the Irish scores. Merveldt opted for a short warm up to conserve energy given the heat and scored 67.997%. By this stage, Ireland’s position was irretrievable and they finished bottom of the standings on 195.435%. With Ireland on the periphery of team qualification, the likely focus will be on securing a 2024 Olympic individual dressage slot for an Irish rider to compete at Paris 2024.