HORSE Sport Ireland announced the appointment of Taylor Vard as show jumping team manager for the FEI World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) World Breeding Championships for Young Horses in Lanaken, Belgium, taking place from September 20-24th.

Vard brings a wealth of experience to the role of chef d’équipe for Lanaken, having acted as chef for the senior show jumping squad on several occasions over the course of the past 18 years.

He has also served in an advisory capacity across a number of High Performance programmes, including for the Irish team which won team gold at the 2017 European Show Jumping Championships in Gothenburg, and is the current deputy chef d’équipe for Michael Blake’s senior squad. This weekend sees Vard manage the team representing Ireland in the EEF Nations Cup Series in Drammen, Norway.

Taylor Vard said: “It is an honour to take up the position chef d’équipe for Lanaken. From my perspective, the World Breeding Championships will be treated no differently to any other Nations Cup or international. I intend to approach Lanaken in the same way and look forward to supporting Irish studbooks, athletes, breeders, owners and the HSI teams for these championships while striving to emulate the reputation and success of the Irish of previous years.”

Sonja Egan, Head of Breeding, Innovation and Development with Horse Sport Ireland, commented: “We are delighted that Taylor has accepted the role of chef d’équipe for the championships in Lanaken. He brings a wealth of experience to support athlete coaching, preparation, and young horse selection for international competition. Taylor has been hugely successfully in supporting the High Performance EEF Nations Cups teams and is leading Ireland’s EEF Nations Cup team in Drammen this week – we wish Team Ireland all the very best.

“We are very much looking forward to working with Taylor in the selection of horse-rider combinations and preparation for the World Breeding Championships.”