THE dates and venues for the Irish show jumping team’s 2020 Longines FEI Nations Cup campaign in Europe Division 1 have been confirmed, with Ireland’s first points-scoring outing under new manager Michael Blake coming at La Baule in France on Friday May 15th.

That will be quickly followed by Ireland’s second opportunity to collect points the following weekend at St Gallen in Switzerland, before Ireland’s third round of action at Rotterdam in The Netherlands from June 18th to 21st.

Each team has four points-scoring opportunities in Europe Division 1, with Ireland’s last chance to gain points coming on home soil in the Aga Khan at the Dublin Horse Show, which this year takes place on the much earlier dates of July 15th to 19th.

While not part of the European Division 1 Nations Cup Series, Ireland will be in Nations Cup action as early as mid February, with Michael Blake leading out a team at Deeridge in Florida USA.

That will be followed by a very busy few days at the start of March when Ireland will field teams for the Wellington Nations Cup in Florida and Abu Dhabi in the UAE on the same weekend.

Each Irish performance over the coming months will of course come under even more scrutiny than usual, with the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo looming large and Irish Show Jumping team manager Michael Blake is looking forward to what promises to be an exciting year.

STRONG SQUAD

“This will of course be a very important season for the Irish Show Jumping team with big challenges ahead,” Blake said. “Our first Nations Cup in Deeridge is just four weeks away and we will be hoping to get off to a good start.

"This year we will have a particularly strong squad to pick from with a lot of our riders in the USA for the winter and we will also be keeping a close eye on our riders based in Europe.

"We go into the season ahead as Longines FEI Nations Cup world champions following our fantastic result in Barcelona last season and will of course be aiming for good results in our points scoring rounds at La Baule, St Gallen, Rotterdam and Dublin.

The Irish Show Jumping team is sponsored by Devenish & The Underwriting Exchange.

Equiline – Official athlete clothing supplier of Team Ireland Equestrian.

Source: Horse Sport Ireland press release