IT has been one leap of faith after another for Robbie Kearns in 2025, whose 10th place at Luhmühlen earned him and Chance Encounter a place on the Irish silver medal-winning team at the European eventing championships; followed by a move to Surrey to study Veterinary Medicine and to set up a new yard with partner Isabel English.

“The European team silver was definitely my career highlight. It was, honestly, like a culmination of years of work, almost a relief, you know? At the start of the week, I thought we could do it. I didn’t know if it was going to be silver, but I thought we could get a medal. To stand on the podium with Dag [Albert], Ian [Cassells], Padraig [McCarthy] and Aoife [Clark]... it was the stuff that dreams are made of.”