THE Future Champions FEI Jumping Nations Cup Youth show at Hagen in Germany (June 10th to 14th) started well for Ireland’s pony riders, as the 1.25m two-phase special produced a one-two in the form of Ella Rush on Birchgrove Blue Delight (31.51) and Robbie Sheehan on Daytona (31.89) respectively.

Ireland’s Young Rider team then pulled off a remarkable comeback to finish third of eight teams in their Nations Cup class on Friday afternoon. The first round did not quite go to plan for Denis Flannelly’s squad, when they accrued 26 faults. Tim Brennan on Diadema Della Caccia picked up just four faults, while James Brennan on MHS November Rain collected 11, as did Aidan O’Brien on Gisborne VDL. Coen Williams on Dominante Z provided the discard score of 12 faults.