Jessica Kürten's new role as Horse Sport Ireland’s High Performance Show Jumping Manager started positively with Ireland's third-place finish in the four-star Nations Cup in Sharjah. The team blended youth and experience to achieve 20 faults overall. This result highlighted Ireland's strong international performances across various competitions.
Jessica Kürten began her tenure as Horse Sport Ireland’s High Performance Show Jumping Manager with an encouraging outcome in the four-star Nations Cup in Sharjah, where Ireland earned a podium position. The team finished third with a total of 20 faults, behind the faultless German squad and the host UAE.
Kürten selected a mix of experienced and younger riders for the event: Trevor Breen, Shane Breen, David Simpson, and Mikey Pender. Simpson served as pathfinder, posting two rounds of four faults each on Billy Fern. Trevor Breen matched this score in the first round aboard Kannoon Blue. Clear rounds came from Pender on the Irish Sport Horse HHS Orchidee and Shane Breen on BP Arctic Blue, positioning Ireland second midway through, trailing only Germany.
Germany secured victory with double clear rounds from David Will and Sophie Hinners. Kürten commented, “It was a great podium finish today from a team of young horses and great riders. It was a good opportunity to give these horses some exposure and experience at this level, looking towards the future.”
Beyond Sharjah, Irish riders excelled elsewhere. James Chawke notched his first five-star international win at Desert International Horse Park in Thermal, California, taking a 1.45m speed class on Daido van’t Ruytershof Z. He said, “I’m really happy. Alan Wade always builds a good course. She’s a really quick horse — careful, very game and spicy, but very sweet.”
In Florida, Shane Sweetnam won the $215,000 MARS Equestrian Grand Prix at Wellington International on Coriaan van Klapscheut Z, beating Bertram Allen in a jump-off for an Irish one-two. Daniel Coyle triumphed in the $200,000 Gary Yeomans Ford Grand Prix at Ocala on the 16-year-old Farrel with the fastest jump-off time. Earlier at Ocala, Tom Wachman won a four-star Grand Prix Qualifier on Do It Easy.
These results underscore Ireland's depth in show jumping as the season progresses.