Ireland pony show jumping team manager Tom Slattery is confident his charges will rise to the occasion as the European Championships return to Millstreet next week after 25 years.

Next year’s European Pony Championships will be held in Millstreet, Co Cork, two weeks later than envisaged.

Sarah Ennis had no complaints after her rise up the leaderboard saw her place fourth with BLM Diamond Delux yesterday in the feature class at Tattersall’s International Horse Trials.

Cork show jumper Billy Twomey is recovering in Germany following planned surgery on his back to repair discs.

A horse ridden by an Irish show jumper is believed to have tested positive for a prohibited substance earlier this year.

“I’m over the moon. It’s fantastic,” said Ireland show jumping manager Robert Splaine after his team captured the Aga Khan Trophy with aplomb at the Discover Ireland Dublin Horse Show yesterday.

Denis Lynch’s brother and manager, Shay, has defended the Tipperary show jumper after the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) veterinary report into the disqualification of his horse Lantinus emerged at the weekend.

Horse Sport Ireland chairman Joe Walsh has warned against a repeat of the controversies that “tarnished” Irish show jumping in the last two Olympics.

Show jumper Denis Lynch gave further notice of the potential of his up-and-coming stallion Contifex when fourth with the nine-year-old in the Rolex World Cup class in Bordeaux, France, at the weekend.

GERMAN coach Otto Becker yesterday confirmed he had informal talks with Denis Lynch about the Tipperary rider competing for Germany, but he stressed that he strongly advised Lynch to speak to Horse Sport Ireland to resolve his differences.

WHEN Robert Splaine is asked to consider what he has learned in the five years since becoming Ireland show jumping team manager, he pauses, before settling on the importance of communication.

CORK eventing rider Patricia Ryan was yesterday named on the team for the European Championships, which begin today in Fontainebleau, France, while her husband Michael will contest as an individual.

EDDIE MACKEN was yesterday disqualified from all competitions at the 2008 Dublin Horse Show, having been found guilty by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) tribunal of failing “without compelling justification” to submit the mare Tedechine Sept to sample blood/urine collection.

IT WAS a case of out but not down for Italy yesterday, when the already-relegated Mediterraneans won the €200,000 nations cup at the Fáilte Ireland Dublin Horse Show.

THE celebrated Fáilte Ireland Dublin Horse Show with its cocktail of colourful pomp, exciting show jumping and stylish glitz, got off to a gloriously sunny start at the RDS in Ballsbridge yesterday.

US-BASED show jumpers Shane Sweetnam and Kevin Babington are among a five-man squad named yesterday for next week’s Meydan Nations Cup Series opener in La Baule, France.

SHOW JUMPER Eddie Macken yesterday rejected he had a case to answer after the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) accused him of breaching anti-doping and medication control regulations at last year’s Dublin Horse Show.

THE Chairman of Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) Joe Walsh conceded yesterday it will never be possible to guarantee that equestrian sport will be totally clean, but new regulations will see HSI succeed as much “as humanly possible”.

THE Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) yesterday dismissed Jessica Kurten’s appeal against the two-month suspension imposed by an International Equestrian Federation (FEI) tribunal after the mare Castle Forbes Maike tested positive for a banned medication.

HORSE Sport Ireland yesterday confirmed it will not be putting in a bid to stage the 2014 World Equestrian Games.

SHOWJUMPER Denis Lynch yesterday filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the provisional suspension imposed at the Olympics when his mount, Lantinus, tested positive for a banned substance.

SHOW JUMPER Denis Lynch’s hope that his suspension would be temporarily lifted were dashed by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI).

SHOW JUMPER Denis Lynch appears before a tribunal of the International Equestrian Federation at 1pm today in Lausanne, Switzerland.

RUFUS, the horse of show jumper Rodrigo Pessoa, has tested positive for a banned substance at the Olympics, bringing to six the number of horses to have done so.

THE chairman of Horse Sport Ireland, Joe Walsh, yesterday said he was determined to “clean up” equestrian sport in the wake of Lantinus, the horse ridden by Denis Lynch, testing positive for the banned substance, capsaicin, at the Olympics.

AS the Olympic Committee of Ireland launches an investigation into the management of Irish Olympic equestrianism, Horse Sport Ireland has laid the blame for Thursday’s failed horse doping incident solely on the rider’s shoulders.

FOR the second Olympics in a row Ireland’s reputation in world equestrian competition lies in tatters.

Irish rider Denis Lynch has protested his innocence as his hopes of winning an Olympic medal were ended tonight after being forced to withdraw from the individual showjumping final when his horse Lantinus tested positive for a banned substance.

Irish showjumper Denis Lynch has pulled out of the equestrian individual final at the Olympics after his horse tested positive for a banned substance.

A LAWYER working for Jessica Kürten says the show jumper’s suspension from competition by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) could cost her dearly.

THE two-month suspension imposed by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) on Jessica Kürten after the horse Castle Forbes Maike tested positive for a banned medication came into effect today, despite the show jumper issuing a 12th-hour appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

SHOW jumper Denis Lynch yesterday said he was interested in competing in the Olympics, but acknowledged the decision is up to the Ireland manager Robert Splaine.

THE likelihood of Ireland being represented in eventing at this year’s Olympics has received a boost, with Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) opting to fully support riders if they should qualify.

HORSE SPORT IRELAND is seriously considering making a bid to stage the 2014 World Equestrian Games (WEG), according to its chairman Joe Walsh.

SHOW jumper Jessica Kürten last night refused to accept the imposition of a minor fine by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) after it revealed the B sample taken from the horse Castle Forbes Maike had confirmed the presence of a prohibited substance.

THE secretary general of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), Michael Stone, last night said he is going to launch an investigation into how it emerged a horse ridden by Jessica Kürten, Castle Forbes Maike, tested positive for a banned substance.

Showjumper Jessica Kurten has confirmed that one of her top horses has tested positive for a banned substance.

IRISH Horse Board director general Nicholas Finnerty concedes that genetic evaluation is not perfect, because results from other countries cannot be included in the Irish system, but says the board is working with European-based organisations to gain access to competition data from abroad.

THE announcement on Wednesday of the setting up of the new umbrella body for equestrianism, Horse Sport Ireland (HSI), received broad welcome.

A NEW umbrella body for equestrian sport, Horse Sport Ireland, is set to be chaired by former Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh.

THE International Equestrian Federation (FEI) is to review its policy on riders changing nationality after a Ukrainian team made up of two former Dutch and two former German show jumpers placed fourth in the recent World Equestrian Games in Germany.

ONE of the riders central to this year’s show jumping dispute over selection for Nations Cup teams is unable to attend a meeting set to kick-start a review of the contentious process.

INTERNATIONAL show jumper Robert Splaine yesterday said the drug testing procedure at Irish shows needs a serious review, following his experiences at Ennis last month.