Ireland grabs its share of international attention this week with Tattersalls International Horse Trials getting underway in Co. Meath today and Mullingar hosting its two-star international show jumping meeting over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Shane Breen will be hoping for a repeat of his form a fortnight ago when lining out in Shanghai this week for the latest round of the Global Champions League.

Cian O’Connor takes his relatively recent acquisition Irenice Horta to this week’s four-star Horses and Dreams fixture at Hagen in Germany.

Qatar stays in focus this week with a second successive five-star fixture in Doha following on from last weekend’s opening round of the Global Champions Tour.

The year is getting off to a familiar start for Irish riders based in the US as the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) commences in Wellington, Florida today and continues for three months.

After a two-week break, the FEI World Cup series resumes this weekend with both dressage and show jumping rounds taking place in Stuttgart in Germany.

The show jumping team season comes to its conclusion this weekend when fifteen countries do battle in the annual FEI Nations Cup Final in Barcelona.

There were some positive moves for Irish riders in the latest Longines rankings issued by the world governing body, the FEI, yesterday.

The latest Longines FEI world rankings saw Irish riders on the move following the European Show Jumping Championship success last month.

Denis Lynch and Cian O'Connor have completed a remarkable five days for Ireland at the Dublin Horse Show.

Show jumping team affairs get serious for Ireland from this weekend.

Ireland’s show jumping manager Rodrigo Pessoa was understandably disappointed after last Friday’s seventh-place finish in the five-star Nations Cup at St Gallen in Switzerland, even though it was one of the dispensable ones in his calendar.

A liaison group for top-ranked show jumpers has been established following a meeting last Monday.

“Today was her day,” declared show jumper Dermott Lennon of Loughview Lou-Lou after she carried him to victory last night in the five-star grand prix in Gijon, Spain.

Hopes are high that Ireland’s show jumpers will today repeat last year’s Nations Cup win at Dublin Horse Show and, while manager Robert Splaine was upbeat yesterday, he was saying little that might prove a hostage to fortune.

Cian O’Connor led a five-strong parade of Irish riders at the top of the leaderboard in the opening competition of the Dublin Horse Show yesterday.

A double clear from Wexford show jumper Bertram Allen and Izzy By Picobello ensured Valkenswaard United their third win of the season in the Global Champions League team contest in Monte Carlo yesterday.

Show jumper Billy Twomey pocketed €30,000 yesterday when he won the Hamburg Derby in Germany on Diaghilev.

Horse Sport Ireland has not ruled out taking the case involving Cian O’Connor to the Swiss federal courts.

Cork show jumper Billy Twomey won the grand prix in stunning fashion at the inaugural Liverpool International Horse Show last night.

Local boy Billy Twomey delighted the capacity crowd at Millstreet International Horse Show yesterday when winning the €50,000 grand prix.

Millstreet International Horse Show begins in earnest today and the numbers tell the story: Over 6,000 entries, 1,300 stables, 110 competitions, 10 countries represented, and over €200,000 in prizemoney.

Ireland’s dominance of the Discover Ireland Dublin Horse Show came to end in yesterday’s feature €200,000 Longines Grand Prix, courtesy of American Kent Farrington.

The Irish team will take to the stage in today’s Furusiyya Series nations cup at the Discover Ireland Dublin Horse Show aiming to continue some stellar performances by the home contingent.

Bertram Allen is typically taciturn, even as he frequently proves himself one of show jumping’s most amazing talents, yet even he conceded the manner of his latest triumph in the Global Champions Tour in Paris was extraordinary.

Tipperary rider Trevor Breen won the Hickstead Derby for the second year in a row yesterday, describing it as “surreal”, after posting the only clear round from 37 starters.

Kildare’s Alexander Butler won the grand prix at the second leg of The Underwriting Exchange Jumping In The City series at Cork’s Curraheen Park Greyhound Track.

It may be over 20 years since Billy Twomey last competed in his native Cork city, but he had no problems recalling it yesterday, considering he won a puissance on a horse called Larry Hagman.

Ireland show jumping manager Robert Splaine celebrated his birthday on Wednesday and, no doubt, he will be hoping his team present him with a suitable gift in today’s Furusiyya Series nations cup in St Gallen, Switzerland.

Ireland show jumping manager Robert Splaine was in no mood yesterday for predictions regarding today’s Furusiyya Nations Cup Series opener in Lummen, Belgium, writes John Tynan.

Ireland manager Robert Splaine yesterday had one piece of advice for Bertram Allen going into next week’s World Cup final: Play your usual game, writes John Tynan.

The inaugural Eventing Ireland National Championships at Ballindenisk, Co Cork, will be a “major affair” according organiser Peter Fell. 

Equestrian: The precocious talent of show jumper Bertram Allen combined with the veteran experience of the stallion Romanov to beat the sport’s elite in the World Cup class in Bordeaux, France, on Saturday.

Equestrian: Irish show jumpers Denis Lynch and Bertram Allen blew away the opposition in the opening two classes at the World Cup show in Bordeaux, France, yesterday.

Equestrian: Horse Sport Ireland chairman Pat Wall yesterday said Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney is applying his own stamp to the sport horse sector strategic plan before its publication.

Irish riders failed to make an impression in Saturday’s $372,000 World Cup grand prix at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida, but Darragh Kenny and Conor Swail scored a couple of consolation prizes in the run-up.

Equestrian: "It’s a bit cold for Florida, but it’s all relative, I suppose," joked Conor Swail yesterday.

Equestrian: Nineteen-year-old Bertram Allen continues to stun the world of show jumping, qualifying for the Longines World Cup final yesterday in his first season when runner-up in Zurich, Switzerland.

Thurles show jumper Thomas Ryan gave Ireland its second win at the five-star show in Basel, Switzerland, at the weekend after Cork’s Billy Twomey provided the opener.