After Sunday’s clinching of an Olympic place in show jumping in Barcelona, Irish equestrian sport has moved to a place it’s never been before. The country will have eventing, dressage, and show jumping teams at next year’s Olympics - the first time ever that the sport in this country has been able to say that.

New Zealander Tim Price has topped the latest FEI world eventing rankings just days after winning the George Mernagh Memorial CCI4*-S at Tattersalls International Horse Trials in Co Meath, while Ireland’s Elizabeth Power has made a significant climb following her fourth-place finish in the Irish Field CCI4*-L at the same meeting.

The world governing body of equestrian sport, the FEI, says that there has been strong interest in the bidding process to stage the 2022 World Championships, with a global spread of potential hosts across four continents which includes venues in 20 different countries.

This weekend should see Ireland’s Judy Reynolds secure a place at the 2018/2019 FEI Dressage World Cup final, which takes place in Gothenburg, Sweden in April.

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.

Jonty Evans remains in intensive care in Beaumont Hospital after a fall at Tattersalls International Horse Trials on Sunday.

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

“You don’t win nations cups without jumping clear rounds and we didn’t jump enough of them,” said Michael Blake after he had seen the Irish show jumping team he managed fall short of repeating last year’s success in Ocala, Florida on Sunday evening.

Ireland has two show jumping teams in action this weekend for the first of this year’s nations cup fixtures. Michael Blake takes charge of affairs for the five-star meeting in Ocala, Florida, while Taylor Vard will be overseeing matters at Abu Dhabi’s five-star contest in the UAE.

This Friday sees the Irish senior show jumping team in action at Hickstead for what will be their last competitive nations cup engagement before Dublin Horse Show. 

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.

After an injury-enforced lay-off Cian O’Connor is set for a return to jumping action this coming weekend in Germany. The Meath rider heads for Wiesbaden’s four-star meeting with his top horse Good Luck, along with Copain du Perchet and his newly-acquired Cybell.

When Cusack Park stood for a minute’s silence at the Clare county final last Sunday, a man in front of me didn’t bow his head. Instead he shook it, while scrolling down his phone, scanning tweet after tweet making reference to the passing of one of the county’s finest ever sons.

Gary Brennan seldom gets the chance to showcase his outstanding football talents for a national audience. But the Clare captain has won an army of admirers, including International Rules boss Joe Kernan, as the Banner’s footballers begin to rise again.

Ireland eventing manager Nick Turner believes he has a “strong team of horses and riders” carrying Irish hopes in the nations cup at Aachen, Germany, this weekend.

A 31-year-old country and western singer who uses a wheelchair faces jail if he does not complete a community service sentence or get a medical report as to why he cannot do it.

Kudos is due Horse Sport Ireland for securing Investec as the first corporate sponsor of the Irish show jumping team.

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.

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.

Jonathan Sexton’s kicking talents are matched by his incredible mental strength.

Billy Twomey landed in Verona, Italy, yesterday confident he can boost his World Cup account after making his first deposit last Sunday.

Kieran McGeeney can make men tick.

Ger O’Neill has a couple of reasons for believing he might win the championship for five-year-old horses at Millstreet International Horse Show.

Daniel Coyle clinched his third successive HSI/Connolly’s Red Mills Spring Tour title yesterday when seventh with Uptown Girl in the final at Coilog Equestrian Centre, Co Kildare.

For the second year in a row, show jumper Richie Moloney won the $34,000 Suncast 1m50 Championship Jumper Classic at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida.

You can observe a lot just by watching,” the quote machine that is Yoggi Berra offered and reading a book on and with Dennis Bergkamp in recent days, we’re guessing the Dutchman would agree.

Mayo show jumper Alex Duffy shared first place in the six-bar class at Mechelen, Belgium, at the weekend.

It had to be Joe.

Briton Ollie Townend doubled his chances of pocketing a €50,000 bonus next September when victorious with the Irish-bred Douglas at Ballindenisk International Horse Trials in Cork yesterday.

Daniel Coyle hammered home his dominance of the HSI/Blue Grass Spring Tour at Mullingar on Saturday when notching up his fifth win of the series.

Tipperary brothers Trevor and Shane Breen were denied a one-two in the grand prix at the three-star show in Hardelot, France, yesterday.

A win wasn’t part of Vinnie Byrne’s grand design in yesterday’s HSI /Blue Grass Spring Tour at Maryville Equestrian Centre in Cork, so when it came it proved a nice bonus.

Daniel Coyle continued his amazing run in the HSI/Blue Grass Spring Tour, claiming his fourth victory in the sixth leg at Portmore Equestrian Centre, Co Armagh, yesterday.

Cian O’Connor is already giving indication of another successful partnership, notching up a double with his latest acquisition Walk Tall II on week seven of the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida.

Show jumper Shane Sweetnam has no intention of just making up the numbers when he contests his first World Cup final next April in Sweden.

Over the next three months, it will be fascinating to watch how he shapes this new generation.

The day after part one of the highly-anticipated Lance Armstrong interview on the Oprah Winfrey Network was always going to be about those he crushed along the way.

The 2012 William Hill Sports Book of the Year award has been won by former Tour de France rider Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle with “The Secret Race”, which exposes the culture of doping in professional cycling.

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

Tom Foley helped make it three in a row for Ireland in the French Pony Nations Cup in Fontainebleau on Saturday when posting a double clear with Crown Jewel.

Meath show jumper Alexander Butler steered Will Wimble to victory in the 1.45m class at Lummen, Belgium, yesterday, pipping compatriot Trevor Coyle and Jubilee D’Ouilly by two-hundredths of a second.

YOU might have missed it but Tiger Woods made an interesting confession last week.