Five months after a trade delegation to China led by Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney heralded the opening of the country as a possible market for Irish horses, the major obstacles of quarantine and a direct flight have yet to be resolved.

Ireland’s eventing pony riders lifted double gold and a bronze medal at the European Championships in Fontainebleau, France, yesterday to crown a magnificent weekend for Irish equestrian sport.

Ireland show jumping manager Robert Splaine’s prediction that yesterday’s French Nations Cup would be a difficult test proved accurate, as Ireland finished joint fifth of the eight teams.

Showjumping star Jessica Kurten today scooped the Sportswoman of the Month award for January.

MORE than anything, show jumper Jessica Kürten saw her first major grand prix win in over a year last Sunday as one of portent.

Show jumper Billy Twomey’s fourth place in the World Cup qualifier at Leipzig, Germany, has propelled him to the top of the Olympic rankings, according to Horse Sport Ireland, while Jessica Kürten posted her first major grand prix win in over a year in Amsterdam.

Denis Lynch moved up to second position in the Rolex FEI World Cup rankings this evening after a fifth place finish in the World Cup competition at Mechelen, Belgium with Thomas Straumann's 11-year-old bay gelding Abbervail van Het Dingeshof.

Denis Lynch and Jessica Kurten picked up more than €11,000 between them when they finished first and second in this evening's two-phase competition at the five-star World Cup in Mechelen, Belgium.

IT took over two months, but Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) yesterday identified the Sia Group as the consultancy that will undertake a review of Ireland’s poor performance at the European Show Jumping Championships in Madrid.

Jessica Kurten picked up Ireland's first win at this week's four-star show at De Steeg in the Netherlands when snatching victory by the narrowest of margins in tonight's big jump-off class.

In a 36-strong starting field that boasted some of the world's top riders, Ireland claimed two top ten spots in this afternoon's Longines Grand Prix at St. Gallen in Switzerland.

JESSICA KÜRTEN has been named on the Irish squad for next Friday’s Swiss Nations Cup.

AN Italian job is not beyond the bounds of possibility in the second leg of the FEI Nations Cup League next week, according to Ireland show jumping manager Robert Splaine, who has nominated the same quartet that won last weekend’s French Nations Cup in his Rome squad.

JESSICA KÜRTEN has handed over the five horses owned by Georgina Forbes, with speculation mounting that Frenchman Roger-Yves Bost will be the new rider.

A SPOKESPERSON for Jessica Kürten and her husband Eckard yesterday said the couple categorically rejected that there are doubts concerning the welfare of Georgina Forbes’s horses.

SHOW jumper Jessica Kürten has reached a settlement in her dispute with horse owner Georgina Forbes.

SHOW jumper Jessica Kürten is hoping to find “common ground” with horse owner Lady Georgina Forbes which will result in an end to their dispute.

SHOW jumper Jessica Kürten’s slide down the Rolex World Rankings continued last month, with the Antrim woman now lying 20th.

PLANNING for the nations cup season moves into focus next Tuesday, when riders gather with management at Dublin airport to plan the season ahead.

THE effects of the dispute between Jessica Kürten and the owner of her top horses Lady Georgina Forbes were made visible yesterday, with the latest Rolex World Rankings showing the rider falling to 16th.

IRISH show jumping has suffered another setback with the news yesterday that Jessica Kürten is unable to compete her top horses after a disagreement with their owner Lady Georgina Forbes.

NOVEMBER in Toronto and Dermott Lennon is in top form. Fourth in the World Cup qualifier with Hallmark Elite and, along the way, picking up a couple of decent placings.

Irish showjumper Jessica Kurten won the latest Rolex FEI World Cup event held in Mechelen, Belgium today.

IRELAND show jumping manager Robert Splaine has given two of the next four Rolex World Cup slots to Jessica Kürten, with Cameron Hanley and Dermott Lennon sharing one apiece.

THE recently-formed Irish Show Jumping Centres Group (ISJCG) is not hanging around.

IT takes a lot of work and dedication to stage an event such as the Owners Pony and Young Riders Charity Show, but knowing it is appreciated makes all the difference.

JESSICA KURTEN hit top gear at the four-star show in Antwerp, Belgium, claiming a BMW 116i car.

Ireland's Jessica Kurten will not be competing in the Rolex FEI World Cup Final in Geneva, Switzerland this weekend, following a fall from a horse at her yard in Germany at the end of last week.

Jessica Kurten has won on 'Miribel D'Auvray' in the Wegelin Challenge speed competition this evening.

Jessica Kurten gave Ireland a top class result to end the year when she took second place in Belgium's World Cup Qualifier class at Mechelen this evening.

SHOW jumpers Jessica Kürten and Billy Twomey continued their dominance of the four-star show in Barcelona, Spain, at the weekend, claiming a one-two, respectively, in Saturday’s grand prix, while the Cork man also ended his show with a hat-trick.

JESSICA KÜRTEN qualified for the World Cup final last Sunday and then declared her surprise at the achievement.

TATTERSALLS IRELAND managing director George Mernagh was delighted and relieved yesterday to say the Meath venue’s international horse trials will go-ahead this year, but conceded that failure to save it would have dealt a huge blow to Ireland’s equestrian reputation.

In a thrilling finish to the Grand Prix at Leipzig today Ireland took both first and third places, with Jessica Kurten claiming the €33,000 winner's prize and Cian O'Connor taking third place.

Ireland's Jessica Kurten managed a creditable fifth place in the qualifying competition for Sunday's Rolex World Cup Grand Prix.

THE staging of the Tattersalls World Cup event remained on a knife edge last night as efforts continued to find the necessary finance.

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.

Jessica Kurten's persistence in Dresden's Young Horse classes finally paid off in Germany this morning with an outright win in the Bioranch Young Horse Final.

Just over a seventh of a second clinched the German Masters Qualifier at Stuttgart for Irish rider Jessica Kurten tonight when she beat France's Eugenie Angot into second place.

Jessica Kurten was in the prize money at Kiel, Germany last night with a noteworthy third place in the Grand Prix Qualifier.

SHOW JUMPER Jessica Kurten pocketed the biggest cheque of her career on Saturday when earning €300,000 as winner of the Global Champions Tour final in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Irish rider Jessica Kurten tonight won €300,000 in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil, riding Lady Georgina Fobes's mare 'Castle Forbes Libertina'. Kurten was one of 18 riders who qualified for the Grand Prix, and won a four-horse jump-off.

Jessica Kurten took the runner-up spot in today's 1m 45 jump-off class at the three-star show in Den Haag, the Netherlands, this afternoon with Lady Georgina Forbes's eight year-old bay mare 'Myrtille Paulois'.

JESSICA KÜRTEN justified her favourite’s tag yesterday when she won the €130,000 Longines Grand Prix at the Fáilte Ireland Dublin Horse Show.