Ireland have been drawn fourth to jump in tomorrow's Longines FEI Nations Cup of Ireland for the Aga Khan Trophy at the 2019 Stena Line Dublin Horse Show.

The Irish show jumping team will be vying with nine other nations for an Olympic place when they head to the European Championships in Rotterdam next month.

Ireland’s eventers have a home international fixture this week as the Sema Lease Camphire International Horse Trials get underway tomorrow in Waterford.

This week Portugal hosts a round of the Longines Global Champions Tour (LGCT) as the action moves to the coastal venue of Estoril. Irish riders Bertram Allen, Michael Duffy, Denis Lynch, Darragh Kenny, and Mark McAuley will all be in the hunt for individual purses as well as appearances for their respective Global Champions League (GCL) teams.

This weekend Ireland’s show jumping team face their second of four Nations Cup qualifiers when they travel to the Baltic venue of Sopot for the Nations Cup of Poland.

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.

Ireland’s show jumping team manager Rodrigo Pessoa brings a five-member squad to Rome for this week’s Italian Nations Cup, but will not face the same pressure he experienced last week in France.

Irish showjumper Darragh Kenny has claimed a place on the podium at today’s €200,000 five-star Longines Grand Prix at La Baule in France.

Friday sees the first of Ireland’s competitive show jumping team fixtures this year as manager Rodrigo Pessoa brings a strong squad to La Baule for the French Nations Cup.

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.

The past weekend was a good one for Irish dressage.

Bertram Allen returns to the scene of a memorable victory this weekend as he lines out in Bordeaux at the final showjumping qualifier in the European division of the 2018/2019 FEI World Cup series.

Ireland’s Bertram Allen makes his first FEI World Cup appearance of the 2018/2019 season in what is the third round of the series in Verona, Italy this weekend.

Rodrigo Pessoa must have been inspired when picking the Irish riders for today’s Aga Khan nations cup competition as they claimed the top three places in yesterday’s Stablelab Stakes at the Stena Line Dublin Horse and almost nabbed the fourth spot as well.

Last Sunday’s nations cup in Rotterdam did not involve the Irish team but the result will have a bearing on the country’s league standing up to and including the Aga Khan contest at Dublin Horse Show which is now just over six weeks away.

Bertram Allen and Michael G Duffy will carry Irish hopes in Rome at this weekend’s Italian nations cup, with the country not represented in the team event.

Next Sunday in the French Nations Cup at La Baule, the Irish team will wear black armbands as a mark of respect to legendary show jumper Tommy Wade who exited the arena of life in his 80th year on Monday.

“All in all everyone is happy and it’s onwards and upwards from here,” said Irish rider Shane Breen after Sunday’s nations cup league opener in Samorin, Slovakia.

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

Just in time for Christmas, the Belgian Competition Authority lobbed an unwelcome ‘present’ at both equestrian sport’s world governing body, the FEI, and the privately run Global Champions Tour/Global Champions League (GCT/GCL).

Now that the Global Champions Tour has concluded for another year, the FEI World Cup series provides the main international show jumping focus in the months ahead.

Irish riders netted three-star Grand Prix victories on both sides of the Atlantic at the weekend, with Paul O’Shea scoring in Tryon, North Carolina, and Darragh Kenny coming out on top at Montpellier in France.

Irish-bred horses continue to dominate the world of eventing, topping the latest yearly rankings by the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH), which were issued on Monday.

America have won this year's Aga Khan Nations Cup at the Dublin Horse Show.

A dramatic last-gasp win by Shane Breen in the Sport Ireland Classic crowned Irish dominance of yesterday’s opening-day action at Dublin Horse Show.

New taxes, more forests, “smarter” homes and more public transport are just some of the proposals to battle climate change which have been mooted.

Ireland are set to field their strongest show jumping team of the season so far for the Swedish Nations Cup at Falsterbo on Friday.

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.

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.

Paul Kennedy is in line for his biggest team challenge to date when Ireland take on seven opponents in Friday’s important Division 1 Nations Cup of Italy in Rome.

Nations cups dominated last week’s show jumping headlines, but the international limelight over the next few days switches to the relatively new, mixed-nationality format that is the Global Champions League (GCL), writes Mike Dunne.

The securing of maximum points is the target of manager Rodrigo Pessoa as Ireland’s show jumping team begin their competitive season in the five-star Nations Cup at La Baule, France this Friday.

Eventing rider Camilla Speirs was “absolutely delighted” yesterday with the powerhouse return of Portersize Just A Jiff in Boekelo the Netherlands, particularly as it came with the “bonus” of Ireland finishing third in the nations cup.

Irish show jumpers plied their trade with success on both sides of the Atlantic at the weekend, notching up numerous victories.

Swiss-based show jumper Niall Talbot won the grand prix in Lisbon yesterday with Nicos de la Cense to round off a successful weekend for the Irish in the Portuguese capital.

Discussions are underway that could see Germany allowed to compete in the final of the Furusiyya Nations Cup final, despite the country’s decision to pull out of the Swiss leg last Friday.

It could be argued that Sam Watson’s single-mindedness at Ballindenisk last week cost him a shot at the €50,000 bonus on offer next September.

Irish show jumpers notched up a hat-trick in Barcelona at the weekend, while 10th place for Denis Lynch in the penultimate leg of the Global Champions Tour in Vienna has left the Tipperary rider fourth on the leaderboard.

Olympic bronze medallist Cian O’Connor ensured himself a fitting send-off from the Discover Dublin Horse Show yesterday when third in the €200,000 Longines Grand Prix.

It wouldn’t come as a big surprise to find that Ireland show jumping manager Robert Splaine is putting the controversy over Denis Lynch behind him, and he would be forgiven for, briefly, taking his focus off the Olympics today, as he aims to engineer a get-out-of-jail performance in Hickstead.

Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) is awaiting confirmation that it can field a five-strong eventing squad at the Olympics.

Show jumper Shane Sweetnam just missed out on a €50,000 bonus when winning the puissance class at the nations cup show in Rome on Saturday.