Competing at the RDS Dublin Horse Show is every young rider’s goal, and many of our top showjumpers took part before they hit their teens. Now as adults, they still come to the Show chasing a dream – making the team to compete for the prestigious Aga Khan trophy, or the ultimate thrill of conquering the mighty Puissance wall. Even after achieving Olympic standard, these iconic events are fixed in the hearts of Ireland’s most successful riders.
Cian O’Connor is Ireland’s top ranking showjumper and has competed at four Olympic Games (taking bronze at the London Olympics), four World Championships and six European Championships.
Last year was a special one at the Show, with a special presentation in the Main Arena to celebrate surpassing 150 appearances in the green jacket; the crowd gave O’Connor a rousing reception celebrating his 25 years in the saddle for his country.
“It’s a tremendous event,” he says of the Dublin Horse Show, remarking on both sporting and social aspects. “Jumping in front of the home crowd, there’s nothing more special, and it holds its own as one of the premier events on the show jumping calendar worldwide.”
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He would know better than anyone, having jumped at the Show every year bar two since 1998.
“This year, it’s even made more special by my own two kids competing. Cara, who’s eight, will be jumping the working hunter class and Ben, my son, is jumping in the 12’2” pony class.”
Beyond parental pride, he sees it as a great learning experience for them. “It’s good for them to see the work that goes in behind the scenes. The sport can look very glamorous, but there’s an awful lot of work, and there’s a lot of people behind us who help make it happen.”
This year, between himself, the kids, and Tom Watchman, whom he trains, he’ll be bringing nine horses to the show.
One of his favourite Show memories is making the front pages of the papers in 2002, winning the Puissance jumping 2m 25cm on his “very special” horse Casper, who became a crowd favourite.
While O’Connor says, “You don’t see Puissance at many shows throughout the world now,” it remains a crowd, and rider, favourite at the Dublin Horse Show.
For Northern Irish showjumper Daniel Coyle, the Puissance is also a favourite memory... so far. Coyle hasn’t yet jumped the Aga Khan – he’s a relative young gun at the age of 30 – but he’s hoping this could be his year after being a fifth place team member a few times. You could say he’s chomping at the bit.
“Everything steers to Dublin,” he says. “It’s been a few years since I had three of my best horses going there, so I’m looking forward to it.”
His Horse Show memories date back to jumping in the pony classes at nine years old and he’s looking forward to making some new memories this year.
Sharing his favourite anecdote, he recalls a Puissance event some years ago. He’d won it previously on a horse loaned to him by his good friend Peter Smith, jumping 2m 20cm. So when Smith offered him a horse for the event again, he expected a quality steed. Training at home, all seemed in order. It wasn’t until he was walking the course on the day that Dermot Lennon casually dropped a bombshell – he knew the horse had never been to a show before.
“That didn’t fill me with a lot of hope or confidence,” Coyle recalls. They still did well, but ended up in second place. However, it didn’t ruin his enthusiasm for the much-loved and thrilling event: “You’re so pumped up; the feeling is not one you get every day.
“I don’t recommend going on a horse that has never been to a horse show, but that’s one of my funniest memories.”
For fellow Olympian Shane Sweetnam, who lives in Florida, the Horse Show is a great homecoming. All his family travel up from Cork for the week and his children get to revel in “the Irish family spirit”.
While he made his debut at the Dublin Horse Show at the tender age of 10, success didn’t come until later. “I remember the first time we jumped in Dublin I got eliminated at the third fence in, but then, as time went by, it has grown into a very good show for me.
“It’s the dream to jump in that main ring and compete in front of the Irish crowd.”
For the packed calendar of events over the summer in Europe he rents a stable in a central location, usually Belgium or the Netherlands, commuting around from there.
His first Aga Khan, on Amaretto Darco in 2011, remains a treasured memory. “He jumped double clear, even though we finished second in a jump off that year. But our performance was pretty special.”
And of course, lifting the coveted trophy – with team-mates Cian O’Connor, Max Wachman and Conor Swail – in 2022 was a career high. “That was a special day; to win it for the first time, I was extremely proud. It’s a large target in our whole career and it was a great team.
“As an Irish kid growing up, that’s the dream. It’s like playing in Croke Park, for hurling or Gaelic football, winning the All Ireland – the Aga Khan is that to us in showjumping, especially if you’re Irish ... You feel you’ve made it if you’ve done that.”
