Shane Sweetnam
EQUESTRIAN
BIOGRAPHY
Shane began his Grand Prix career aged 16. In 2004, after qualifying in IT from the University of Limerick, he headed to Florida and got a job with US Olympic veteran Margie Engle and has been based in Florida since. He was eighth individually to help Ireland to team gold at the 2017 Europeans and competed in the 2018 World Equestrian Games where Ireland finished seventh. In 2021 he won the first five-star Grand Prix of the year at America’s prestigious Wellington Equestrian Festival. Shane was a reserve for London 2012 but this is his Olympic debut. He is a firstcousin of Munster and Ireland rugby player Donnacha Ryan.
OTHER EQUESTRIAN ATHLETES
Heike Holstein
Heike HolsteinEQUESTRIAN BIOGRAPHY Heike first sat on a pony at the age of two. She won her first Irish title aged 18 (1990) and has since won it 12 times. She trained with seven-time Olympic medallist Dr Reiner Klimke in Germany for many years and this will be her fourth Olympics. She was 26th in …
Sarah Ennis
Sarah has competed for Ireland since 2002 on more than 50 horses in over 280 competitions and beat the legendary British rider William Fox-Pitt in her first international victory. In 2012 she won the three-star at Ballindenisk and was Ireland’s highest eventer on the world rankings. Her individual fifth was vital to Ireland winning silver …
Sam Watson
Sam WatsonEQUESTRIAN BIOGRAPHY Since his international debut (2002) Sam has competed in three World Equestrian Games (2010, 2014, 2018) and contributed to three top ten team finishes. His biggest achievement was 14th individual place in 2018 which helped Ireland to their historic team silver. He was 12th, individually, at the 2015 European Championships and 10th …
Austin O’Connor
Austin O’ConnorEQUESTRIAN BIOGRAPHY Austin, based at Attington Stud in Oxfordshire since 1994, will be competing in his third Olympics in Tokyo. He was 21st individual and eighth in the team event at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and he was 17th individual in the Sydney Olympics (2000). In 1995 he won team gold at the …
Cathal Daniels
CATHAL DANIELSEQUESTRIAN BIOGRAPHY In 2012, aged 15, Cathal won individual and team gold at the European Pony Eventing Championship in France. He won two team golds and individual silver at European U18s (2013/2014) as well as European U21 team bronze and fourth individually in 2015. In 2018 he was part of Ireland’s team silver at …
Bertram Allen
BERTRAM ALLENEQUESTRIAN BIOGRAPHY Bertram first competed for Ireland in 2008. He won individual gold at the 2010 European Pony Championships. He won team gold (2012) and individual silver (2013) at the European Junior Championships. He was 7th individually at the 2014 World Equestrian Games, 3rd at the World Cup Final in 2015 and a member …
Darragh Kenny
DARRAGH KENNYEQUESTRIAN BIOGRAPHY Darragh rode in his first Grand Prix at 14 and debuted in the Dublin Horse Show (2007) when just 19. He was a member of Ireland’s Nations Cup (Aga Khan) victors in Dublin in 2015. In 2007 he won a training bursary to work with a top American coach at North Run …
Cian O’Connor
CIAN O'CONNOREQUESTRIAN BIOGRAPHY Cian rode in his first Nations Cup for Ireland at age 19. He won team silver at Junior Europeans in 2000. He won an individual bronze and a team gold medal at European Championships in 2017 and competed in three World Equestrian Games. He has also contested two FEI Nations Cup finals …
EQUESTRIAN NEWS
Ireland win team silver at FEI European Championship
The Irish Senior Show Jumping team moved up the leader board in Milano to finish second The Underwriting Exchange Irish Show Jumping team delivered an excellent performance to claim the silver medal in the team final of the FEI Jumping European Championship in Milano, Italy, this afternoon, Friday 1st of September. Michael Blake’s quartet of Michael …
Ireland win team silver at FEI European Championship Read More »
Irish Eventing team secure Olympic qualification with superb performance at World Championships
A fantastic performance from the Irish Eventing team of Sam Watson, Padraig McCarthy, Susie Berry and Austin O’Connor, managed by Dag Albert at the FEI Eventing World Championships in Pratoni, Italy, has secured Olympic qualification for the Irish team for Paris 2024. A fifth place finish following today’s final Show Jumping phase saw Ireland take one of the seven coveted Olympic …
Irish Eventing team in battle for Olympic qualification this weekend at World Championships
The Irish Eventing team, led by Horse Sport Ireland’s acting High Performance Director Dag Albert, are in 12th place overall following today’s (Friday) conclusion of the Dressage phase at the FEI Eventing World Championships in Pratoni, Italy. Ireland are just under 13 penalties off seventh position heading into the weekend, which is the all-important cut-off …
Michael Blake’s Ireland win Aga Khan Trophy after thriller at RDS
For the first time in seven years, Ireland have won the famous Aga Khan trophy at the Dublin Horse Show following an outstanding performance in the Longines FEI Nations Cup of Ireland from Michael Blake’s team of Conor Swail (Count Me In), Max Wachman (Berlux Z), Shane Sweetnam (James Kann Cruz (ISH) and Cian O’Connor …
Michael Blake’s Ireland win Aga Khan Trophy after thriller at RDS Read More »
Brilliant Irish Show Jumping team claim Olympic qualification for Paris with fourth place finish at World Championships
On an evening of high drama at the ECCO FEI World Show Jumping Championships in Herning, Denmark last night (Friday), an outstanding performance from Michael Blake’s Irish Show Jumping team of Denis Lynch, Bertram Allen, Cian O’Connor and Daniel Coyle, saw them take one of the five coveted places on offer for the 2024 Olympic …
Irish Show Jumping team qualify for Friday’s World Championship Final – Olympic place still in reach
The Irish Show Jumping team of Denis Lynch, Bertram Allen, Cian O’Connor and Daniel Coyle, managed by Michael Blake, have qualified for tomorrow’s (Friday) final at the 2022 ECCO FEI World Championships at Herning in Denmark, where along with World Championship medals, five coveted team places are on offer for the 2024 Olympic Games in …
