The 22 Year old Cathal Daniels has taken the Individual Bronze Medal in the European Eventing Championships on Sunday 1st September 2019 in Luhmühlen, Germany.
Cathal, who is a native of County Galway, has been no stranger to the podium in his life, having placed in 6 Championships with his mount Rioghan Rua alone. Rioghan Rua is and Irish Sport Horse bred by Margaret Kinsella from County Galway and owned by Margaret & Frank Kinsella.
Cathal and this spectacular mare during their partnership have won Junior Team Gold in 2013; Junior Team Gold in 2014; Junior Individual Silver in 2014; Young Rider Team Bronze in 2015; Team Silver in the World Equestrian Games 2018; Individual Bronze European Championships 2019.
The European Eventing Championships 2019 Started Well for Ireland.
At the European Championships this year Cathal and Rioghan Rua got off to a super start, with a very impressive dressage score of just 29.0 penalties. In fact all team Ireland had very good tests.
Best of the Irish Was Cathal who lay in 13th position after dressage, next was Sam Watson and Tullabeg Flamenco who lay in 16th Position, next was Ciaran Glynn in 45th, Tony Kennedy in 46th and Sarah Ennis in 49th. Ireland as a team lay in 5th place after dressage, and with the Irish Horses known for the great jumping abilities, the team were in with a real shot at a medal going into the Cross County Phase.
Cathal Jumps up to 6th Place Individually After Cross Country.
Once again on the Saturday Team Ireland got off to a good start when Ciaran Glynn riding November Night (ISH) (TIH) started with a clear Cross County inside the time. Sarah Ennis was next up for the Irish riding Horseware Woodcourt Garrison(ISH), Sarah had a super clear jumping and just had a couple of time penalties.
Irish Individual Rider Tony Kennedy on Wisteria Lane, were inside the time, but had 20 jumping penalties cross county. Cathal Daniels and Rioghan Rua, had a super clear cross country inside the time. Sam Watson last to go for the team with Tullabeg Flamenco picked up 20 jumping penalties and a few time penalties.
The Irish Team lay in just 6th Position after the Cross County, with still a possibility of a team medal in the wings, with Sundays showjumping phase still to come.
Cathal Daniels and Rioghan Rua moved up to individual 6th place after the Cross County, giving the combination a real shot at an individual medal.
Showjumping Phase – Cathal Daniels & Rioghan Rua Produce a Class Round!
On the Sunday, fingers and toes were crossed for the Irish Team and Cathal Daniels as the showjumping phase got underway, unfortunately Ciaran Glynn and November Night did not present for the trot up, and pulled out of competition, which meant the Irish Team had only 3 members. There was less than 10 penalties separating 2nd place to 6th place in the Team Rankings, so the competition was going to be tight, and just one fence down could change everything.
Irish Individual Rider Tony Kennedy and Wisteria Lane were first to go and they finished inside the time with just 4 faults. First up for the Irish Team was Sam Watson and Tullabeg Flamenco who put in a foot perfect clear inside the time. Next was Sarah Ennis and Horseware Woodcourt Garrison, who had a great round just 4 faults, but were inside the time. Cathal Daniels and Rioghan Rua were last to go for Ireland, and the pair put in an absolute cracker of a clear round inside the time. The Irish Team finished in 6th place overall.
Cathal Daniels and Rioghan Rua, take the Individual European Bronze Medal 2019!!
Ireland hadn’t won a European Eventing Medal in 24 years, since Lucy Tompson won the Gold Medal aboard Welton Romance in Italy in 1995, while the Irish Team took Bronze the same year.
Both Gold and Silver in the individual standings went to Germany, Ingrid Klimke riding SAP Hale Bob OLD, and Michael Jung riding Fischer Chipmonk FRH. In the team competition, Germany took the Gold, Britain Took Silver and Sweden took the Bronze.
Huge Congratulations to Cathal Daniels and his crew and of course to the rest of the Team, and Horse Sport Ireland. Tokyo 2020 is certainly going to be a very exciting competition for Team Ireland Equestrian,.