No Irish in the Running for 2025 European Championships in Crozet

Dressage

Ireland

After having had Irish team representation at the European Championships of 2019 and 2023, Ireland seems unlikely to field a rider at the 2025 Europeans in Crozet.

No Euros for Ireland

At the moment Ireland has only one pair that achieved the Minimum Eligibility Requirement (MER) for Crozet so far: Olympic duo Abigail Lyle and Giraldo.

However, Lyle has not competed her own and Caroline Clarry's 14-year old KWPN gelding Giraldo (by Rousseau x Flemmingh) since Paris in August 2024.

The British based rider replied to a query under the "Ask me a question" post on her Instagram feed: "Are you aiming for the Euros this year?"

"I am not," Lyle took to Instagram. "As wonderful as last year was, it was extremely tumultuous, in ways that I am not even able to disclose publicly. So I decided to just take this year to enjoy the horses, compete when it feels right and enjoy the younger ones," she initially posted."

In 2023 Abi rode Fenella Quinn's Farrell at the Europeans in Riesenbeck, but she showed him last at the CDI-W London in December 2024.

Work-Life Balance

To Eurodressage Lyle disclosed, "I found last year so tough mentally. I was absolutely wrecked. It was like living in a washing machine. And I had the whole business with the murder trial... so not just cause of the Olympics."

Abi continued, "I just wanted to spend this year getting myself into a good place and enjoying the horses I know I'm so lucky to have two horses at the level fit and sound, but at the end of the day they don't mind if they do Euros or not." I'm glad I did cause now I feel like I really want to get back in the ring at Grand Prix. Whereas at the start of the year I couldn't think of anything worse."

The Price of Competition

Lyle was very frank about the toll of competitions on riders who are not sponsored by millionaire maecenases.

"The less you compete the more money you make," she said cheekily but with earnest. "You make money from teaching, you do not make money from competing. You lose so much money competing! The prize money is absolutely abysmal, so it's only an expense to you to do it. If you want to make dressage pay you have to teach as much as possible and compete as little as possible, which is difficult because that is what we want to do."