Irish 'Girls in Green' Aiming to Write History at the 2019 European Dressage Championships

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2019 European Dressage Championships

The Irish Girls in Green dressage team riders are aiming to make history at the 2019 European Dressage Championships in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, on 19 - 25 August 2019.

As final preparations take place for next week’s European Championships in Rotterdam, the Irish senior dressage team remain 100% focussed on their goal of becoming the first ever Irish Dressage team to qualify for the Olympic Games. The depth of talent and experience in this team is remarkable with three former individual Olympians, Anna Merveldt, Heike Holstein and Judy Reynolds, joined by the highly talented Kate Dwyer.

Training Camp at Johann Hinnemann's

Final training for the Irish dressage team takes place at world-renowned dressage coach, Johann Hinnemann’s yard in Germany this week, before the team move to Rotterdam on Friday and Saturday.

Throughout his illustrious career as an athlete, Johann has won team gold and individual bronze at the Dressage World Championships and at the European Dressage Championships. Johann has also been awarded the rarely bestowed title of Reitmeister (Master Rider) and was the Coach for the German, Dutch National Teams and Canadian Olympic Team.

Johann has worked individually with Ireland’s Judy Reynolds and Anna Merveldt for over 15 years and his expert guidance, championship experience and world-class coaching is an integral part of Team Ireland’s preparation for the European Championships.

It will be Kate Dwyer’s first time to train with Johann and upon arrival at Johann’s yard on Wednesday, Kate said: “I’m very excited to train with Johann, he is a real expert and I am going to take in as much of his advice as I can. It’s fantastic to have this calibre of support behind the team and I am really excited for the championships.”

Though each of the Irish riders have predominantly represented Ireland as individual athletes, Johann describes the Girls in Green as a “close-knit group, who all ride in a classical style.” Johann continues: “I am super happy to be part of this team. I have had a relationship with Judy and Anna for many years and I have seen them develop into top international riders. “While Anna has been teaching Heike, I have been keeping an eye on them and Anna teaches in the same style as me. I worked with Heike today [Wednesday] in the ring with very good results. Kate arrived late last night, and I worked a little with her today. In the following days we will concentrate further on refinements. I expect a great performance from all of them in Rotterdam.”

Serbian Milan Djordjevic Appointed Irish Chef d'Equipe

The Irish National Federation, Horse Sport Ireland, has appointed Milan Djordjevic as Chef d’Equipe for the Championships. Milan, a Serbian born FEI Steward, has officiated at numerous high-profile international dressage competitions and brings over 20 years’ experience as a high-performance rider, coach, dressage judge, steward and event organiser in the Balkan region. Milan is really looking forward to the challenge of the European Championships and is expecting some big performances from the Girls in Green: “Being part of such a wonderful team is truly an honour”, Milan begins. “The Irish team and I share the same passion for horses, and we see horses with the same eye. They love their horses and they keep dressage on a natural and classical level.

“The experience in this team, at the very highest international level, is a wonderful platform - they are true professionals with exceptional horses, and I am very excited about the Championships. Their performances and progress have been fantastic, and it has been a pure joy to watch them this year. Great results from Aachen tell us that they are ready to show us much more at the European Championships.”

Inspiring a Generation

Dressage is the fastest growing equine discipline in Ireland and Ireland’s high-performance athletes are the very pinnacle of the programme, inspiring a whole new generation of equine enthusiasts to get involved in the sport of dressage. The ‘Girls in Green’ are exceptional role models for Irish equestrianism and with the support of the nation behind them, they are confident that they will write history next week in Rotterdam.

Of the teams taking part, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden have already secured a ticket to Tokyo, so Ireland will be vying with the remaining eight countries (Denmark, Austria, Portugal, Switzerland, Finland, Belgium, France and Luxembourg) for one of three qualifying places that are on offer.

Girls in Green

The Irish Dressage team for the 2019 European Championships is:

Kate Dwyer with Snowdon Faberge – owned by Kate Dwyer
Heike Holstein with Sambuca – owned by Heike Holstein
Anna Merveldt with Esporim – owned by Giovanna Mazza
Judy Reynolds with Vancouver K – owned by Joe and Kathleen Reynolds

Vancouver K is well established at a high level having scored over 80% at Grand Prix level and his rider, Judy Reynolds, describes his collected work as “very special”. Sambuca’s rider and owner, Heike Holstein believes that fans have yet to see the best of Sambuca as her “brilliant extensions and fantastic passage work continues to improve”.

Anna Merveldt’s young stallion, Esporim, has an incredible attitude but comes alive when required - as we all witnessed in Aachen. Anna describes his canter work as “exceptional” and will be looking for high marks from the judges. Kate Dwyer’s Snowdon Faberge has demonstrated real strength in the piaffe and passage, but Kate says that “his party-piece is the flying change, he just does it for fun.”

Team Ireland have a huge support team behind them and earlier this week, Horse Sport Ireland CEO, Ronan Murphy said: “We are very excited to be fielding a world-class dressage team at next week’s European Championships. It has been an absolute privilege to work with these dedicated riders, their owners and support teams and we wish them every success in their bid for Olympic qualification.”