Two members of Dublin University Equestrian Club (DUEC) are to be part of the Irish Student Riders squad that will compete at the Student Rider Nations Cup competitions for the upcoming year in both dressage and show-jumping.
Speaking to The University Times over email, club captain Sean Cassidy said the club were “incredibly proud and excited” to have two DUEC riders on the Irish squad.
This will be the second time and for the second year in a row that second-year BESS student Robbie Kearns has been called up to the squad, after competing at the Student Rider Nations Cup event in Romania in June. Emma Kennedy, a second-year law and political science student, will be competing for her first time.
Kearns and Kennedy were chosen after taking part in a difficult selection process involving nearly 50 student riders from colleges across the country. Thirty of those were brought to trials to compete for one of 12 spots on the squad.
Team Ireland has experienced a recent run of success in the Student Rider Nations Cup, which includes a win in the Gold League at the World Finals in 2016. This victory qualified them for the 2017 Gold League World Final, due to take place in Brodnica, Poland between the 30th December 2017 and 1st January 2018.
No Trinity riders have been selected for the finals, but Maynooth University’s Kelly Hutchinson, University College Dublin’s Ian Cassells and Ulster University’s Charlotte Dixon will compete for Team Ireland in the event against Austria, Great Britain, Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.
