The news that Ireland’s Darragh Kenny will no longer compete the brilliant string of horses owned by America’s Ann Thompson sent a shudder through the sport today. The 32-year-old Offaly native has risen to the no. 7 spot in the Longines World Rankings, thanks in no small part to the…
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FEI Press Release by Louise Parkes Mexican showjumper, Federico Fernandez, had just arrived in Madrid (ESP) by train when I spoke with him last week. He was en route to a business meeting and had intended travelling by air from Valencia (ESP), but the flight was cancelled at the last…
Continue ReadingFEI Press Release It sounded like he was being dive-bombed by sea-planes when I spoke with Pedro Cebulka last week. “That’s another one coming over now”, he’d say with a laugh as our conversation about his life and times had to be put on hold again and again. He and…
Continue ReadingTalking Horses – FEI Press Release by Louise Parkes Not too many people have been to 17 Olympic Games in their lifetime, but retired British journalist Alan Smith most certainly has. In a career that spanned 48 years he reported on no less than nine Summer and eight Winter Games…
Continue ReadingFEI Press Release by Louise Parkes The birds were singing so loudly in the background that I thought Lucia Montanarella was out in the countryside when I called her last week. She wasn’t though, she was in her apartment in the city of Lausanne, Switzerland where she has been based…
Continue ReadingFEI Press Release by Louise Parkes When I called David Broome last Tuesday he had been haymaking at Mount Ballan Manor near Chepstow in South Wales which, apart from being the family farm, is also home to the hugely popular Wales and West showgrounds. The legendary British showjumping rider is…
Continue ReadingFEI Press Release by Louise Parkes An interview with James Cunningham Wofford is not something to be taken lightly. Any attempt at leading the conversation fails miserably, because you are talking with a man with the most exceptional communications skills and extraordinary stories to tell. There’s a sense of riding…
Continue ReadingIt’s been a big news days in Ireland with a number of exciting announcements. Sporting his very healthy-looking Phoenix Park tan, Taoiseach Leo Varadakar confirmed the further lifting of Covid 19 restrictions across the country, Horse Sport Ireland and Showjumping Ireland confirmed that the HSI Premier and ISH Studbook series…
Continue ReadingFEI Press Release by Louise Parkes Kevin Babington had just had his hair cut when I spoke with him last week, and in these strange times that’s a cause for major celebration. Around the globe people have been prevented from keeping their curls under control due to pandemic lockdowns. But…
Continue ReadingFEI Press Release by Louise Parkes Riders and sports fans all around the globe are pining for the cut-and-thrust of FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ this year. Since it was first staged back in 1909, war is the only thing that has ever stopped this great annual tournament in its tracks,…
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