Double Olympic gold medallist Nick Skelton discusses the return of Dublin Horse Show – and a key absence from the Nations Cup
Dublin Horse Show is one of the five great shows of the season and, after a three-year break owing to Covid, it was fantastic to be back there last week.
It’s a truly historic show with a wonderful arena, and the passionate crowds always make for a unique atmosphere, but it felt extra-special this year and I believe this year’s attendance was one of the biggest on record.
Every day from Thursday onwards, the crowds filled the showground and it was great to see the return of five-star showjumping to Ireland.
The Aga Khan Cup, presented to the winners of Friday’s Nations Cup team competition, is one of the biggest, most famous and most coveted prizes in Ireland – it’s the one the host nation wants to win more than any other.
But there has always been a fierce rivalry between the Irish and the British teams over the years – it really is one of the most hard-fought legs in the Nations Cup series.
I remember back in the day getting a taxi from the airport to the show and the taxi driver asking, “Who is going to win this week, the British or the Irish?” It’s a huge part of both countries’ showjumping heritage.
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A historic first
This year’s contest came down to a thrilling jump-off between the Irish and French teams and the stands erupted when Conor Swail won it for his home crowd.
It brought back memories of the year Carlo and I gave Ireland’s Billy Twomey on Tinka’s Serenade a thumping against the clock to help Great Britain lift the trophy in 2011. I was the most hated man in Dublin that day, but they always take it in good spirits… eventually!
So the question I got asked a hundred times this year was, “Why didn’t Great Britain send a Nations Cup team for this year’s Aga Khan Cup?”
Unusually Dublin, traditionally the final leg in the European division one series, wasn’t chosen by Great Britain as one of its point-scoring rounds this season, so we were not able to send a team.
I understand that this year’s show also came less than a week after the World Showjumping Championships in Herning, Denmark, which would have ruled out some of our leading horse and rider combinations. But what an unforgettable experience it could have been for a quartet of four young British riders.
An unfortunate clash
There was also an unfortunate and unprecedented clash between Dublin Horse Show and the London leg of the Longines Global Champions Tour this year, two key five-star shows that have historically been run one after another. It is such a pity that two events in such close proximity have been allowed to fall on the same dates in the showjumping calendar.
But on that note, funnily enough the FEI’s “own” show, the Nations Cup Final in Barcelona at the end of September, doesn’t clash with anything of any consequence – the only other shows in Europe that weekend are at three-star level and below.
There should have been a British team in action in Dublin and it’s a tragedy that there wasn’t – no matter what the reasons were. We were very sorely missed.
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The reigning Olympic showjumping champion enjoyed a phenomenal career spanning more than 40 years until his retirement from the sport in 2017. Having won team gold at the London Olympics in 2012, he went on to win the individual title at the age of 58 at his seventh Games in Rio in 2016 riding Big Star. Nick won 20 championship medals, represented Great Britain in 173 Nations Cups and triumphed in a glittering array of grands prix. He was awarded a CBE in the New Year’s Honours List in 2017.
