There’s a particular electricity that comes with September if you’re involved in show jumping horses in Ireland. It’s not just the autumn light or the shortening evenings it’s the anticipation of Lanaken. The Belgian town set amongst the pretty fir trees transforms into the heartbeat of young horse sport each year, as the FEI WBFSH World Breeding Jumping Championships brings together the best of the best five, six, and seven-year-olds from across the globe. It’s here that Ireland’s proud equestrian tradition meets the crucible of international competition.

This year, from 24-28 September, Ireland sends forward a squad brimming with talent and no small measure of expectation. Chef d’équipe Taylor Vard has named his 2025 line-up, and his words carry both pride and pragmatism.

“It’s a squad I am very excited about,” he said, acknowledging the depth of choice that made his task anything but easy.

With over 135 expressions of interest received, the selection process demanded clarity of vision and a keen eye for potential. “There will be disappointment for some that weren’t selected,” Vard admitted “but that shouldn’t take away from any horse’s future.”

The sense of responsibility is not lost on him. With the Studbooks Jumping Champions Trophy lost from the calendar this season, Lanaken has become an even sharper focus for breeders keen to showcase their horses. “Now the focus is solely on Lanaken this year,” Vard continued, “to bring home medals as my teams have done in 2023 and 2024.”

For anyone who followed Lanaken last year, the memories are still fresh and tinged with adrenaline. The Irish camp was alive with tension, every stride carrying both the weight of expectation and the buoyancy of belief. There were tears shed in the collecting ring, poles rolling that dashed medal hopes in an instant, and then the uncontainable joy of glorious podium finishes that stitched the tricolour into the very fabric of the event.

That was the Lanaken theatre: the crack of hooves on sand, the gasps of crowds as horses touched down over airy verticals, and the way a single clear round could lift not just riders and grooms, but what feels like an entire nation watching ringside.

Team Ireland

It is against this backdrop of high drama that the class of 2025 prepares to write their chapter. At the youngest end of the championship, the five-year-olds brim with untapped promise. Among them is HHS Evora, a bay mare by Stakkato Gold, bred in Kilkenny and carrying the kind of athletic quality that whispers of future stardom. Ridden by Mikey Pender, a man no stranger to success in Lanaken, she is already turning heads.

Two Irish five-year-olds embody what Lanaken is all about: not finished products, but diamonds being shaped in real time.

In the six-year-old bracket, all eyes will be on BP Lucky Clover and Niamh McEvoy. Returning for a second consecutive year, the grey mare is a horse with presence, a blend of bloodlines that combine Mylord Carthago’s carefulness with the grit of Captain Clover. Her return is more than symbolic, it speaks of careful production and faith built on experience.

Alongside her is BP Othello, also under McEvoy’s reins, chestnut and fiery yet channelling his athleticism into precision. With Eoin Brennan guiding GCS Angelina and SDF Five Star, and Jason Foley piloting JM Forever Red, this age group boasts enviable depth. Each rider knows how fine the margins will be: a pole here, a time fault there, and dreams can dissolve in a heartbeat.

The seven-year-olds often draw the most eyes, representing horses on the cusp of senior international sport. This year’s Irish squad is as rich as it is exciting. HHS Flonix, bred by Brendan McSorley and campaigned by Marion Hughes and Mikey Pender, has already created murmurs of admiration for his balance of scope and temperament.

Boleybawn Alvaro, a Dominator 2000 Z stallion out of the prolific mare Arina, epitomises the strength of Irish breeding. Niamh McEvoy once again takes the reins, carrying the confidence of one who has felt the highs and lows of Lanaken before.

The true heartbeat of Lanaken isn’t only in the arena, it beats in the Irish breeders’ hearts. From Wicklow to Galway, Kilkenny to Tyrone, these breeders watch the horses they foaled, raised, and produced step onto the global stage. Their decisions – stallions chosen, mares nurtured – are validated in every stride and fence cleared. Every Lanaken story begins years earlier in a foaling box.

As the lorries prepare to roll and passports are checked, Team Ireland heads to Belgium carrying not just tack trunks and grooming kits, but the weight of a nation’s hopes. Lanaken will once again be a crucible of joy and despair, where the margin between glory and heartbreak is the smallest of fractions.

But win or lose, one thing is certain: Ireland will bring its trademark fire, horsemanship, riders and extraordinary horses to the world’s stage. As last year proved, the Irish never travel quietly – they arrive with belief, with talent, and with the kind of horses that make the world take notice.

In Lanaken, dreams are forged. And for Ireland’s 2025 squad, the stage is set.

For the full list of selected and reserve horses see farmersjournal.ie/farming-news/irish-country-living

5-Year-Olds

Boleybawn Alexa (ISH)

BP Athena II (ISH)

Bred by GBBS International Ltd., Co Tipperary

Castlefield Tycoon (ISH)

Galwaybay Jim (ISH)

HHS Evora (ISH)

Tysons Lady Lux (ISH)

6-Year-Olds

Belle Mai (ISH)

BP Lucky Clover (ISH)

BP Othello (ISH)

GCS Angelina (ISH)

JM Forever Red (ISH)

SDF Five Star (ISH)

Sumas Lumen (ISH)

7-Year-Olds

Boleybawn Alvaro (ISH)

CSF Thomascourt Zena (ISH)

Daliradas Boy (ISH)

HHS Flonix (ISH)

HHS Venice (ISH)

WHS King Lincoln (ISH)

Five-Year-Olds

Six-Year-Olds

Seven-Year-Olds