Talking with 47-year-old Shane Breen and 21-year-old Mikey Pender has given me some idea of the resilience shown by our international riders as they cope with the triple whammy of COVID-19, Brexit and the recent equine herpes virus outbreak (EHV-1).

Despite the challenges and crushing cancellations, both men have achieved good results and are still hoping for a better summer to come.

Shane’s odyssey

Shane Breen’s recent odyssey began with his televised victory at the Irish Masters in Emerald equestrian in Kildare before Christmas.

“It was great to win at home but there was no time to rest before flying out to Dubai and Qatar on 23 December. In Dubai we were tested every six days. Then all the international shows were cancelled but we were able to jump in national events,” Shane said.

From there it was on to the first leg of the Global Champions Tour in Doha, Qatar, where the last fence denied Dublin Grand Prix winner Z7 Ipswich of the win. All shows in England were cancelled when EHV–1 struck. So, he stayed on in the desert until matters cleared. Back now in his base of Hickstead, he still hopes to do some continental travel this year.

“With Brexit it is one third more expensive for British based riders to make it on to the continent and we will now do four week rather than two week tours. We have a great bunch of horses right now and would be hoping for a five star win.”

Breen also has his eye on Olympic selection – if not for Tokyo then Paris in 2024.

Mikey’s home and away

For Mikey Pender, a new surface at Marion Hughes’ indoor arena, his family’s Mageslane Luidam passing Phase 1 at the HSI stallion inspections and a home win in the TRM Spring Tour at Mullingar have all given some comfort to a rider whose international plans have been decimated.

“To avoid the [Channel] tunnel, we used the long boat via Dublin/Cherbourg to send eight horses out for the Portugal and Spanish winter/spring tours. It is cheaper but more difficult for the horses,” Pender notes. He got to jump in Portugal but then EHV-1 hit and the three weeks he had planned to spend in Spain were cancelled. He came home but the horses are still out there, with Pender hoping to join them soon.

His big disappointments include the cancellation of the Hickstead Derby and missing his chance to jump with the Santa Fe Pirates team on the Global Champions Tour.

“We can spend more time on the young horses, look forward to the qualifiers and hopefully Lanaken,” the ever positive Mickey explains.

His motto: “keep going”.