Horse & Hound – 08 August 2019

8 August 2019Horse& Hound 23

Pictures by Tony Parkes, sarahfarnsworth.co.uk and Peter Nixon

BritishEuropean

Championshipsdressage

team rider Gareth Hughes

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WEEK

CiaranandNovemberNighthavea ‘brilliant run’atBurghleylastyear,finishing14th

C

IARANGLYNNcan’tbecalled

anamateureventrider.He’s

riddenforIreland,finished14th

atbothBurghleyandBadminton

withinthepastyearandmakeshis

livingoutofhorses.Butthisyearatleast,he

competesjustonehorse,themareNovember

Night.Hisincomecomesfromrunning“avery

large”competitionandliveryyard,Killossery

LodgeStudinCo.Dublin;breedinghorses,

mostlyshowjumpers;andmakingandselling

cross-countryjumpsandDerbyfences.

“Idolotsofthings,”hesays,smiling.“It’s

difficulttoridehorsesfora livinginIreland.”

Ciaran,36,hasbeenonthecircuitfora long

time—long-listedforjuniorandyoungrider

teamsonhorsesheproduced—butNovember

Nighthasmadehimnarrowhisfocusonthe

verytopofthesport.Lastweek,hewasnamed

ontheIrishsquadforthismonth’sEuropeans.

Easytointerview—I askjusttwoquestions

in 45 minutes—Ciaransteppedawayfrom

horsestogotouniversityandthentravelling

withhisnow-wife,Emily.Afterhismother

hada badaccidentfallingoffa horse,hefound

himselfrunningKillosseryinhisearly20s.

“Iranit fora year,butdidn’tknowwhat

I wasdoing,”hesays.“OnedayI starteda

conversationwithMumaboutgoingtothe

UKtotrytofindmywayintheworld.Itended

withmerentingtheyard—I don’tknowhow.

“

W

Ewereverybusy,everythingwas

great,thenbang,therecession,

soI learntonthejobrealquick.

I didn’tpaymyselfa wagefortwoyears,as

therewasnomoneytoinvestinthebusiness.”

Hecompetedthroughoutthisperiodand

wenttothe 2009 EuropeansonKillossery

Kruisitaasanindividual.

“Itwasa horribletimeforthebusiness,but

funnilyenoughI hadmoreback-uphorsesthen

thanI donow.I justhaveNovemberNightand

don’tproducethatmanyyounghorseseither.”

Horsesweresold,someinjured,suchas

Don’tTellPunch,long-listedforLondon2012.

Thebusinesspickedup,thenin 2010 ona

drunkennightatthefirstGoForGoldSaleat

Goresbridge,heandownersSusannaFrancke

andPeterColeboughta “big,raw”Bonnie

PrincemareandnamedherNovemberNight.

“IthinkI nearlylosttheownerswhenshe

wasa five-year-oldbecauseI didsolittlewith

her,”remembersCiaran.“Istartedherslowly

andshe’sneverbeenstraightforward,butall

thattimeweinvestedinherhasbeenworthit.”

DisappointmentatnotmakingtheIrish

teamfortheWorldEquestrianGames(WEG)

last year spurred him on to achieve those

BurghleyandBadmintonresultswith

NovemberNight.Andheadmitsthathisheart

hasbeensetontheEuropeansallseason—

aheadofTokyo2020.

“IwasdisappointedwithwhereI wasin

thepeckingorderforselectionlastyearand

thatmotivatedme,”Ciaransays.“SoI wentto

Burghleyandhada brilliantrun.Sheateup

thecross-countryfromstarttofinish.Itwas

myfirstBurghley.Peoplekepttellingmewhat

a staminatestit wasandthatit wouldfind

thebottomofher,soI gotasfarasthe Dairy

Mound and let her float home.”

T

HEpaircompletedBadmintonwith

clearcross-countryroundsin 2017 and

2018,butthisyeartheyhadtoprove

themselvesworthyofa placeonaninvigorated,

confidentIrishsquadthathadbouncedupinto

thatteamsilvermedalatWEG.

“Ihadtickedalltheboxes.Shewasasfit,

if nota fractionfitter,thanshehadbeenfor

Burghley.I hadevenpulledupacrosscountry

intheCCI4*-SinAprilatBallindeniskwhen

wecouldhavewonwithfourtime-faultsin

hand[tosavethehorseforBadminton].I felt

I haddoneeverythingI could,”hesays.“Iwent

toBadminton.AndonThursdayeveningI was

gutted.Nootherworddescribesit.”

NovemberNight’sdressagemarkof

39.7 — 6.1 penalties worse than at Burghley —

leftthemmilesdowntheorderinequal66th.

“Isatmyselfdownandsaid:‘Youcaneither

withdrawandreroute,oryoucancontinueon

andfinishwiththebestresultyoucan.’”

Ciaran’sfriendshipwithSamWatsonand

DiarmuidByrneofEquiRatingsmeansheis

consciousofthedataandanalyticsinvolvedin

hiscompetitivecareer.

“Ispenttimewiththemearlyintheweek

lookingatthenumbersandI hadthissheet

pinnedupinthelorrywiththefigurescircled

onit,soI knewwhatI hadtodotocontinueto

improve.I knewa finishingscorebetween 45

and 50 wouldmoveusintherightdirectionat

five-starlevel.ButasI hadstartedon39,there

wasn’ta lotofwiggleroom.”

Ciarantooktheharderoption—tokeep

going,ratherthanthrowinthetowel.

“MyFridaycross-countrywalkwasa very

differentone.Somepotentiallongrouteswent

outofthewindow,”hesays.“Ifevertherewas

a timetogoforit,thiswasit.”

Hehada “dreamride”forsixtime-penalties.

“Iwastryingtopullupatthefinish.Allthe

timewehadtakenwithher,allthetimeswe

hadn’trunthelegsoffher,waspayingoff.”

Thatleftthemon45.9,whichmeanta

showjumpingclearwasessential.

“Herrecordmightnothaveindicatedthat

wewould[shehadonedownatBurghleyand

twoatBadmintonin2018],butI knewwhere

wewerewiththejumping,”saysCiaran,whose

fatherFrankis aninternationalshowjumping

course-designer.“Idida goodbitofjumping

inmyyouth,andbredandproduceda lot

ofjumpers.She’snottheeasiesttorideor

regulatea stridepatternon,butatBadminton

shetriedsohard.Ateveryfence,shewas

killingherselftogetoutoftheway,soI was

happytotakethreesecondsoverthetimeand

a clear.Itwasanincrediblejourneythrough

theweekfromhightolowtohighagain.”

AboutTokyo,hesays:“It’sa hugechange

intheOlympicformatofteams[threerather

thanfourina team,withallscorestocount],

andanytinymishapacrosscountryhas

massiveramifications.Thethreebesthorses

intheworldcangoononeteamandif anyone

slipsona turn,thatteamwon’twin.

“Soconsistencyacrosscountryis something

thatweasa teamhavebeentalkingabouta

lot.CurrentlyNovemberNight’sconsistencyis

good,soit’suptometokeepit thatway.Soyes,

wehaveoneeyeontargetsfortherest of this

year and one eye on Tokyo.”H&H

Withshowjumpinginhis

blood,Ciaran’sexperience

benefitsNovemberNight,

whois ‘nottheeasiest

horsetoregulate a stride

pattern on’

‘Wehaveoneeyeon

thisyear’stargetsand

one eye on Tokyo’