Clare girl saddles up for bronze medal in Paris

Noelle Barry from Banner Equestrian Toonagh with Yvonne and Gerry Keohane’s Vis a Vis won a bronze medal at the European Championships for Children on Horses at Jardy, Paris last week.

A long journey that began in January 2010 finally took Noelle to Jardy, Paris to compete on the Irish team at the European championships. Selections took place at the Chippison Spring Tour throughout the country from which a squad of eight was named by Comdt John Ledingham.
They travelled to Wales and West Show, where Noelle had two wins, one second and a double clear round in the Nations Cup. This was followed by a trip to Bonheiden, Belgium at the end of May. There were also many team-training sessions with Comdt John Ledingham, the highlight of these being at the Army Equitation School in Dublin.
Finally, a team of five riders was selected to travel to the championships. All the hard work paid off when the team of four riders Cormac Hanley (Mayo), Tim McDonagh (Galway), Noelle Barry (Clare) and Wesley Byrne (Kilkenny) finished on a score of five, taking the bronze medal behind Britain and Italy.
It was a great achievement for Noelle Barry and Wesley Byrne, both producing double clear rounds for the Irish team.