A TALENTED young Ennis showjumper has followed up recent European success with victory at the Dublin Horse Show in the RDS this Friday.
Coen Williams was the captain when the Irish Pony U-16 showjumping team of Eoin Brennan, James Brennan, Paddy Reape, Williams and James Derwin, managed by Gary Marshall, won the team gold medal at the FEI Jumping European Championships for Ponies in Strzegom, Poland recently.
In addition to the team award, Coen also won an individual bronze medal.
In fact, this was the first time since the European championships started in 1978 that Ireland won first, second and third as well as team gold.
Coen will be part of the Irish U-16 team that will be paraded before the Aga Khan Nations Cup final in the RDS on Sunday to mark the team’s outstanding achievements.
On Friday, Coen followed up this great success by becoming Ireland’s new national champion by winning the U-16 148cm final at the main RDS arena.
His mother, Paula Williams explained show jumpers have to be selected to ride for Ireland by the team manager before they are put through a special high performance programme.
She is thrilled with his success in the European and national championships.
“The best in the world are competing in Dublin. Any day you come out of the RDS with a ribbon is a good day. It is not easy to get to the RDS. There are four qualifiers for each qualifier and there can be up to 100 competitors in each qualifier.
“Overall, there are about 1,600 horses in the RDS this week.”
She stressed Coen’s success is due to his hard work and commitment to training.
“Preparations usually start in January. Coen usually trains for about an hour in the morning before he attends Rice College. After school, he does another two to three hours as well as anything from six to eight hours at weekends depending on what competitions are taking place.
“Coen is a seriously hard worker,” she explained.
Coen is galloping to success alongside his brother, Rhys, who also has won a number of awards and has followed in the footsteps of his father, Adrian, who was an international showjumper.
Last year, the Ennis brothers made showjumping history by becoming the first pair of siblings to be crowned leading international horse rider and leading International pony rider at the FEI International Jumping Nations Cup Youth Finals.
Competing in Peelbergen, Netherlands, world champion at the time Rhys won leading international horse rider while his younger brother Coen took the pony equivalent.
Adrian first put Coen on their PARC pony when is was about four years of age and has been riding and showjumping in agricultural shows for years.
About 17 years ago, Adrian and Paula Williams built their home and stables, PARC Stables two and a half miles out the Kilrush Road from Ennis.
Adrian, who started to breed horses about four years ago, has passed on his extensive equine knowledge to his two sons.
Next month, Coen will start studying for his Leaving Certificate in Rice College, which Ms Williams acknowledged has been very accommodating any time he needed to leave early due to his equestrian commitments.
She paid tribute to high performance trainer Denis Flannelly, who trains her two sons.
2018 proved to be a memorable year for Rhys when he became the youngest ever person to be awarded honours by Ennis Municipal District and Clare County Council with a civic reception in October.
Rhys won the individual gold medal at the U-14 FEI European Championships in Fontainebleau in France, while also picking up silver in the team event.
This was the first time a Clare showjumper had brought back a gold medal to the county in 52 years.
He also had the distinction of being the only rider to jump a clear round to register a score of zero.
This helped him win the Junior Show Jumper Award at the Irish Field Equestrian Awards at the K Club.
East Clare correspondent, Dan Danaher is a journalism graduate of Rathmines and UL. He has won numerous awards for special investigations on health, justice, environment, and reports on news, agriculture, disability, mental health and community.