Pender reflects on superb League of Nations win

Team Camaraderie, a trust in themselves, trust in each other and horses coming into top form. These were all parts of the ingredients which saw two Carlow riders play a prominent role in The Underwriting Exchange Irish show jumping team which secured victory in the Longines League of Nations first leg in Abu Dhabi recently.

The four-man team of Denis Lynch on Vistogrand, Trevor Breen (Highland President) alongside the Carlow pair of Jason Foley (Chedington Hazy Toulana) and Mikey Pender (HHS Los Angeles) came into the event ranked number one in the world. They were firm favourites to come out on top. They didn’t just win the event but produced a performance of panache and style. In seven rounds, they didn’t knock a fence which is extremely rare.

“We had a good team. Three horses flew out and Trevor Breen’s horse was already over there competing. I had a few horses out there already so I brought this one (HHS Los Angeles) out,” said Pender as he reflected on an amazing performance.

Going on form over the previous months, Michael Blake Irish chef d’Equipe picked the team. Everything was falling into place as selection time loomed. Pender saw it coming.

“Denis (Lynch), at the moment, has the leading horse in the world now and if the Olympics came around now he would probably be the first pick for Ireland. It is horses form and them coming into form. We jump at individual shows every week and every second week around the world. It is whoever Michael Blake wants to pick and whether we want to go,” he said.

Emotion played its part too as preparations came to a close and the first day of competition loomed. Trevor Breen had a serious fall last May which resulted in him fracturing three bones in his neck and being put into an induced coma.

“It was a big day for Trevor back competing at that level. Everybody was delighted to see him competing at that level. In the end, it wasn’t said but we were all pulling together to try and get a result for Trevor,” agreed Pender.

After four rounds in the first round, Ireland had picked up only two time faults and didn’t knock a fence. On the second day, with three riders, they emerged victorious completing three more rounds without picking up jumping faults. The sense of achievement was not lost on Pender.

“It doesn’t happen too often we would jump seven rounds and not knock a fence. That day we were well ahead of the others and you wouldn’t have any competition in the world where, if you didn’t knock a fence, you wouldn’t win. It doesn’t happen. Maybe once or twice a year. It is unheard of really,” he said.

Even with Jason Foley’s time faults in that first round on his relatively new horse, Chedington Hazy Toulana it was treated like a clear.

“It is not often that when you have a discard that there is not a fence knocked.” 

With both Breen and Lynch going clear in the second round, Pender was last to go. Victory was on the line. The Carlow man knew he could have at least one mistake but that wasn’t on his mind when he entered the ring on HHS Los Angeles.

“I just tried to stick to the plan. I knew I could knock a fence but it can happen so quickly if a fence falls. Things can go against you. Luckily enough the mare travelled over brilliantly, in brilliant form and luckily enough it worked out our way.” 

It was a team victory with the four riders all believing and trusting in each other.

“We got on very well. There was a good atmosphere all week. With the team we had, we were probably underdogs with some of the teams that were there.

We had dinner most days together. We had a good relationship all week and that came through when we all got stuck in to get it over the line,” said Pender while he revealed some of the riders including himself have been competing in Abu Dhabi in the run-up to the success.

Unfortunately they were unable to travel home on the same flight as the riders were going in different directions. A delayed flight did allow them to get together where they “ had a bit of foot and a bit of craic.” 

They are off to Mexico for the next event which will take place on March 26-30. In the next few weeks, they will be working on getting the young horses up and performing. The next event is in Mexico on 26-30 March.

The World Championships take place later on in the year while the Dublin Horse Show in August will be on the radar for the successful team.

“That is the biggest one of the year for us,” noted the Carlow rider.