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This December, Ireland’s Daniel Coyle will be jumping his first ever Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final at CHI Geneva in Switzerland.

While competing in Geneva last year, Ariel Grange – Coyle’s long-time supporter and horse owner – told him that she did not want to come back unless they had a spot in the Top 10 Final. “I said, all right, that's fine – and since then, it was a clear goal. We were not far off; I was ranked 12^th last year,” the 31-year-old tells World of Showjumping. “It's never easy to get in the Top 10 at any point in time. I have been in the Top 10 a few times before, but never at the right moment.”

“I am happy I was able to make it happen and reach this goal for her,” Coyle continues. “I was focused on making it happen. You need to have a really good team, exceptional horses and go to the right shows. It is about doing the right thing for the whole year, not about one or two months. Usually, we have settled down towards the end of the year, and that is all that changed. It wasn't a big change in the whole system, we just got a few more results in – that was a key factor.”

The 15-year-old gelding Farrel (VDL Cardento 933 x Argelith Stakkato, bred by VDL Stud) has played a big part in Coyle reaching his goal. “I have won many ranking classes with him,” Coyle says. “He's probably my most winning and most consistent horse at every level, from speed classes to Grand Prix.”

Farrel’s story is a bit out of the ordinary. The now 15-year-old gelding is jumping as good as ever, despite having been retired due to an injury a few years back. “When Covid-19 hit, all of our horses went to turn-out and had a break. I went to Ireland because the world had stopped and when we came back to start working, Farrel had grown a cyst on his stifle and was very lame,” Coyle explains. “He was basically retired from that moment forward. As he was unsound even in the paddock, we had to do something to try and fix him. Several vets tried few different things and nothing helped, until one finally found a way.”

As Farrel was fit to ride again, he was carefully brought back to the sport – with excellent results. This year alone, the gelding has won nine classes, among them the CSI5* 1.50m ATB Cup at Spruce Meadows, the CSI4* 1.50m Grand Prix qualifier at Thunderbird, the CSI4* 1.55m Live Oak International qualifier, the CSI5*-W 1.55m World Cup qualifier in Ocala – as well as being on the winning Irish team in the CSIO4* 1.55m Nations Cup at Thunderbird.

Another horse that has helped Coyle reach the Top 10 final is the 15-year-old mare Legacy (Chippendale Z x Bon Ami, bred by Romain Rotty). “I have had lots of goals and Legacy has taken me to all of them,” Coyle says. “In Geneva, I won't jump Legacy – I don't actually know which horse will compete there, maybe Incredible.”

With Incredible (Clinton x Hearbreaker, bred by Gebr. Bosch), Coyle placed second in the Longines the CSI5*-W 1.60m $340,000 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup ™ Washington (USA) in October. “I'll see how the weeks leading up to Geneva go,” Coyle says as he looks ahead towards December’s Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final.

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