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“It's difficult, but if you keep trying, and get a few good results, you will always get a chance,” Ireland’s Francis Derwin tells World of Showjumping about the challenge of transitioning towards the top from the junior and young rider divisions. “If we can ride, we are all going to get the same opportunities. I don't think that money really makes a difference. If you're any good and you work hard enough, you're going to make it anyway.”

The 20-year-old – who returned from this summer’s young rider Europeans with two medals – is a great example himself. Marking a successful step up, Francis won the CSIO3* 1.50m Grand Prix in Vejer de la Frontera, Spain, with Parvati AEG (Arezzo VDL x Darco) at the beginning of November 2024. Recently, the pair also won one of three U25 classes at CHI Geneva – the Coupe Land Rover Discovery. 

Based in Athlone, in the middle of Ireland, Francis rides horses for his father, and in the winter months, he travels to Wellington, Florida, to work with Darragh Kenny. “I started riding when I was three,” Francis – who grew up surrounded by horses – tells about the beginning of his riding career. “My grandmother had a riding school and my dad and my uncle always had lots of horses. I started competing with ponies and simply kept at it because I liked it.”

“My dad buys and sells plenty of horses,” he explains. “He sells all kinds of horses; jumping, eventing, hunting… I wouldn't even know the exact numbers, because there are always a couple of hundred horses at home. Every day, there are new ones coming in and some leaving – it's always busy.”

“For myself, I usually have in between 8 and 12 horses, from the age of four to my oldest one at the minute being 12,” he continues. “Most of them are from my father. My grandmother owns some of them as well and then there are one or two from Darragh. I like being at home, but in the wintertime in Ireland, there's not so much shows and not too much goes on. Therefore, it's good to be able to go to Wellington and keep jumping.”

“I guess you could say he is old fashioned,” Francis tells about his father, who has trained him all the way from ponies. “He worries about the horses and whatever he thinks is the best for the horse, he'll always do that. He is a proper horseman, old fashioned in ways, but he always knows what's best for the horses. He tries to teach me that every day. As riders, we need to be able to work with different horses and always read them to know what's best for them.”

This past summer, Francis claimed individual silver and team gold at the 2024 European Championships at Peelbergen (NED) with Flexi K (Flexible x Luidam) in the young rider division. “The Europeans were kind of the main goal for the year, and we bought Flexi last summer with the idea of doing that championship,” Francis tells. “For it to all work out and to be able to win two medals was brilliant. We tried to be ready for this championship and it was great to reach that goal.”

Already successful among the senior riders too, Francis took his first three-star Grand Prix win in Vejer in the beginning of November last year. “It was very good to do it on Parvati, because I've been riding her since she was five. To do it with a horse that I've had all along made it a little bit more special,” he says.

“I did one senior Nations Cup last year in Vilamoura and the success at the Europeans got me to Dublin to jump the five-star classes there,” Francis continues to explain about his smooth transition towards the higher levels of the sport. “Michael Blake then gave me the chance to jump on the team in Warsaw, at the final of the Longines EEF-series. Since that went well, I got to jump the Nations Cup in Morocco. I've gotten a few chances now – which is motivating. It's brilliant to be able to jump the senior Nations Cups. I've got one more year in young riders, but to be able to step up now and to have horses that are able to jump at that level makes me happy. It's great experience and it's cool to be able to jump those classes.”

Francis’ goals for 2025 are very similar to what he set out to do in 2024. “I have got one more year in young riders, so the Europeans must be a goal again,” he says. “And then I'd love to go back to Dublin to jump the five-star there, and maybe do a couple more bigger shows in Europe during the summer. I mostly stay in Ireland during the middle of the summer, but I'd like to maybe go to a few more shows in Europe.”

“I think the young rider classes are a great preparation because there are so many good young riders at the moment, especially in Ireland,” he points out. “There are so many talented riders. It's a big help to be able to try and win against them, it really prepares you for the higher levels. Since I competed in ponies, there has always been a very good group of people around my age, and I think it has made us all very competitive. Every week, we try to improve and I think we push each other to be better.”

“I enjoy going to the shows, especially when some of my friends are there,” he continues. “It makes us even a little bit more competitive when we are jumping against each other because we have been doing this since we were children. I get a lot of enjoyment from that.”

“I haven't really thought much about long-term goals, other than try and keep going and see how it all works out,” Francis concludes. “I suppose for everyone, the main goal is always the Olympics. We are obviously a long way off that, but hopefully I can keep improving and maybe one day that would be a possibility.”

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