Britain's young riders put on their riding boots to secure individual gold in the combined section and individual silver in the dressage last weekend (2nd and 3rd of January).

Held at Ravensdale Lodge Equestrian Centre in Dundalk, co. Louth, the competition was the fourth and final Student Riders' Nations' Cup for 2009 and attracted overseas competitors from as far away as Egypt, Canada and the USA.

Riders competed on borrowed horses in dressage, show jumping and combined competitions to gain points to go towards their final scores accumulated from previous competitions in 2009.

Cups were presented to the countries that had achieved the best results in each competition throughout the year.

The Irish hosts went away with the President's cup 2009, as well as the World Final Show Jumping Cup 2009. Germany was awarded the World Final Dressage Cup 2009 and Belgium won the Team Show Jumping cup 2009.

Chef d'Equipe of the Irish Team, member of the organising committee and secretary of the Irish Universities Riding Clubs Association said afterwards: "It was a brilliant weekend and I'd like to thank all our sponsors and especially those competitors who travelled from all over the world to take part."

No doubt the British team will be putting on their riding boots and riding hats more regularly to try to improve on their team score this year to win the trophies from the Irish.