A Donegal woman is preparing for a new chapter in her army career after being assigned to the Equitation School of the Irish Defence Forces.
Erin Crawford has long had a passion for horses and over the years she has competed both nationally and internationally at a host of top show jumping events.
Even at a young age, Erin realised that show jumping was her passion and that she wanted to make a career of it.
She had set her sights on applying for an equestrian cadetship in the Defence Forces long before completing the Leaving Certificate.
Last week the Castlefinn woman achieved that ambition when she was assigned to the Irish Army’s Equitation School.
Second Lieutenant Crawford (20) was commissioned at a special ceremony involving the 99th cadet class at the Defence Forces Training Centre in The Curragh, County Kildare on Wednesday.
The commissioning ceremony was attended by the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Micheál Martin and the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Lt Gen Seán Clancy.
Erin’s equestrian career began at five years of age when she learned to ride ponies.
Horses have been an integral part of her upbringing, having competed at show jumping events all around Ireland and further afield.
One of Erin’s most memorable shows was competing at the spectacular Longines Al Shaqab equestrian complex at the 2020 InterNations event in Doha, Qatar.
She was also part of the junior squad competing in The Netherlands and has very fond memories of jumping ponies at the RDS on a number of occasions.
The Army Equitation School is based at McKee Barracks in Dublin and was founded in 1926 to promote Ireland and the Irish horse.
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