Roland Tong, Irish International Dressage rider is based in the South of England where and his partner have horses from new born foals to international competition horses, Roland has great experience at many levels and different disciplines. Aged 16 he started out as a groom then developed into young horse producer; many of his “protégée” have gone on to be international Grand Prix horses with new riders. He has won many regional and national British championships from Novice to Advanced. Roland has also represented Great Britain at the World Young Horse Championships in Verden and the CDI in Sydney 2004.
Roland was brought up in Belfast and in 2012 went back to his roots and took Irish nationality. This gave him the opportunity to become the top Irish dressage rider in 2013 and lead the rankings in 2014. 2013 saw Roland and Pompidou win their first international competition at Compiegne. He was the best placed Irish rider at the European Championships in 2013 and at the World Equestrian Games in Normandy 2014. He was part of the first Irish team to compete with four riders at Normandy. “Competing as part of team gives you a different perspective; you work together and support one another through all aspects of a high level competition. It was inspirational and I hope that WEG 2014 is just the start of great things for Irish Dressage.” Roland has new horses for the 2015 season and aims to qualify and compete at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games.