THE two Munster Regions of Dressage Ireland ran shows last Sunday, South Munster doing so at Ballindenisk, where the Fell family were primed to welcome competitors for the first of this year’s international events, which started on Thursday.

Surprisingly, Mike and Trish Ryan have no entries in the event, but were at Ballindenisk on Sunday with two horses apiece for the FEI Eventing 2* and 3* tests, which were judged by Vida Tansey (List 1). Trish won both on the Traditional Irish Sport Horse gelding The Caped Crusader, the 11-year-old Nazar chesnut scoring 70.95% (2*) and 68.26 (3*).

Among the graded competitions, winning scores of 70% and over were recorded at Preliminary level by Eilish McCarthy with her ISH gelding Sail On Diamond (72.6) in the DI4, which was judged in the short arena by Jillie Rogers (List 3), and by Finola Craven riding Oilean Hitachi (74.17) in the DI18 before the same judge, but in the long arena.

The Tansey-judged Medium DI65 was won by Jessica Grogan, who comfortably saw off her sole opponent thanks to her test on Laura Hagger’s Dutch Warmblood gelding Christianson (71.72%), an 18-year-old Briar chesnut.

Sinead McGrath claimed her first international qualification score at North Munster Dressage Show riding Killard Precision

North Munster

The North Munster Region staged their show at the Roscrea Equestrian Centre, where Ballinrobe’s Sinead McGrath was delighted to achieve a first international qualification score at Intermediate I level with the ISH gelding Killard Precision.

Disappointingly, McGrath and the 14-year-old Mermus R bay were the only combination to perform before Michael Moore (List 2a), but he was impressed enough to award them a score of 68.82%. Killard Precision was bred in Co Galway by Kathryn Duffy out of the Crannagh Hero mare, Killard Moonshadow, a full-sister to Killard Horizon (CSIO5*).

Owen Smyth recorded a double in front of Moore at Elementary level with his Hanoverian gelding Dark Site. In the four-runner DI55, Smyth and the Don Frederico 20-year-old scored 70%, while they saw off two rival pairs to win the BD43 on 70.17.

The other judge on duty on Sunday was Elena Satalkina (List 5), who had two combinations on 70.19% in the Preliminary DI6. Category 3 rider Tara Oliver achieved that mark on her DI debut with the Danish Warmblood mare Kokkedals Freyja and Category 1 rider Siobhan Stapleton did so on board her Irish Draught gelding The Peeler, a 16-year-old chesnut son of Woodland Boy.

Oliver was awarded the slightly higher collective score (48 to 47.5) for her test on Kokkedals Freyja, a seven-year-old bay mare by Blue Hors Zalabaster.