THE Association of Irish Riding Clubs’ national chairman Tony Ennis, who was also show coordinator for last weekend’s annual two-day Festival in Mullingar, tweaked the Horse Sport Ireland showing programme this year.

A welcome initiative was the inclusion of two classes for traditionally-bred Irish Sport Horses into the breed working hunter programme on the Sunday, putting them on an equal footing with the Connemaras, Irish Draughts and thoroughbreds.

On this inaugural occasion the TIHs didn’t feature in the section championship but the winners were Calliaghstown’s Samantha Fitzsimons with Niamh Grimes’s home-bred 10-year-old Cruising For Chics gelding DS The Chic Magnet (RC 80) and Abbeylands’ Megan Delaney on her own similarly-aged Coolcronan Wood mare Mallow Warrior (RC 90).

The honours in the Connemara class went to Galway West’s Lucy Jackson with her 14-year-old Glenayre Silver Fox gelding Branchfield Dandy while Drynam’s Sophie Marks landed the ID class with her home-bred four-year-old Scrapman mare Lilys Lucky Penny. Mosstown’s Patricia Newman won the thoroughbred class with her nine-year-old Campaign Swing gelding Cry Of The Dreamer who she rode herself in bumpers and point-to-points between February 2020 and October 2021.

Disappointingly for Newman, when the steward was calling out who was reserve in the breed championship, Cry Of The Dreamer was overlooked in favour of the second in the thoroughbred class, Dingle Bay, who represented the Westport club under owner Sadhbh Gannon. Then called forward as champion was the ID Lilys Lucky Penny whose owner/rider/breeder, Sophie Marks, had partnered to win the mares’ class on Saturday.

“Lilys Lucky Penny (Penny at home) is my very first home-bred,” revealed Marks. “It was always a dream of mine to breed but when my Gortfree Hero mare, Barbervilla Lily, got injured I started breeding sooner than expected. I had hoped to breed another Lily and Penny is literally her double.

“I showed her as a foal, yearling, two-year-old and three-year-old and I broke her myself last year. In this first season under saddle, she has competed at the Show of the East, Balmoral and Glandoran. The Festival was her fourth show and she really gave it her all; for a baby it’s a big atmosphere but she seemed to just rise to the occasion.

“The working hunter track was the first course of fences she’s jumped at that height. I wasn’t even going to jump but was encouraged by my friends to do so and I was so happy I did. I cried calling my parents who had just landed home from holiday as they know how much it meant to me.

“Plans for the rest of the year aren’t too much. She will attend our Dublin Branch Irish Draught Show on June 25th in the National Horse Sport Arena and the Laois Branch show. After that I’ll see what the rest of the summer brings. I’ve waited a long time for her to come along but by God she was worth the wait!”

Sadhbh Gannon has definite plans for her seven-year-old Alhebayeb gelding Dingle Bay. “After passing my Pony Club A test, with the help of Kay Nolan while working in her yard in Co Meath, I moved home to Co Mayo where I began working for Ballinrobe racehorse trainer Michael Flannery.

“It was there that I first met Dingle Bay who was coming to the end of his racing career following 12 unplaced runs on the flat. I loved his calm attitude and eye-catching looks and thought he had potential to make a nice riding horse. I brought him home to my local livery yard outside Westport in 2020 and began his retraining journey.

“We have competed in numerous racehorse to riding horse classes where he has been in the ribbons each time, winning at the Showing Show of the Year here at the MEC last June. Over the winter we competed in some of the Eventing Ireland Western Region Starter Series thoroughbred classes, qualifying for the final at Milchem Equestrian where we finished third.

“Plans for the future would be to do some more eventing and to attend some qualifiers for the Treo Eile showing pathway series. I would also like to do some of the qualifiers for the racehorse to riding horse class at the Dublin Horse Show to further his education and experience.”