AS there were only four horses involved, it’s amazing that two of those who appeared in the Living Legends Parade at the Tattersalls International Horse Trials last Saturday had connections to Northern Ireland.

Kevin O’Ryan of At The Races was master of ceremonies and the first horse he introduced to the crowd was the eventer Portersize Just A Jiff who, in spite of being just 15.2hh, took his rider, Camilla Speirs, through from her days as a member of the Kildare Pony Club to competing at the 2012 London Olympics and at four-star level in Badminton (five times) and Pau.

ROUTE HUNT

Portersize Just a Jiff was bred in Co Antrim by Philip White, Master of the Route hunt and one of the driving forces behind their point-to-points. He is a son of the Connemara stallion Crosskeys Rebel and was out of the near thoroughbred mare Mizen Talent, who was by Mizen Melody. Speirs and Portersize Just A Jiff have been the most successful Irish combination at Tattersalls since the International was first held there in 2006.

The other horse with northern connections was the great Hurricane Fly who won a record 22 Grade 1 races when trained by Willie Mullins for Rose Boyd and George Creighton. Both he and Thousand Stars, who stood out as a grey on the parade, are 14 years of age, Portersize Just a Jiff is 18, while the fourth member of the quartet, Kicking King, is 20.

They looked in great condition and were appeared to be pleased to be out in public again, although Jiff wasn’t too impressed with the Tattersalls mascot. The four could have been led around the edges of the arena at least once to let spectators have a closer view of their equine heroes. However, this was a great start for a feature that could grow and grow.

Among the north of Ireland firms to place advertisements in the Horse Trials’ programme were Move Right Therapy, Horse First, and Bluegrass Horse Feeds, the last-named featuring in last week’s edition of The Irish Field.

VETERINARY SURGEONS

Among the north of Ireland veterinary surgeons on duty over the duration of last week’s Tattersalls International Horse Trials was Waringstown’s Michael Duggan who doesn’t event himself but would hunt a bit if he had the time.

Last summer, Michael was the recipient of the Rossdales Equine Studies Prize at the University of Bristol Veterinary School. This prize is awarded to “the final year student who has demonstrated the most commitment to the clinical care of equine patients.”

Although he has been working locally over the past few months, Michael is soon to start at the Bell Equine Veterinary Clinic, a referral practice in Kent. In the future, he hopes to specialise in equine orthopaedic surgery.