THERE was a very windy start when the fourth leg of the Baileys Horse Feeds Flexi Eventing series at The Meadows Equestrian Centre got underway last Saturday but it was a dry, bright day and, once the wind dropped, conditions were perfect.

Once again, the teams officiating and volunteering in the show jumping and cross-country arenas were kept very busy throughout the day as riders prepare for the final weeks of this series, for the two-phase competition at Tyrella on March 14th and for the opening of the Eventing Ireland season in the Northern Region seven days later.

Among the many new combinations who appeared on Saturday in the smoothly run dressage phase were Aislín Captain and Commanche Arrow, winners of Section A of the Intro class. Judge Jackie Reid had the pair on a score of 70.5% which left them one point clear of Johnny Hagan on Buddy, a 2014 Chillout gelding who was campaigned in young event horse classes last year by Hagan’s wife Suzanne.

Captain, who is studying for a master’s degree in biomedical engineering at the University of Ulster, rides the six-year-old 15hh appaloosa gelding Commanche Arrow for Lisburn-based couple Cindy and Stan Cunningham.

“They bought him from a farm that had financial difficulties and, when he first came home, he was in poor condition,” explained Captain. “A year and a half later, I broke him as a rising four-year-old and he has been a pleasure to work with. This was only his third Preliminary level test. We will be working towards competing at novice dressage in the next few months.”

Lucinda Webb-Graham judged Section B where her winner was Kathryn Henderson riding Betty (73.3%), aka Mocking Bird, the 10-year-old Builder’s Delight mare she has been competing in EI90 Amateur competitions since the summer of 2016. Once again, Margaret Creighton finished second with the 2013 Clover Echo mare Ladida (71.8).

Today, the Creighton family’s interests will be split between equestrianism and motorsport with Margaret and Niall’s son William due to get his Junior British Rally Championship campaign underway at the Cambrian Rally in north Wales.

Winning debut

Lesley Jones made a winning seasonal debut in the Pre-Novice section where Martina McKinley had 37 combinations to judge.

The North Down Hunt Master topped the scoring on 72.8% with Yvonne Pearson’s Traditional Irish Sport Horse gelding Cairnview Redwood Guy while Jenny Nixon filled the runner-up position with her highly consistent eight-year-old Cruise On Harley gelding, Coolmount Cruise (72.3). There was a divide for third on 70.8 between Charlotte Dixon on Milo and Nicola Martin with Butter.

Cairnview Redwood Guy, who goes by the stable name of Christie, is a Loughehoe Guy six-year-old who was bred in Co Longford by Geraldine Quin out of the Clover Hill mare Cairnview Clover Crystal. Pearson purchased the chesnut as a four-year-old from David and Charlotte Kirkpatrick.

Among their showing results last season, Jones and Cairnview Redwood Guy stood reserve in the ladies’ astride championship at Balmoral (where they were also second in their working hunter class) while, making their debut under Eventing Ireland rules, they finished third in an EI100 at Loughanmore at the end of August.

Joanne Jarden judged the two higher-graded classes on Saturday and her winner of the 21-runner Novice section was the above-mentioned Dixon riding her mother Barbara’s Dutch Warmblood gelding, V Zermie 51.

Dixon and the now 18-year-old son of Namelus R, who was making his Flexi Eventing debut, scored 66.5% with series regulars, Denis Currie and Arodstown Aramis, next best on 66.3.

Charlotte, who was on the winning Irish team at the Student Riders Nations’ Cup world finals in Switzerland over New Year, is considering leasing V Zermie 51. However, as one would imagine, there are a lot of conditions involved regarding this much-loved gelding who could compete at lower levels in eventing and show jumping or do pure dressage.

Just four competed in the Intermediate dressage where Jarden awarded her top score of 71% to Helen Faulkner on her Connemara gelding Derrivane Danny, a 12-year-old grey by Glenayre Silver Fox. Izzy Riley was a point adrift in second with DHI No Fear.

The Baileys Horse Feeds Flexi Eventing series, which is open to all, continues at The Meadows every Saturday until February 29th with points being awarded each week for performance and attendance. Prizes will be presented on Saturday, March 7th when the competition will take the form of a mini one-day event.