THE Northern Region of Dressage Ireland held their two-day Summer Festival last weekend at Castle Irvine, Necarne where title sponsors NAF provided a treat for all competitors on their arrival at the sun-baked Co Fermanagh estate.

The four-strong team of encouraging judges comprised the home-based duo of Michael Moore (List 2A) and Lindsey Ilona Brady (List 4) who were joined by British Dressage List 1 judges Alison Duck and Dane Rawlins, an overseas Board member of DI.

The highest combined score over the weekend, 150.18%, was recorded in the NAF Magic Preliminary championship by Ballyclare’s Louise Clelland riding her traditionally-bred Irish Sport Horse mare Rumour Has It. This eight-year-old grey by the Connemara stallion Builder’s Delight was bred in Co Tyrone by Anne Torrens out of the non-winning German thoroughbred Elle Belle, a daughter of the German Derby winner Nicaron.

Clelland and ‘Cheeky’ nearly brought off a double but, on 135.29%, had to settle for joint-second in the NAF Super Flex Novice championship behind Co Down’s Hollie Donnan on board her mother Lisa’s Connemara gelding Killoughter Nugget (137.17). Donnan has competed the 2006 Ashfield Romeo grey with DI since early 2019 and had great success with him when a member of the Iveagh Branch of The Pony Club.

In contrast, Northern Region chairperson Joan Adrain claimed the honours in the NAF Metazone Novice championship on the Dutch Warmblood gelding Mathieu (142.65%) on whom she took over the ride at the beginning of last year. This 2017 bay by Fabuleus is out of the Waldemar mare Charlotte.

Adrain and Mathieu finished fourth in the Mahons Hotel Medium championship where the overall leaderboard was headed by Clifden’s Sadhbh O’Toole with her KWPN-registered gelding Next Diamond (145.57%), a seven-year-old by Daily Diamond.

The resurgent Rachel Dowley, a staunch supporter of shows at Castle Irvine, Necarne, finished second overall here on GFL Flashdance (142.54%) but the Carrick-On-Suir rider marginally claimed the honours in the Dunmore House Advanced championship when scoring 135.66% on GFL Nava, her seven-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare by For Romance. Co Down’s Mark Robinson finished close-up in second on Debbie Burns’s Hanoverian gelding Master Caledonia (135.05).

Marguerite Kavanagh had two rides in the five-strong Intermediate I where she topped the final leaderboard with her home-bred ISH gelding Fursten (69.71%), a 13-year-old bay son of Furstenball, and thus won the Baileys Horse Feeds Open championship.

Among the graded underage division there were uncontested wins for Co Galway’s Cadhla Curran on her mother Carmel’s eight-year-old German Riding Pony HS (73.29%) in the FEI pony championship and for Co Antrim’s Erin McCoy with her mother Jane’s 19-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Bjornsun (67.65) in the FEI young riders’ championship.

On two-test combined scores, Co Armagh’s Amelia Wheeler topped the overall leaderboard in both the NAF Magic Junior Preliminary championship (141.33%) and the NAF Superflex Junior Novice championship (140.65) riding her mother Lisa’s Midnight Minty. As a member of the Killultagh, Old Rock & Chichester Branch, Wheeler also competes the seven-year-old piebald gelding in Pony Club show jumping.

Through their Pro Feet brand, NAF also sponsored the Intro championship which was won by Cookstown’s Lauren Ritchie on her ISH gelding Wellview Lenny (137.14%), a 20-year-old piebald whose sire is not recorded but he is out of Coille Mor Lass (by Coille Mor Hill).

The three Doherty Group Trailblazer championships were won by Bobbi O’Hagan on her mother Orlaith’s nine-year-old 128cm grey gelding OOS Raven (123.53% in the Mini division), by Tommy Wakfer on board his mother Sarah’s 12-year-old British-bred gelding Carmens Novello (140.64 in the Junior Preliminary) and by Harriet O’Hagan riding Orlaith’s 14-year-old black mare OOS Fairytale (128.42 in the Junior Novice).