Balmoral qualifiers announced
BALMORAL Show has announced qualifier dates for the Eventing Star of the Future Championship, Performance Irish Draught and Connemara Ridden and Working Hunter classes. The 158th Balmoral Show will take place from Wednesday, May 19th, to Saturday, May 22nd, at the Eikon Exhibition Centre, Lisburn.
Replacing the Star of the Future - Performance Horse Championship, the new Eventing Star of the Future Championship will feature four-year-old and five/six-year-old classes for Irish-bred horses. Exhibitors wishing to qualify must attend a minimum of two of the qualifiers at the Meadows Equestrian Centre (March 6th), Wexford Equestrian Centre (March 16th), Lusk Equestrian Centre (March 21st), Necarne Equestrian (March 27th).
The performance Irish Draught qualifiers take place at: Meadows Equestrian Centre (March 6th), Wexford Equestrian Centre (March 14th), Mullingar Equestrian (March 21st), Lusk Equestrian Centre (March 21st), Necarne Equestrian (March 27th).
The Connemara Ridden and Working Hunter qualifiers take place at: Meadows Equestrian Centre (March 7th), Wexford Equestrian Centre (March 14th), Mullingar Equestrian (March 21st) and Necarne Equestrian (March 28th).
Dressage Ireland AGM
DRESSAGE Ireland is holding its annual general meeting on Thursday next, November 19th at the Carlton Dublin Airport Hotel at 7pm. Awards will be presented to all those who represented the country throughout the year at international senior and underage levels also those who competed in the senior and youth home nations’ competitions.
Looking further ahead, it has been announced DI will be holding a two-day Winter Festival at the Cavan Equestrian Centre over the weekend of April 10th and 11th.
Vote for Olympic Awards
DON’T forget to vote for the equestrian nominees at the upcoming 2026 Team Ireland Olympic Sport Awards. The Gallagher Dublin Horse Show and Aga Khan Trophy Centenary is nominated for the Event of the Year. For the second year in-a-row, the Irish eventing team who finished fourth at the FEI World Eventing Championships in Aachen, and secured Olympic qualification, has been nominated for the Team of The Year award. Also coming from the Dublin Horse Show is Lorraine O’Sullivan’s nomination for the Image of the Year. Voting closes tomorrow, Sunday November 15th. Follow the link https://olympicsportawards.com/vote/ to vote.
HSI redundancy process continues
THE collective redundancy process continued at Horse Sport Ireland this week as the company enters its final few weeks of examinership. It is understood certain departments were identified as at risk and staff approached about the possibility of involuntary redundancy.
As previously reported, seven staff at HSI took voluntary redundancy in October and concluded their employment in recent weeks. Separately, it is understood that HSI has advertised internally for a sales, commercial and sponsorship role. Having been granted a 30-day extension by the High Court, the case is back in the High Court on November 30th when HSI will learn its fate.