Margie McLoone

THE Dublin Horse Show affords Pony Club riders the opportunity to perform before large crowds and, while there was the usual excitement around the Mounted Games teams last week, others also represented their branches at the RDS.

The Kildare Pony Club is by far the largest in the country and so it’s not surprising that two of its members qualified through Area 2 for the M. O’Byrne Hire & Catering Ltd Combined Training classes at the show. That they both won was a huge bonus.

International event rider Zara Nelson totally dominated the 10-strong Members’ class with California’s Karen Healey awarding her a dressage score on Friday evening of 114.5 points for her work on her mother Michelle’s Millbridge Buachaill Bui. The 11-year-old Templebready Fear Bui gelding has been a regular visitor to Dublin over the years.

Three riders were on 102 following this phase, Aisling McGreal riding Harold McGahern’s Kimono Sash, Christine O’Donnell with her mother Miriam’s Blessington Prince Royal, and Hannah O’Flaherty who was on board her father Thomas’s Crínínish Mist.

The last named had a very disappointing jumping round in Ring 2 on Saturday evening to drop right down the leaderboard, while the remaining three jumped clear, as did two others.

As demanded by the rules, McGreal was placed second having the better final three marks from the dressage phase.

Things were not so cut and dried in the intermediate section. Representing Area 7 and the Meath Branch, Niamh Farrell led after dressage on a score of 108.5 points with Moylaw Brando and she was followed by Area 17’s Tola Thompson, a member of North Down, riding Crossowen Lochlain (105.5), Waterford’s Kym Jolly on Silverspring Custard (103) and the Kildares’ Annalise Cullen with AC Remus (102.5).

PROBLEMS

The jumping phase caused a lot of problems on Saturday when only Cullen, who was supported at the show by her mother Ann-Marie, one of the branch’s joint-District Commissioners, and her racehorse trainer father Denis, and Wicklow’s Mily O’Loughlin riding Jane Hancock’s Comical Con, recorded clear rounds.

Farrell had two fences down to drop to second and, in spite of lowering a rail, Claire O’Leary moved up to third on a total of 95 points. Cullen rode the eight-year-old appaloosa gelding AC Remus on whom she won the EI90P section at the Eventing Ireland National Championships in Ballindenisk last July.