ELLEN McDonald may be concentrating more on the flat this year, but she has already made one big jump when moving up from the High Performance Development A Pony Squad to the Elite division with Dante Alighieri.

The 14-year-old from Lurgan, who is in Year 10 at her local St Ronan’s College, doesn’t come from a horsey family but her parents, Jim and Janet, brought her for a riding lesson when she was six after which she became “obsessed with riding”. That lesson was with Mary Corr at Moy Riding School where Ellen met Katie Burns who inspired her to do dressage.

McDonald is a member of the Iveagh Branch of The Pony Club which she has represented at many Area dressage competitions in the past few years. “I have recently been selected to represent Northern Ireland in dressage at the Royal Windsor Horse Show which sees Pony Club members from across the UK competing against one another.” Due to the pandemic, the competition will be hosted virtually this year.

Dante Alighieri, McDonald’s squad pony, was imported from The Netherlands in 2019. “He is a German riding pony,” commented the rider. “He is such a charming pony with lots of character,” she added of the 11-year-old. Ellen is coached by Alison Mastin-Moore who she first met when joining Northern Ireland Youth Dressage (NIYD) in 2018.

“Alison is a very experienced and knowledgeable dressage trainer; by attending her lessons and clinics, I have improved so much. When I first got Dante, I was riding at Novice level and Dante was at Elementary. With the help of Alison, I progressed and was selected for the HP Squad in November 2019. I really enjoy the training with Anne-Marie Dunphy!

“Riding really kept me focused during lockdown. I set myself a goal to move from Elementary to FEI. When restrictions eased, I was able to gain qualifying scores and I was permitted to go to my first International show at Wellington in May 2021. This has been my proudest moment and biggest achievement so far.

“When I was younger, I used to do a lot of working hunter and showing competitions on my coloured mare, Indie. We won the Balmoral Show in 2018 and placed highly at the Northern Ireland Festival and at agricultural shows. I got Indie when I was eight; she is very much part of the family!”