THE Horse Sport Ireland/Dressage Ireland national championships supported by Equisolv were held last Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Barnadown, Co Wexford where the ‘Sunny South East’ lived up to its reputation for the first two days while the weather on Sunday, while damp at times, was far better than in other parts of the country.

As these championships were one of a litany of sporting occasions to fall by the wayside last year because of Covid-19, it was good to see them come back on stream for 2021. However, their staging was a test in itself, as explained by Dressage Ireland chair Marguerite Kavanagh.

“The National Dressage Championships are the pinnacle of the year and require a lot of planning. This year presented challenges to combat the potential changing nature of Covid so, with this in mind, we secured the outdoor venue of Barnadown Showjumping. It proved to be a good choice as the weather was excellent and riders were strong in their praise of the venue, surfaces and the show in general.

“Over 650 tests were ridden with 20 judges on duty. All the visiting judges were impressed by the venue, the hospitality and the standard of dressage. The Grand Prix on Saturday was the highlight of the show. It’s encouraging to see more competitors at the higher levels and it’s also rewarding to see children who competed at trailblazers some years ago now ride FEI classes and progress through the levels.

“Over the weekend, we were also delighted to be able to host judges’ training and exams. More and more Irish judges are progressing through the levels which is so important for the development of the sport,” Kavanagh added.

New national champion

A new name will be added to Dressage Ireland’s roll of honour for the first time since 2014 as this year’s national champion is Dane Rawlins. The England-based Irish international won the Mary Anne Horn and Sarah Leitch-judged Grand Prix on Saturday with his Westphalian gelding Espoire on a combined percentage score of 69.13.

Co Kildare’s Sorrell Klatzko, who has competed in Germany, Slovakia and Belgium in recent months, finished second with another Westphalian gelding Turbo (67.77), her eight-year-old son of Totilas, while Carolyn Mellor was third on her Dutch Warmblood gelding VSH Gouverneur M (66.85) with whom she made her European championships debut in Hagen last month.

“I was so chuffed to win as I was reserve twice in these national championships and on both occasions was beaten by Heike (Holstein),” said Rawlins. “I was pleased with my horse but know there is more to come from him. I had a gut feeling that it was a good test although there were a couple of mistakes.

“Sorrell and Carolyn have two lovely, lovely horses and they have done a very good job with them; Carolyn beat me fair and square with the music on Sunday. They are also breeding some lovely horses.

“It’s amazing to see how much dressage in Ireland has improved and I saw some really good riders over the weekend. People know what they are doing and, with a little bit of luck, when trained up, there could well be two teams of Grand Prix horses and riders representing Ireland in the near future. There was a really good buzz about the place all over the weekend and it was great to see people enjoying their dressage. It’s not about winning or losing, it’s all about taking part.”

Rawlins spoke of his plans for Espoire for the remainder of the year. “I hope to compete with him at Le Mans in a couple of weeks’ time (October 14th to 17th) and then, if we’re fit and well, I’ll see about taking in another show in Europe or do a couple of national shows in the UK. I would love to be accepted for Olympia or ExCel as it’s now known (December 16th to 20th).”

Rawlins is also hoping to conduct some clinics here before Christmas. “I’ve had discussions about this but we’ll just have to see how things develop.”

Personal best

In Sunday’s St Emilion Grand Prix Kür, sponsored by Sandra Blake Farrell and judged by Jo Graham and Penny Lang, Comber-based Mellor scored a personal best 71.19 with VSH Gouverneur M to comfortably see off Rawlins and Espoire (68.81). Third there on 68.25, Klatzko also got on the scoreboard with Turbo over the weekend when landing the HSI Intermediare II championship on 69.18.

A feature of this year’s championships was that there was a freestyle class for all grades on Sunday. The lower level winners were Stephanie Marwood with her four-year-old bay gelding Kylard Bruce (70.28, Preliminary), Sean Burgess riding the six-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare DHI Kikkis (Novice, 74.86) and Angela Lyons with her 13-year-old Hanoverian gelding Woodcroft Santa Cruz (Eastern Region Elementary, 70.77).

Moving further up the grades the freestyle winners were Mary Devine with her nine-year-old black gelding Kingsman (Medium, 71.42), Tara Oliver on her seven-year-old Oldenburg gelding Senators Rhonaldo (Childeric Saddlery Advanced Medium, 74.67) and her 10-year-old Hanoverian gelding Furst Romance (Childeric Saddlery Prix St George, 69.13) and Rachel Carr riding Calelvador May Blossom (FEI pony, 73.81).

Members of the Irish team at the European pony championships for the past two years, Co Carlow’s Carr and the 15-year-old palomino Welsh cross mare were bringing up a weekend double having won Saturday’s FEI pony rider championship on 69.35. Their nearest rivals in the latter competition were Jessica Grogan and the six-year-old dun Welsh mare Klein Roderijs Gold Fee (67.09).