Leanne O’Sullivan

THIS year marked the beginning of a new tradition for the Kildare Hunt Club as huntsman Chris Francis, whipper-in Michael Moran and honorary whipper-in Colin Barrett devised a plan to find Ireland’s finest hunt horse.

Their venue for the inaugural Kildare Performance Hunter Show was Punchestown, where the track included double banks, stone walls, hedges and stud rails, just some of the obstacles typically encountered on a day’s hunting.

Classes on the day were sponsored by Berney Bros. Saddlery in Kilcullen, Gain Horse Feeds and Kildare House Hotel.

The day began with a 1m hunter class featuring over 30 horse and rider combinations from all over Ireland. The class was judged by Aubrey Chapman, huntsman of the Island Foxhounds, Alan Reilly, huntsman of the Louth Foxhounds and Andrew Perrin, field master of the Kildare Foxhounds.

Linda Murphy’s 14-year-old gelding by Ricardo Z out of a Clover Hill dam showed plenty of scope over the stud rails, hedges and wire and was patient while his rider negotiated the hunt gate.

Having hunted for eight seasons with the Wicklow Foxhounds and Shillelagh Foxhounds, Castle Howard Et Zee was simply an expert at work and was a deserved winner.

Runner-up in the hunter class was Alan O’Toole from the Ward Union. Alan’s 13-year-old Connemara/thoroughbred cross made light work of the challenging course to impress the judges. Third was Dermot Molloy from the Kilkennys, whose five-year-old Irish Draught gelding had only hunted two seasons but displayed all the top qualities you would expect from a traditionally-bred Irish horse.

As commentator Chris Ryan put it: “Foreign horses say why, Irish horses say why not?”

Next up was the side saddle class, judged by Joanne Quirke and Siobhan Moore, master of the Kildare Foxhounds. Ten brave ladies lined up to jump the same course as the hunter class, which was no mean feat.

The skill and bravery displayed by these ladies was exhilarating to watch and was thoroughly enjoyed by the crowd of spectators. First place went to Amory McMahon from Galway and her homebred, 10-year-old registered Irish Draught gelding Inis Free (by Heigh Ho Silver out of Inis Eagle, by Ballinrobe Boy).

Second in this highly competitive class was Jenny Byrne and Dolly representing the Laois Hunt, while third place went to Gillian Byrnes, whipper-in to the Co Clare Foxhounds, and Bronson.

Commenting after the class, riding judge Joanne Quirke told The Irish Field that: “This was a brilliant track and a great initiative by the Kildare Hunt. You have 10 of the country’s best side saddle riders here and the horses were impeccable.”

The final class of the day was the one everybody had secretly been waiting for, the huntsman’s class. The hedges stood at 1.30m and incorporated ditches with flowing water. The stud rails were full height and so was the first fence, a gate. The crowd began to position themselves around the track and the excitement was palpable.

Tom Berney, winner of this year’s Borris point-to-point mad hatters’ race, was first out on the track. Berney and Ollie’s round was textbook stuff, keeping up a relentless gallop the entire way round - the combination were good enough to take second place.

Finishing in third position was James O’Hare from the South County Dublin Hunt and his traditionally-bred Irish Sport Horse gelding, Ardtristan Lad.

However the coveted prize of a Berney’s saddle and the title of Ireland’s finest hunt horse went to Irish flat jockey, Garry Carroll and his beautiful grey gelding, Milestone Harry. Having hunted just one season with the Kildare Foxhounds, it was the horse’s honesty and natural ability that really stood out for the judges.

The winning jockey said: “This was a good test of a horse’s ability, you really had to trust your horse to take on this track and I am very happy with how my horse performed.”

The day’s competition was a true showcase for quality Irish horses being produced in Ireland.