WHILE this is a quiet time on the competition front for the Irish Pony Club, there is plenty going on within individual branches with members throughout the country passing proficiency tests at different levels.

Looking ahead to 2020, the dates and venues for the national minimus and tetrathlon championships have yet to be decided but confirmation has been received that the national triathlon championships will take place on Saturday, March 14th (venue tbc).

A month later, the Mackey hunter trials championships will be held at Moorefields in Co Wexford (on Saturday, April 18th) with the increasingly popular national dressage day being staged once again at Spruce Lodge in Co Wicklow on Saturday, May 2nd.

The three-day IPC Festival is returning to Barnadown Equestrian, Co Wexford on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, July 30th, 31st and August 1st with the Connolly’s Red Mills national eventing championships heading back to Tattersalls in Co Meath over the weekend of August 15th and 16th.

Foxhunting exchange

Applications are now open for the International Foxhunting Exchange following an invitation from the United States Pony Club.

The 2020 exchange will be held in the south east of the USA from November 20th to November 29th. The invitation is extended to one team of four members and one team manager (chaperone).

Team members must be between the ages of 16 and 25 as of January 1st, 2020, have passed their C+ Test and be capable of riding unfamiliar horses.

Jennifer Byrne, who represented the IPC and the Ward Union Branch on the 2015 exchange, told the Irish Horse World: “I went on the hunting trip in October 2015 to Lexington, Kentucky.

“It was a great trip, with days out hunting and day trips – Lexington Horse Park and the USA Pony Club headquarters were just two of the places we visited. We finished the trip off with a Halloween party.

“I am still in contact with some of the people I went on the trip with – and not just from the Irish Pony Club. I very much enjoyed the exchange and would highly recommend that anyone in the Pony Club who has their C+ should apply.”