TRAINING bursaries worth a total of €2,000 were handed out at the River Lodge Equestrian Academy.

Sandra Borssim’s Oulartleigh Equestrian and River Lodge Equestrian, run by Michelle Kenny, teamed up to deliver a two-day training camp at RLE in Co Wexford.

With a training bursary of €2,000 up for grabs to two lucky deserving young riders, there was an action-packed two days of training with over 25 pupils being judged for the bursary.

The panel of judges which included Vincent Dobrizberger and Ann-Katrin Drumm, two international eventing and dressage riders from Austria and Switzerland respectively, were looking for aspiring young riders with the talent and determination to stand out. After judging six sessions on dressage, show jumping, cross-country and stable management, the judges eventually picked the two winners.

In second place was Wexford’s Katie O’Conor, while the overall winner was Wicklow’s Mia Regan Bryne.

“I’m delighted it was such a huge success. To see the standard of riding on show, the levels of hunger and determination and the demand for competitive training was brilliant, the future is very bright,” Michelle Kenny said.

“Having had time to reflect on the very first RLE Academy, I’m now driven to expand the concept. I would love to continue to bring competitive like-minded people together to train here at RLE, not only to solely train on the horses but all aspects involving preparing for competition - goal-setting, horse care, rider health and fitness and also self-care. I can’t thank Sandra and Oulartleigh Equestrian enough, they’ve given two deserving young riders a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Kenny added.