IN spite of the weather being very inclement overnight and on Saturday morning, a large crowd attended the charity drag hunt at Ballycross, on the outskirts of Banbridge.

This was the third renewal of the event which is organised jointly by the Iveagh Pony Club, under the direction of tireless District Commissioner Vanne Campbell, and the Co Down Hounds.

The 2015 designated charity was the Southern Area Hospice Services and while £1,700 was raised on the day, that amount had grown to £2,465 (and counting) by Wednesday. Saturday’s drag hunt was held in memory of Lynn Malcolmson, a Pony Club mother who sadly died during the summer.

Lynn’s husband Kieran was at the meet, as were their children, Kiara (who rode on Saturday) and Niall. Also present were her parents, Robert and Margaret Mullingar, her sisters Karen, Lisa and Kim and various nieces and nephews.

It was good to see joint-Master Robert Steele at the meet as he continues to recover from the bad fall he took out hunting with a neighbouring pack last season. He spent some time talking to fellow joint-Master Britt Megahey who travelled on from Ballycross to Bangor for the Ulster Region Show Jumpers Awards Ball.

Thankfully for all those who took part, and especially those on foot who had enough to contend with given the going, the rain stopped for the duration of the hunt.

It may have been organised primarily for children but there were a few outside the target age group including former point-to-point riders Chris Cosgrave and Rory Lavery and a number of bearded gentlemen.

THanks

The organisers were very grateful to all the local landowners who granted them access to their fields on the day especially Stephen Sands and family at whose farm the hunt started and also ended with soup and sandwiches. Stephen, whose 12-year-old niece Ellie, an Iveagh Pony Club member, was one of a number of busy photographers on Saturday, also hosts a charity cross-country each spring which raises a lot of money for charity.