“I WOULDN’T have missed my last show with Lemon for the world!” shared Chloe Lacey, who made her final outing with the five-year-old Ballylee Lemon (Slackport Prince x Lemonfield Lass) a winning one at Sunday’s Connemara Pony World Search for a Star Grassroots Championship. Less than 24 hours earlier, Chloe and her partner Dylan Robinson had been competing Cregduff Ranger at Moreton in Marsh in the Cotswolds, before a quick turnaround to make it back to Ireland for the Lucinda Kelly-run initiative.

Now in its third year, Connemara Pony World Search for a Star’s aim is to showcase the talent of younger, novice Connemara ponies across performance and ridden classes. It is hosted at Barnadown Equestrian, Co Wexford, in conjunction with the IPS Hunter Pony Show, and Lacey won the HorseQuest Novice Ridden Championship for four- and five-year-old ponies. This rounds out an incredible season for the pair, who finished in the top three at the Dublin Horse Show in the Novice Ridden class before standing Reserve Champion at the Connemara Pony Show in Clifden three weeks ago.

The Declan O’Flynn-bred gelding will soon start his next chapter. “He will be leaving us to go to his new home. I work very closely with the O’Gorman Wall family, who purchased him and I teach the girls, so I will still see him a couple of times a week, he’s only gone 30 minutes up the road,” Lacey explained.

For riders such as Lacey, Search for A Star has become an important date in the calendar. “I think it’s a great way to showcase the beautiful younger ponies that we have in the country, it shows the versatility of the breed, and I particularly loved the introduction of the Little Stars class. The Connemara classes have got so competitive, so this keeps everyone on their toes all year long. By adding the ride judge aspect, it really emphasises the importance of correct schooling at home.”

Chloe Lacey won the HorseQuest Novice Ridden Championship for four and five-year-old ponies on Ballylee Lemon \ John O'Carroll

Passion

A second one of Lacey’s ponies stood in the final line-up, with Ballylee Bruno claiming fourth spot with Charlotte Goor in the saddle.

Running shows of any scale in Ireland has become increasingly difficult in light of ever-increasing running costs. Despite these challenges, Lucinda’s passion continues to power a show that has garnered significant support from the Connemara community both at home and aboard. With 77 entries across four Championship classes, Lucinda expanded the schedule again for 2026. And with Galway breeder Joe Burke coming on board to help with planning and organising this year, the ethos of the event continues to be driven by the pursuit of innovation, in tandem with creating opportunities for all Connemara competitors.

One of the most exciting aspects of the event’s third edition was the introduction of the Connemara Pony Breeders’ Society-sponsored Little Star Championship. Developed for Connemaras standing 143cm and under, the class aims to spotlight ponies of a smaller height. Lucinda credits Sharon Walsh for her key role in the concept development. Ponies aged four, five and six were measured on the day before being assessed across jumping, ridden and conformation phases going in age order. The star that shone brightest in this new section was 128cm Ardville Mattie K (Lettermuckoo Harry’s x Ardville Cassie Bawn), ridden by 13-year-old Ellen McLoughlin. The Jane Somerville-bred gelding added this new Championship title to an already impressive CV as a Grade A show jumper and has qualified twice for the Pony Working Hunter classes at the Dublin Horse Show.

Good form

Continuing to prove her mastery for producing top-quality youngsters, Pauline Dahill picked up her second consecutive win at CPW Search for a Star. Having won last year’s five-year-old Championship on the bay Hogan’s Charm (Ross Fear Bui x Mulbrook Lass), Sunday saw Dahill ride Glencairn Cruise (Derryveeney Cruise x Glencairn Holly), bred by her mother Joan, to win the Connemara Pony Sales-sponsored four-year-old Search for a Star Championship. In this section, ponies were assessed over the Will Kearney-built course for jumping ability and then for conformation by judge Andrew Byrne, prior to the UK’s Harrison Taylor assessing ponies’ ridden shows before he took to the saddle of the top six ponies to judge their rideability. Following the same format, ponies aged five competed to claim this year’s Carr & Day & Martin five-year-old Search for a Star Champion title.

Winning out on the day, much to the delight of rider Emily Flavin-Redmond was Galtee Honeysuckle (Kinvara Boy x Mona Incha Sunshine). The mare, bred by Mick and Chris Hennessy, has enjoyed a successful season with Emily, including being League winners of the Plusvital Spring Series CT80 in March. It was a family day out and Emily’s mother Debbie enjoyed success in the four-year-old section, with Annaveigh Mairtín, Whitethorn Lorenzo and Fortruane Apollo all finishing in the top four. Unique to other events, these classes follow score-based assessments, which Harrison Taylor praised: “Every pony went home with a sheet of marks and written comments from each judge, I think that should be the future of judging. Too often, a competitor leaves with a placing and no idea why. When you have to put a number on every phase and write down your reasoning, it gives the rider something to work on. I would like to see a great deal more of it.”

From a performance perspective, Andrew Byrne praised the standard of the ponies that competed across the day. “You could see the product of patient work today,” he said. “There is genuine quality and correct Connemara types coming through in these age groups. The ponies that impressed me, jumped with their ears pricked and stood up well in-hand afterwards. The track asked fair questions and it sorted the classes out.”

Rewarding excellence in presentation, the Carr & Day & Martin Stainmaster Showdown Champion went to Sadhbh O’Connor with North Cottage Silver JJ for their exquisite turnout.

Kelly acknowledged the hard work of the 2026 organising committee of Joe Burke, Avril Kelly, Sharon Walsh, a long-standing driver of the Little Star Championship, Becca Kavanagh and Kerrie Anderson. Connemara Pony World thanked Horse Sport Ireland, Connemara Pony Sales, Carr & Day & Martin, HorseQuest, the Connemara Pony Breeders’ Society and Aloga Equestrian for their sponsorship of this year’s event.

“I am incredibly grateful to the Irish Pony Society for their continued support of these Championships to showcase the talent of upcoming Connemara ponies at grassroots level,” Kelly said. Plans are already under way to grow the championships again in 2027.