THE Irish Pony Society (IPS) Northern Area (NA) held its Spring Show at Knockagh View Equestrian Centre, Greenisland, on Saturday, April 5th. With not a cloud in sight and sunny skies, competitors kicked off the showing season in perfect conditions.
Organisers welcomed judges from near and far to join them on the day. The ladies in charge of the ridden ponies and in-hand sections were Alaoise Halpin and Sharon Walsh, making long trips from Galway and Louth respectively. The working hunter judges, more locally sourced, were Anne Gomes and Alex Spencer. Organisers were also delighted to have along three probationary judges to help on the day and to provide them with invaluable learning from the four experienced ladies.
Killaughey Super Sonic and Lucy Donnan impressed judges on winning the Novice Working Hunter Championship; they then went on to win overall Supreme Working Hunter Champion. Reserve Supreme Working Hunter Pony went to the ever-consistent Bronhuelog Harvey and Ellie Murphy who booked their ticket into the Supreme after winning the Open Working Hunter Championship.
Holly Wylie and ‘Kengarth Sally’, being led by mum, Lyndsey Wylie. This combination were awarded Mini Show Hunter Pony Champion before then going onto win Overall Mini Supreme Champion at the IPS NA Spring Show \ Ellie Johnston
Supreme
Casey-Lee Millar and Bunbury Suarez collected both the Show Hunter Pony Championship and Heritage Championship earlier on in the day and then went on to top the Supreme Ridden Championship. Harriet McCann was reserve on her pony Strinesdale Genius.
The mini sections were hotly contested throughout the day. In the mini working hunter section, it was Lauren O’Rourke and Pineview Romeo who came out Champion, this combination then went on to win Reserve Mini Supreme. Following their Mini Show Hunter Championship win earlier in the day, Holly Wylie and Kengarth Sally went on to be awarded Overall Mini Supreme Champion.
In-hand
The IPS NA prides itself on the range of in-hand classes available to breeders and owners of youngstock and breeding ponies. It was encouraging to see these classes well-supported. Local breeder Elaine Sherrard was in attendance with a flurry of her home-bred ‘Parkhill’ ponies. Taking top spot for Elaine was Parkhill Roseanna, a three-year-old show pony. Following closely in reserve was younger stable-mate Parkhill Garnacho.
The committee would like to thank all those who volunteered their time on the day – including the judges, fence and gate stewards, scribes, show office staff and anybody else who helped out in any way. A special thank you, as always, to Ruth and Scott Logan for the use of their fantastic facilities and hospitality provided on the day.
Good luck
The IPS NA committee would also like to wish all members the best of luck at Northern Ireland Festival and Balmoral Show - organisers hope their show has helped prepare everyone as best as possible. The next IPS NA show will be the Summer Championship Show at Gransha on July 5th.