IT was a busy few days for members of Leinster Dressage as their annual general meeting was held last Thursday week in the Courtyard Hotel, Leixlip, where the committee, led by chairperson Petra Larkin, took attendees through various 2025 reports. The committee was reelected for 2026.

The AGM paid tribute to Leinster Dressage member and longtime Dressage Ireland List 1 judge Dermot Cannon, who recently retired from judging. Dermot thanked all for their support and talked about his passion for dressage and horses. He spoke fondly of fellow former DI judge Gisela Holstein. He described how her arrival in Ireland many years ago had been the start of “something different” for him and how her knowledge and training had helped him to view dressage differently, solidifying his understanding of, and belief in, correct training from the most basic level upwards.

The committee also made a presentation to committee member Andrea Colfer to congratulate her and wish her well with her forthcoming wedding.

The meeting concluded with the presentation of last year’s regional league prizes and leading rider awards, a full list of which appears on pages 84-85.

In the junior section, the overall leading rider award was presented to Abbey Ferris, whose excellent results were attained on her mother Mary’s 10-year-old Connemara gelding How Ya Sammy, while in the Junior to Medium section, the overall leading rider was Ger McNulty, who had a fantastic 2025 season on board Aine Kiely’s Billy Hans, Sebastian Curran’s RBS Man On Fire and his own Dionysus II.

The overall leading rider award in the advanced medium and above section went to Tara Hayes, who had stellar performances in 2025 with her mother Fiona’s 16-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Ferrero K and the 10-year-old home-bred Irish Sport Horse mare Sandora BS.

The committee would like to thank everyone who attended on the night, as well as all who supported their 2025 shows and leagues.