THE South Munster Region of Dressage Ireland held its first competitive fixture of 2026 last Saturday at Ballindenisk, where a number of riders recorded doubles on what was a sunny spring day.

“It was such a positive first show of the year,” enthused regional chair and show organiser, Ana Hughes. “We had over 100 entries, which is fabulous for this stage of the season.

“It was lovely to welcome everyone back out and see some people moving up the grades as they progress from last year. It was our first show with the new rule of allowing riders use their voices while competing. Thankfully, it didn’t become a battle of who can be the loudest and, in fact, it was all very discreet and riders seemed pleased.

“As always, the Fell family pulled out all the stops and also accommodated the judges’ training, which was taking place at Arena 1. Our next show on Saturday, February 21st, is the South Munster inter-regional qualifier. We have high hopes for this show, which will offer classes up to Grand Prix for those registered combinations hoping to qualify for the final in April.”

Four judges were engaged to cope with Saturday’s entry for leg three of the O’Brien Saddlery league. They were Joan Ahern (List 2), Elena Satalkina (List 4), Una O’Donnell (List 5) and Meabh Hennessy (List 6). Of the quartet, Satalkina had to deal with the largest classes.

Eleven combinations appeared before her in the Preliminary qualifier (DI5A), where the overall leaderboard was topped on 70.18% by Stephanie Cunningham and her five-year-old bay mare Ballymacadam BFM Lily. This combination also recorded the highest score (66.15) in the O’Donnell-judged seven-runner non-qualifying Preliminary class (DI6).

There were 10 starters in the Elementary qualifier (DI51), where Satalkina awarded her highest score (69.63) to the aforementioned Ana Hughes, who was on board her 17-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Sligo Dark Knight (Lancelot - Doonaveeragh Souvenir, by Aldatus Z).

Satalkina also judged the six-runner Novice qualifier (DI27A), where Katie McKeon recorded the highest score (70.52) on Emily Nyhan’s six-year-old Connemara mare Galtee Honey (Kinvara Boy - Bean Uachtair, by Lishmar Shadow).

In the Advanced Medium qualifier (FEI Junior team test), four combinations appeared before Joan Ahern, who awarded her top score (66.97) to Rebecca McGrath and her mother Sinead’s 14-year-old British-bred Hanoverian mare Summersong Caledonia (Sandro Hit - Donner Daylight, by Don Schufro).

On board her 11-year-old American thoroughbred gelding Khwarizmi (Algorithms - Silk Sails, by Ocean Crest), Rosemarie Ahern O’Gorman topped the overall leaderboards in both Ahern-judged, two-runner Medium classes, scoring 67.27 in the qualifying DI67 and 65.78 in the DI65.

Two combinations also appeared before Ahern in the Para Grade IV where, on 68.19, Angela Lyons claimed the honours with her Hanoverian gelding Woodcroft Santa Cruz (Sandro Hit - Aki, by Airport). Lyons had initiated a double on the 18-year-old bay with an uncontested victory in the Advanced qualifier where she scored 63%.

Also in front of Ahern, there were wins for Niamh Winter with Ode To Shannon in both FEI Pony rider tests and for Evie Kennedy with Cordobes XXXVI (65.44) in the FEI Junior team test.

Meabh Hennessy’s winners of the Trailblazer qualifiers were Peter O’Hara with Limited Edition (71.67 in the three-runner Mini class), Clara Nyhan with the aforementioned Galtee Honey (67.88 in the five-strong Under 12 class) and Laura Coughlan with Tullowcussane Peaches (72.12 in the six-runner Junior Preliminary).

Una O’Donnell awarded her highest score of the day (71.35) to Louise O’Connor, who topped the overall leaderboard in the non-qualifying Preliminary DI8 on her six-year-old ISH gelding Castlesheppard Nizer (Womanizer - Castlesheppard Silvano LA, by Silvano).