THREE riders recorded doubles at last weekend’s Barron Transport Dressage Ireland Senor National Championships Festival at Castle Irvine, Necarne, Mary Devine doing so on two horses who are quite dissimilar apart from the fact that both are black and not overly tall.

The Co Donegal rider and Horse Sport Ireland Level 2 coach won the 14-runner Keyflow Preliminary Category 2 championship on a combined score of 182.25 with Pandora, who is a 155cm six-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare by Milford VDL out of Haranka MC (by Charmeur).

Here, Karen McKee finished second on the 2020 Irish Sport Horse gelding Furstlove KPCM (181.625), a brown son of Furstenball, with third place being filled by Caroline Marwood on Megan O’Gorman’s five-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Roover Ter Kwincke (176.625).

Devine doubled up in the La Bougie Advanced Medium Category 2 championship on the 14-year-old 153cm Irish-bred gelding Kingsman (230.125), who she began competing with Dressage Ireland in November 2017. She had only two rivals at this level, with the stronger challenge being delivered by Tracy Murphy on Kennedy (227.5).

Category 3 rider Hannah Fielding claimed both the 12-strong DI Eastern Region Elementary (206.75) title and the DI South Eastern Region Medium (215.875) on her eight-year-old Hanoverian mare DWS Firelight, a bay daughter of Fidertanz. In the latter championship, in which there were 15 starters, the chairperson of Dressage Ireland, Joan Adrain finished second with her nine-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Mathieu (213.5).

A Grassroots double was landed by Amy Chambers who, on a score of 171, first recorded an uncontested victory in the Preliminary Category championship on Rachra Supreme (Ballybegg JJ - Banagher Captain, by Sweetwall Captain Courageous).

She then partnered the Kieran Guinan-bred 10-year-old Connemara gelding to a narrow victory in the Grassroots Novice championship, where she scored 187.5 while her sole rival, Annabelle Kraly, finished a close up second on Arissa (186.75).