THE bright mornings and good weather obviously suit Julie Green, as the British Dressage List 3 judge was very generous with her marks at the Dressage Ireland Northern Region’s summer league show held at Gransha Equestrian last Sunday.

Karen McKee achieved an overall winning score of 80.21% in the five-runner Novice BD4 on board her Irish Sport Horse gelding Furstlove KPCM (Furstenball - Lovely Lady VDM, by Governor), a six-year-old who was bred locally by Karen Millar. The combination also topped the overall leaderboard in the Green-judged eight-runner Novice DI21, where they scored 76.90.

Riding Cindy Cunningham’s well-known 12-year-old Appaloosa gelding Comanche Arrow, Amy Tubman performed at a consistenly high level in front of Green in the Elementary classes, topping her overall leaderboards in the four-runner DI53 and the nine-strong BD4 on 72.83 and 72.17 respectively.

There were just two starters in the dedicated Junior classes, which were both won by Annie Morrow on her mother Kathy’s eight-year-old Liberty’s Benjamin.

In the Preliminary DI8, she and the palomino gelding scored 76.73, a figure which dropped to 72.41 in the Novice DI21. Green’s overall winner of the Preliminary DI8, in which there were five starters, was Abbie Cummins who achieved a score of 75.77 with her 13-year-old piebald mare Cassie.

While she wasn’t as flaithiúlach with her marks, most riders were happy with their winning scores in the Medium level and upwards classes, judged by Vanda Stewart (List 2).

Katie Lowry recorded an uncontested win on 66% in the Medium DI73 with Crosspoint Tobin, a 15-year-old British-bred Connemara gelding by Templehill Jasper, while Ellen McKeown saw off two rivals when achieving a score of 68.59 in the BD4 on board her Warmblood gelding Michelangelo, a tall, nine-year-old gelding by Daily Diamond.

Lisa Dundee won both Advanced Medium classes on board Patricia Connon’s home-bred ISH mare Roundthorn Nice N Easy (Formidable - Unlimited Roundthorn, by 00 Seven), scoring 69.86 with the eight-year-old in the three-runner DI95 and 67.65 in the FEI Junior Individual Test, in which there was just one other starter.

At Advanced level, Caroline Herron recorded an uncontested victory on 67.29 in the DI100 and, on 65.94, saw off one rival in the FEI Young Riders’ Preliminary Test to record a double with her eight-year-old home-bred gelding Clantara Lord Louis (Hoeks Ludo W - Strandhill Misty, by Gentle Diamond).

Riding Karen McKeown’s 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding VSH Gangster, Nicole Peoples recorded an uncontested, but consistent, FEI Junior double on 65.45 (Team Test) and 65.44 (Individual test).