THE wonderful Co Fermanagh estate of Castle Irvine, Necarne became the home of Dressage Ireland last week as, with sponsorship from Barron Transport, the Youth National Championships ran over Wednesday and Thursday, with the Senior National Championships taking place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

While members of Dressage Ireland compete for individual honours, a feature of the Senior Festival for many seasons has been the Regional Team Championship, which was won for the third year in a row by the South East Region. The successful quartet included the only two men to win at the championships, Gerald Bloomer and Oscar O’Connor, plus Ruth Hayes and Caroline Lynch.

Yes, that Caroline Lynch, the Co Waterford native who, married to farrier Anthony Lynch, her personal photographer, has been living in Co Meath for many, many years. “When I really got the dressage bug, I started having lessons with (the Cooley Farm-based) Amanda Goldsbury and it was she who encouraged me to join the South East Region,” revealed Lynch, with no hint of traitorism in her voice.

The Leinster Region team who finished second comprised Nicole Groyer, Hannah Lynam, Lorna O’Hare and Lydia Dawson. Given that the championships were taking place in Co Fermanagh, it was surprising that only three riders who were to finish third, Alex Ryan, Karen McKee and Dressage Ireland Chairperson Joan Adrain, declared for the Northern Region. The Eastern Region was also represented by just three riders, Megan Stokes, Bee Sykes and Laragh Byrne, who placed fourth.

Thoroughbreds

As mentioned elsewhere, Stokes won the Treo Eile award for the highest-placed thoroughbred at Preliminary level, when sixth in the Category 1 championship on Woods who she began competing with DI early this year. The 2016 Garswood gelding started his racing career in England with William Haggas, for whom he ran four times without winning. He then joined Co Kildare trainer Oliver McKiernan, for whom he ran 11 times on the flat and once over hurdles, again failing to score, being retired in early March 2021.

Category 2 rider Eve Rafter was presented with the Treo Eile prize and rug at both Novice and Elementary levels for her fifth and 10th-place finishes on her Fall Out Boy D’Ana, who has been competing with Dressage Ireland since May last year. This 11-year-old French-bred gelding by Khalkevi had a very short racing career, pulling up on his two point-to-point starts for the widely-known Co Wexford couple, Jenny and Benny Walsh.