THE Leinster Region of Dressage Ireland held their first show of 2026 on Sunday, February 22nd at CoilÓg where the four judges who assessed those forward in 37 classes were Bernie Foley (List 1), Bernie Webb (List 3A), Jean Halpenny (List 3) and Lisa O’Brien (List 6).

The Curragh’s Tara Hayes recorded a four-timer, starting first at Preliminary level where she rode her mother Fiona’s five-year-old home-bred Irish Sport Horse mare Diamond Holli BS (Diamond First - La Tranquilla, by Master Imp). The Category 3 rider topped the scores of Halpenny in the DI8 (67.50%), which was an Inter Regional Qualifier, while, in the O’Brien-assessed DI18, Hayes scored 68.96, as did Category 2 rider Nadine Taylor on her 20-year-old Irish Draught gelding Wardtown Macha (Augherlow - Drumanespic Diamond, by Flagmount Diamond).

Hayes won the Foley-judged five-runner Prix St George (70.29), an Inter Regional Qualifier, and the three-runner Inter I (67.21) with Fiona’s 16-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Ferrero K (Apache - Uerette, by Silvano N). Also in front of Foley, Sorrell Klatzko claimed the honours on 69.02 in the three-runner Grand Prix, another qualifier for Ballindenisk next month, on her 13-year-old Westphalian gelding Turbo (Totilas - Falballa, by Florestan).

Young stars

Foley and Webb shared the judging duties in the poorly-supported FEI underage classes. Their Pony winners were Niamh Winter and Ode To Shannon (63.38) in the two-runner Individual Test (an Inter Regional Qualifier) while, second there on 63.11, Olivia Linnane and Don Dimaro van het Gildeland recorded an uncontested victory in the Team Test, where they scored 65.43.

Riding Santana in the Junior classes, Cael Shanahan saw off one rival when scoring 62.73 in the Team Test, an Inter Regional qualifier, but was the sole starter in the Individual Test (64.12); in the Children on Horses’ classes, where she was the only competitor with Let’s Dance, Millie Cosgrave scored 70.41 in the Individual Test and 67 in the Team Test, an Inter Regional Qualifier.

The highest-scoring combinations in other qualifiers during the day were Ciara O’Gorman on Waterhill Island (67.07) in the four-runner Novice DI21, Georgia Cadogan with Frühlingsgold SL (68.75) in the Elementary DI52, regional secretary Lorna O’Hare on DBS Second Chance (65.94) in the Medium DI65, Barbara Delahoyde with Marlton Scout (64.85) in the Advanced Medium DI90 and Isobel Linnane, who recorded an uncontested win in the DI100 on B Posy (61.43).

Junior section

In the dedicated Junior section of the show, Lauren Blake recorded a narrow victory in the five-runner Preliminary DI8, a Ballindenisk qualifier, on Cleighrane Warrior (68.27). However, in the non-qualifying DI18, Blake and the 13-year-old grey gelding were well beaten into second by Lucy Ferris and How Ya Sammy (73.33), who have been in winning form over the past few weeks on the Eventing Ireland/Plusvital combined training circuit.

Ferris’s sister Abbey recorded the highest score (68.10) in the Junior Novice DIN21, an Inter Regional qualifier, on a new ride for this season, the eight-year-old ISH mare Merrywell Dignified Lady (Dignified van’t Zorgvliet - Mona Lisa Lux, by Lux Z). This Kevin Geraghty-bred bay had an early conclusion to her 2025 eventing campaign when, in the hands of Sara Lundkvist and with 10 cross-country time penalties, she finished third of 33 in the CCI1*-Intro at Lisgarvan House in August.

There were three starters in the two Junior Elementary classes, where Kate Moore recorded the highest scores on Bridie Maughan’s 15-year-old grey mare The Blue Diamond, 66.67 in the DI51 and 69.86 in the DI52, another Inter Regional Qualifier.

Para Dressage Ireland was well represented on the day, with three horse and rider combinations taking part. Heather Lemmon was thrilled to achieve a personal best score of 71.04 for the Para Grade I Grand Prix B on board her 15-year-old roan mare Ladychapel Narnia.

The highest score of the day, 74.81, was awarded by Lisa O’Brien in the nine-runner Preliminary DI6 in the short arena to Caroline Lynch on board her four-year-old Irish Draught gelding Rebel Bandit (Rebel Mountain - Bramblebrough Aisling, by Dunbeggan Grey Mist).