THE ridden showing action at the Gallagher Dublin Horse Show concluded as usual last Saturday, with the two Sportsman (amateur hunter) classes but, these were switched to Ring 2 where, in addition to dealing with the noise emanating from the Pony Club games in Ring 1 and from the Puissance in the Laya Arena, competitors found that the performance fences had been left in situ.

This was far from ideal for these amateur riders, some of whose horses were badly distracted by the fences and scant reward for one’s entry fee if one had to leave the ring. One horse who took it all in his stride and didn’t bat an eyelid according to his rider was the medium/heavyweight class winner, the British-bred Wellpark Don Giovanni (Hallmark DS - Generous DS, by Silvano), who went on to stand champion.

That rider Alison Roseman, a retired nurse who had been out of horses for some time, will be remembered by many as Alison Kirkpatrick, who used to have horses with Richard Iggulden and won a ladies’ side-saddle class at Balmoral and recorded numerous placings at Dublin. She was delighted with her first success at the RDS showgrounds, especially as she only purchased the eight-year-old in Wales in May.

As she was worried that she mightn’t get the horse’s passport back in time if she went for a change of ownership, Wellpark Don Giovanni was catalogued as owned by Alan Marnie, who was at Dublin sourcing horses with Jayne Ross and was delighted to be congratulated on this championship success!

“I still go to Richard for some coaching but, as I keep the horse at Gransha, I’m also being coached by Adrienne Stuart,” revealed Roseman. “Although I have plenty of time these days being retired, I brought him to just two agricultural shows, Ballymoney and Lurgan, before heading to Dublin and he won his class at both. As we don’t do jumping, my plan now is to turn this 18 hand show horse into a dressage horse over the winter.”

A regular competitor in this class, Lyndsey O’Brien, notched up another placing when second with Creevaghstables Mr Bloomfield (Gortfree Hero - Anthonys Choice, by Clonakilty Hero), the 10-year-old Irish Draught gelding she owns in partnership with her father Tim.

The reserve champion was the lightweight class winner Munthers Ranger (Munther - Brookfield Royale, by Lux Z), the Kieran O’Gorman-bred ISH gelding. who is owned by his rider Suzanne O’Brien (Lyndsey’s sister), in partnership with their mother Laura.

The now eight-year-old bay first appeared at Dublin in 2022, when Rosemary Connors partnered him to finish second in the four-year-old lightweight geldings’ class. The O’Briens purchased him in May the following year and, in August, he returned to the RDS showgrounds where he won the lightweight sportsman class and went champion. He was third in the same class 12 months later.

As she was expecting a baby last August, O’Brien decided to enter Munthers Ranger in the older lightweight class, as an RDS ride for her husband Ger Hannon. Baby Lily’s arrival the Sunday before the show (a sister for the now five-year-old Max) didn’t save Ger from his Dublin debut, as he was despatched with the horse and finished fifth.

This year, he was happy to be back in his role as groom - although as a point-to-point commentator, a consignor of store horses to Tattersalls Ireland where he is a member of the bloodstock team and a member of the sales team at Tattersalls Cheltenham, Ger was a bit distracted beforehand by the racehorse to riding horse class.

Nollaig Healy went into the championship as she finished second in the lightweight class on her ID mare Flyhigh Ivy, a nine-year-old daughter of Young Carrabawn.

Reflecting on the finale, O’Brien commented: “It was something special that Lyndsey and I got to share the ring in the championship. It meant a lot that, as a small family team, we had both horses in it together.”