THE Tipperary Area of the Irish Pony Society held its Spring Show on Sunday, March 22nd at the Tipperary Equestrian Centre outside Thurles, where they ran the working hunter section in the sun-kissed outdoor sand arena, while the ridden classes were staged indoors.

Tony Ennis, who judged the indoor action, found his supreme champion, Emily Purcell’s British-bred mare Rockbury Amelia, in the show hunter pony section where the 10-year-old chesnut first won her 133cm class under Ada Purcell Logue. Here, Imogen Lawless-Greene stood reserve with the six-year-old bay mare Moonlite Gone With The Wind, winner of the 153cm class.

The reserve supreme was the Aedin Morahan-owned and ridden 10-year-old Connemara mare Erne Valley Áine (Moonlight Silver Shadow - Erne Valley Danann, by Monaghanstown Prince). Earlier Morahan and the grey had finished ahead of Amber Lane and Blakehill Ella in their large Mountain and Moorland class, but were called into the reserve slot behind the same combination in the section championship.

Having recorded class and championship-winning form in both performance and ridden sections during the day, Enzo Rocca Houlihan won the show’s mini supreme title with his mother Tara’s British-bred gelding Bronheulog Gold Dust. Alice Beth Shelly stood reserve on another British-bred palomino, the 16-year-old mare Wensley Seren Aur.

On Tuesday of this week, Enzo and the 14-year-old Eyarth Figaro gelding represented the Co Limerick Branch at the Irish Pony Club Equieire dressage championships in CoilÓg where, at Under 10s’ level, they finished third in their warm-up class and second in their division of the competition class.

Nicholas Byrne and Eimear Coleman judged the working hunter classes, where their mini champions were Daisy Toomey and her grandmother Geraldine Power’s British-bred gelding Rookery Haribo, who had topped their final line-up in the lead rein class. On Tuesday, when ridden by Daisy’s sister Penny, a member of the Waterford Branch, the 12-year-old Uphill James Fox gelding finished fourth in the same Under 10s’ competition class as Bronheulog Gold Dust.

An already excellent day for Stephanie Fleming concluded in the show’s cross-discipline starter stakes championship, where she claimed the title on her mother Orla Whelton’s Miss Money Penny.

Today, the Wicklow Area of the IPS is holding its Spring Show at Boswell Equestrian, while the inaugural CHAPS NI/Ireland Easter Spring Show, which is affiliated to the IPS, is taking place at the Portmore Equestrian Centre.

On Tuesday, the Glynn family is hosting the third, and final, Sport Pony Challenge qualifier at Killossery Lodge Stud, after which the next fixture on the official calendar is the Irish Pony Society Connolly’s Red Mills Spring Show on Sunday, April 19th, at Barnadown.