MEMBERS of Pony Club Branches in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales joined members of the Irish Pony Club in descending on Barnadown last weekend for the IPC Mounted Games committee’s International Festival.

The featured International (Windsor) competition was won by England, with Scotland slotting into second, ahead of Wales. The Republic of Ireland finished fourth, a composite United Nations squad came fifth and then Northern Ireland.

England also claimed the honours in the A Final of the Senior Branch games, where they were given most to do by Shillelagh, while in the B Final it was Scotland’s East Stirlingshire Branch who came out on top, with the Duhallow Branch placing second.

The home Branches fared best at Junior level where the top two places in the A Final were filled by Tipperary (who were presented with the Eric Whelan memorial cup) and Shillelagh and in the B Final by Carlow and Laois. Northern Ireland fielded a mixed team for the Under 10s’ A Final but they had to settle for second behind Wexford with Laois and Meath concluding their 2025 season by placing first and second in the B Final.

This two-day fixture would have been a bittersweet occasion for those members who brought the curtain down on their Pony Club mounted games careers at Barnadown. Others are already looking forward to the action resuming in 2026.

Virtual dressage

There were some excellent placings for members of the Irish Pony Club who last month took on their counterparts from Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States in the PCIA (Pony Club International Alliance) 2025 virtual dressage competition.

The First Level team of Jocelyn Feane (Meath Hunt), Sinead O’Regan (Carbery), Jenna Ford McCoy (Louth) and Millie Anne Dalton (Newcastle Lyons) placed second with Feane finishing sixth individually. There was a fourth-place finish for the Second Level quartet of Caoilainn Foley (West Waterford), Kate Moore (Kildare), Lucy Hope Ryan (Limerick) and Leah Dooley (North Kilkenny).

Individually, Lauren Blake (Newcastle Lyons) was a member of a First Level international team which finished third, while Carbery’s Maria Fleming Hand placed fourth of 15 in the First Level Freestyle competition.

Postponements

Disappointingly, the Leitrim Branch of the Irish Pony Club had to postpone their arena one-day event on Monday, but have re-scheduled it to Saturday, November 29th, at the same venue of the Glenamaddy Equestrian Centre in Co Galway.

The second leg of the Area 5 Jumps Ahead league, hosted by the Muskerry Branch at Ballindenisk, went ahead on Sunday with the third and last qualifying round due to take place next Sunday, November 9th. The final will be held at the Fell family’s popular venue on Sunday, November 16th.

The Meath Hunt Branch held the first leg of their inter-club show jumping winter league last Sunday at the Emerald Equestrian Centre where the next two legs, on Monday, December 29th and Sunday, January 11th, will take place as will the final on Sunday, February 1st.