BARNADOWN was once again the venue for the three-day Irish Pony Club Festival which ran from last Wednesday week to Friday and attracted qualified teams and individuals from all across the country.

Combined training dominated the first day, and most of day two, with Kate Harvey, the IPC’s chairperson of dressage and combined training, expressing her satisfaction with proceedings over the two sessions.

“Everything ran smoothly, there was a lovely relaxed atmosphere and we had a lot of positive feedback,” commented Harvey. “All of the dressage and show jumping judges were very ‘child-friendly’, the venue was immaculately presented as always, the riders and ponies immaculately turned out, and we had fabulous weather.

“When I see the riders and ponies performing beautifully, all shiny and enthusiastic, I realise that all the work that goes into this competition is well worth it. The appetite for dressage seems to be increasing in the Pony Club which is very encouraging.”

No Branch recorded more than one combined training success with wins on day one for Bray’s Abbey Cassidy on A Touch Of Magic (Under 10s), The Kingdom’s Saibh Prendervile riding Sunny Girl (Under 12s) and Kildare’s Philippa Hillman with Dale (Novice).

On the Thursday, Shillelagh’s Sarah Ryan was presented with the Redhills Engraving trophy following her victory on Ballinaguilkey Rocco in the Junior competition, the Cahill trophy went to the Killinicks’ Keira Crowther, winner of the Intermediate class with Tomoka Spots, and the Members’ cup was presented to Newcastle Lyons’s Ellen Mooney following her win on the aptly-named Iwan.

Crowther and her mother Clare’s 15-year-old appaloosa gelding Tomoka Spots are due to start in the Pony Club Intermediate combined training competition taking place on Friday and Saturday at next week’s Dublin Horse Show.

Team competition

The combined training classes were sponsored by Equieire as was Thursday’s pure dressage, following which the Bill Fisk memorial shield in the team competition was presented to the Kildare quartet of Kate Moore (The Blue Diamond), Jamie Maughan (Fly Over Girl), Laura Butler (Lenovo) and Lucy Maughan (Valley View Sammy) who recorded a score of 71.55%.

Given that they had no discard score, the Shillelagh trio of Jane Fitzgerald (Ballymurphy Hughie), Lucy Keane (Ballycreen Kings Mistress) and the aforementioned Sarah Ryan (Ballinaguilkey Rocco) did extremely well to finished second on 70.49.

Nine members went through to the individual ride-off in front of four judges where the honours, and the Ronan cup for the highest-placed horse, were awarded to the Shillelaghs’ Fitzgerald who scored 74.44% for her test on the traditionally-bred nine-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Ballymurphy Hughie (by Pointilliste) on whom she won an EI110 (J) at Ballindenisk early last month and with whom she will contest the Members’ combined training on Friday.

Kildare’s Lucy Maughan was presented with the Cossack cup for the highest-placed pony following her second-place finish on the 18-year-old bay gelding Valley View Sammy (73.15).