THE Irish Pony Club held their Equieire-sponsored national dressage championships on Tuesday of this week at ColiÓg, where there were six arenas in operation throughout the day, requiring 12 dressage judges and an army of scribes, volunteer stewards, etc.

“We were delighted how well the championships ran,” commented the IPC’s head of dressage and combined training, Kate Harvey. “It was the biggest competition since we started it in 2012, with 350 tests entered for the day. I was particularly pleased to see the number of Under 10 and Under 12 riders entered this year (36 and 53 respectively) as this bodes very well for Irish dressage in the future.

“Our youngest rider was eight-year-old Katie Naughton, a member of the Island Hunt Branch, who, on Our Ziggy, competed in the Under 10s’ Warm-Up class, placing fourth with 78.08%, and in the Under 10s’ Competition class, where they finished third on 71.75.

“At the other end of the scale, we had six riders in the UK Pony Club Open Championships (2018) competition, which was judged by Marie Hennessy and Michael Moore. This was won on a score of 70.16 by the Brays’ Emily Grimes riding the veteran Millridge Buachaill Bui (winners also of a Section of the Junior Competition class).

“Emily is a member of the Irish Pony Club dressage team travelling to the Royal Windsor Horse Show in May, as is Holly Browne (Kildare) who was placed third in that class on Manusmore Result. One other member of the RWHS team was also competing, Ava Boyd (Carlow), who won the Open Competition class on Ballinamoona Boy (a 20-year-old Connemara gelding by Earl Of Newbridge) with a score of 70.67%.”

Kildare success

For the record, the Open Warm-Up class was won by another member of the Kildare Branch, Annabelle Dunne, riding the seven-year-old skewbald gelding HFS Rock Shandy on whom she finished third of 15 in the EI100 (J) at Frankfort Stud on Sunday. The Kildares also won a section of the Under 10s’ Competition class thanks to Alannah Cahill with the eight-year-old 125cm black gelding Mullaghmore Charlie.

The Brays had a good day as, in addition to Emily Grimes’s two wins, their Abbey Cassidy landed Section C of the Under 12s’ Competition class with the 12-year-old dun mare Darkly Julie.

Two members of the Meath Branch recorded wins, Polly Geraghty doing so in Section A of the Under 12s’ Warm-Up class on the 19-year-old piebald gelding Stars At Night. Holly Lydon brought up the double in Section B of the Junior Warm-Up class, where she partnered the veteran black gelding Carbury.

Section A was won by The Kingdom’s Saibh Prenderville on Sunny Girl. Prenderville and the 18-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare by Wings Of Justice were also on the mark at the Dressage Ireland North Munster Region show at Garranemore Equestrian on Saturday.

The Shillelaghs’ Sarah Ryan won Section A of the Junior Competition class on the eight-year-old Connemara gelding Ballinaguilkey Rocco, a grey son of Murvey Rocco, while her teammate Isabel Byrne struck in the Intermediate Warm-Up class on the six-year-old Ganesh Hero Z gelding Hilton Ka Boom.

There were wins also for the Carberys’ Clara Nyhan in Section B of the Under 12s Warm-Up class, on the Connemara mare Galtee Honey, a six-year-old grey daughter of Kinvara Boy; and in both of the sections of the Intermediate Competition class for Carlow’s Faye Brennan on the Connemara gelding Bohey Ronnie, an eight-year-old grey by Bohey Ronan, and for Longford’s Emma Kenny with the Connemara gelding Ruby Menlo Kelly’s Boy, a 13-year-old grey by Frederiksminde Lorenzo.