“WE have to innovate to stay ahead in any industry,” said Connemara Pony World Search for a Star organiser Lucinda Kelly as she described last Sunday’s expanded format. Now in its second year, the competition is the brainchild of Kelly whose passion for the Connemara pony is evident in many of her ventures.

Building on last year’s success, the 2025 event took place in the new venue of Barnadown Equestrian attracting competitors from across the country to compete in classes aimed at promoting the development of novice ponies. “I wanted to develop something similar to the Pictan Novice Championship in the UK. We are the home of the Connemara Pony and I wanted to showcase younger ponies performing in Ireland,” she said.

Running two specific age performance classes - for four-year-olds and five-year-olds - Sunday’s competition saw the addition of the Horse Quest Novice Ridden Star Championship for four and five-year-olds.

“I really like metrics and data and I think judging should go that way,” said Kelly, who works in innovation and technology, and she believes showing classes need more transparent, score-based judging systems similar to dressage and eventing. “Not only does it foster accountability in judges, it helps competitors with feedback on their performance.”

Adapting a score-based marking system to judge the Championship classes, Janet Murray and Rebecca Penny assessed performance competitors’ jumping ability over the Will Kearney-designed course before completing a set show piece and conformation assessment. The top six ponies were then ridden by Penny before the final line-ups were selected.

Captivating from the start was the dun gelding Foran’s Golden Boy (Lightening Star - Golden Temple Lady), who claimed the Four-Year-Old Championship with Sarah O’Donnell in the saddle. Bred by John Foran and owned by Miriam O’Donnell, the gelding built on his runner-up placing in the Irish Green Hunter Final at the Connemara Pony Show in August. Graduates of this section have gone on to showcase their abilities, including Pine View Ice Cool who finished second last year and was Connemara Performance Hunter Champion in the five to seven-year-old year Section at the RDS this summer.

Highest score

Despite the trying weather conditions, the atmosphere of the event was friendly and inclusive with the Barnadown Pavilion acting as the ideal viewing platform for spectators. Winning the Five-Year-Old Championship on the highest jumping score of the class was the bay Hogan’s Charm (Ross Fear Bui - Mulbrook Lass). Ridden by Pauline Dahill, this pair have enjoyed considerable success this year, standing Reserve Champion in the younger section of the Connemara Performance Hunter at Ballsbridge in August.

Bred by Thomas McCann, the gelding was also the scopiest pony of the section. As well as class prize funds, sponsored by Horse Sport Ireland, breeders of winning ponies were awarded €100 in recognition of their achievements.

As Novice Ridden classes for Ireland’s native breed continue to soar in popularity, the Novice Ridden Star Championship was a fitting addition to the show. Unique to the event, this class combined the score-based assessments with the top six ponies going through to the ride judge phase.

Proven

Continuing to prove himself as a stallion for the future, Glenville Glic (Glencarrig Knight - Clooneybreen Peigin), bred by Francis Murphy and ridden by owner Grace Maxwell Murphy, added the Ridden Championship title to his ever-growing CV.

Speaking after the event, judge Rebecca Penny, who took 18 ponies through the ridden assessment through the course of the day, said: “The format of the classes was innovative and refreshing. It is rare ponies are ridden by a judge. This approach rewards the correct production and training of young ponies. The performance winners showed such versatility that they could excel in any sphere. As for the novice ridden pony, I’d have happily put him in my suitcase and taken him back to England! He was lovely with true pony characteristics, substance and a fabulous temperament.”

Coming on board for this expanded format, Lucinda thanked the IPS for their involvement and assistance with the success of the event. “It’s a great platform to showcase these younger ponies at the start of their careers and I see it expanding into a sales platform in the future that showcases grass roots Irish ponies for sale,” she said.

The initiative was supported by a small team of volunteers, who helped bring this vision to life, who Lucinda extended huge gratitude towards.