Katy Saunders
THE CWD Spring Tour for children on horses and ponies moved to the southern end of the country last weekend and was hosted at Maryville EC by Alan and Jennifer Molan.
Kerry native James Tarrant crossed the county border for the day as the appointed course designer and provided technical and educational tracks, ensuring great competition throughout the day.
Unfortunately the weather proved to be quite challenging and with an amber warning in place for strong winds, this created quite a few headaches for the arena party and judges alike in the outdoor arena.
Nevertheless, some 160 animals jumped, providing great excitement and showcasing the talent that this league encourages from the early part of the year.
In the children on horses class there were only two double clear rounds jumped from eleven starters and those gaining their valuable three points were Jennifer Kuehnle on Deita De La Bouverie and John Gallagher on Valentinas Tilia.
Following this was the second of the 148cms/1.30m competitions, in which 32 combinations were vying for points towards the selection of the team travelling to Fontainebleau in April.
Six of these went through to the jump off where Harry Allen was double-handed. His first mount Acapella Z picked up four faults in 30.37 seconds, leaving him as penultimate competitor on Cassandra Van Het Roelhoff with a feel for the track as this pair left everything intact in a time of 30.01 to take the win.
This relegated a superb round from Grace O’Donnell and Orchids Vienna as they were also clear in a slightly slower time of 32.94. Patrick Hickey and New Forge Lady, the only other pair to go clear, took third place in 34.61.
The 148cms/1.20m CWD Spring Tour class concluded the action in the outdoor arena and saw 56 starters, with 20 of these producing a first round clear. A very exciting jump-off followed, in which Leinster rider Patrick Hickey stole the show from two local ladies, Holly Sweetnam and Hannah O’Shea.
Hickey hails from Foulksmills in Wexford and took the win on Shercock Rose, leaving everything standing in a time of 31.84. Sweetnam, from nearby Bandon, and Temple Spartacus took second, also going clear in a time of 33.52. This was only a fraction quicker than O’Shea from Cork as she partnered Cinderella Girl to third place, going clear in 33.63.
The younger athletes were accommodated in the indoor arena where the action was fast and furious in the 128cms CWD Spring Tour as Tom Wachman took his second win of the league on PARC Epic, heading the field of 55 starters with a zero score in 23.44.
Twenty-one combinations went through to the jump-off, where less than a second separated the riders in second to fifth places. Ashley Dunne and Wingland Heloise stopped the clock in 24.11 to take second, with Max Foley and Sparkel hot on their heels in 24.29 in third place.
Fourth place went to Ellie-Rose Cassidy and Little Ceaser (24.50) and fifth to Amy Reape and Heartbreaker (24.87).
Concluding the action was the CWD 138cms Spring Tour class, where 38 started and 12 made it into the jump off. Sean Foley and KC Lady set a very fast target of 30.90 early on and had to wait to the end to see if their time would be good enough. Jack Ryan and My Little Lady, winners of the last leg of the Spring Tour, tried hard but their time of 31.06 was just not fast enough to take victory from Foley. Third place went to Robyn Moran and Western Oreo (31.76).
The next round of the CWD Spring Tour will take place at Cavan EC on March 15th.