By Emer Bermingham

THE children on horses classes had a change of format at the 2014 Dublin Horse Show, with the addition of a team championship to the individual championship.

The first of the championships took place on Saturday afternoon with four teams, which were made up of the 16 qualified riders, battling it out for the inaugural Larkin Brothers Team championship. Following two rounds of jumping, team Hickey won out, finishing on a total of four faults.

The Michael Hickey-managed team of Killian Ryan (Elysium), Jennifer Rea (Brech Van De Romstee), Jason Foley (HHS Louis) and Karen McCabe (Carramore Oasis) took an early lead when Ryan, Rea and McCabe delivered clear rounds, while Foley recorded eight faults. With Foley’s score discarded, they finished on a first round score of zero faults. In the second round, Ryan McCabe and Foley repeated their first round performance, while Rea had one down. A final score of four faults proved good enough to take the winners rosette.

The Col Ned Campion-managed team of Jack Ryan (Sandballin), Jennifer Kuehnle (Best Lady), Abbey Morton (Patch Mills Laura) and John Gallagher (Valentina’s Tilia) also started off strongly. Their first rider Jack Ryan picked up a single time fault, while Kuehnle and Morton delivered a clear and Gallagher recorded four faults. The team finished on a first round score of one fault. In the second round, Ryan and Kuehnle delivered clears, while Morton and Gallagher both recorded eight, finishing on a team total of nine faults for second place.

Things didn’t go according to plan for the Vina Buller team of Jack Ryan (Something About Mary), Emelie Larkin (Flexing), Oisin Aylward (Mougins) and Adam Carey (CTS Peanuts). First to go, Ryan recorded eight faults, Larkin four and Carey five. Aylward was the only one to record a clear.

A first-round score of nine faults put them into provisional fourth after the first round. In the second round only Carey recorded a clear, while Ryan and Aylward had four faults and Larkin eight. A team total of 17 faults saw them finish in third place.

The first of the teams to go was the Tom Slattery-managed team of Lee Carey (Mt Cruise), Cian Goggins (Ocala Justice), Cara O’Connell (Nice Girl Sally) and Shane Moloney (Valtaire). This team got their round off to a decent start as their first rider in, Lee Carey, crossed the line carrying just four faults.

Cian Goggins and Cara O’Connell also recorded four faults, while Shane Moloney delivered a clear round, which meant the quartet finished on a first round score of four faults. In the second round, Carey delivered a clear, while Goggins and Moloney both finished on nine faults and O’Connell chose to retired. The team finished on a total of 26 faults for fourth place.

The children on horses individual championship took place on Sunday afternoon during some heavy rainfall. From the 16 starters, just six riders delivered clears to proceed to the jump-off.

First to go with Something About Mary, Jack Ryan recorded eight faults in 42.73 seconds, which later proved good enough for eventual fifth.

It was a disappointing round for the 2013 champion Killian Ryan as a heavy downpour clearly affected his round and he chose to retire with Elysium.

Adam Carey delivered the first of the double clears in 44.75 with CTS Peanuts, which provisionally put him into the lead. Although Carey put in a great performance his lead was short-lived as Karen McCabe and Carramore Oasis lowered the target to 38.33.

Returning with his second mount Sandballin, Jack Ryan knew what was required to take the lead. The young Kilkenny rider was up on target at the mid-way point, but four faults at the penultimate fence ruled him out of contention. A fast time of 37.07 however meant that he slotted into third.

Last to go, Jennifer Kuehnle opted to take the safer options with Best Lady and all looked to be going well until they faulted at the second part of the double. A slower time of 42.17 meant that she repeated her sister Jessica’s performance of last year when finishing fourth.

McCabe’s lead held and she led the victory lap aboard Carramoe Oasis, with Adam Carey following behind in second place.

Speaking after the class, the winner said: “I just had to go as fast as I could as I knew that there were two very fast combinations coming after me. This is the second championship win for the family today as my sister Aoife won the 1.15m Young Riders. It’s good to be going home with two RDS titles.”