LETTERFRACK’s Cillian Curran warmed up for next week’s FEI Junior European Dressage Championships in Kronberg, Germany, by recording two uncontested wins at last Sunday’s Dressage Ireland Midlands and Western Region show at the Ower Equestrian Centre in Co Galway.

On board his team ride Dancing Espri, his mother Carmel’s 11-year-old Hanovarian mare by Denario, Curran scored 67.58% in the FEI team test and 69.26 in the FEI individual test. Both were judged by Dermot Cannon (List 1), who had been on duty the previous day at the new eventing venue of The Clare.

Show organiser, and one of the day’s scribes, Carmel Curran was delighted when Aoife Nee recorded scores of over 64% in the Cannon-judged FEI Pony individual (64.73) and team (64.86) tests on board Carmel’s smart German riding pony Maracuja AG, a six-year-old son of Movie Star.

Cannon also had just one competitor to judge in the sole Medium class (Michelle Gilligan, who scored 59.86% on Avalon Renkum in the DI77), but had a busier stint at Novice and Elementary level.

Cannon and Danielle Carey (List 4) were agreed on their Elementary winners, Liz White and her 21-year-old British Warmblood gelding, Finlandia. Cannon awarded the combination a score of 67.50 in the EI55, while Carey had them on 69.52 following their DI56A test.

The same two judges also assessed those competing at Novice level, but here they disagreed. In the DI24A, Cannon had Anya Skilling and her Irish Sport Horse mare Tiz Quality, a six-year-old daughter of OBOS Quality 004, who also show jumps, at the top of his leaderboard on 67.83%. In the DI27A judged by Carey, Skilling and Tiz Quality finished second (65.69) to Saibh Hardiman and Caitriona Minihan’s 11-year-old bay gelding Banjo (65.86).

There were just three starters in both of those Novice classes, but 10 in the Preliminary DI18, which was won by a five-point margin by Padraig Flanagan and his home-bred ISH mare Larchill Katie D (73.33%), a five-year-old by the thoroughbred stallion Dr Erewhon.

There were 10 starters also in the Preliminary DI6 judged by Petra Hewer (List 6), where Flanagan and Larchill Kate D (70.77%) were narrowly beaten into second by Lilly Berry McLaughlin and Carol Berry’s Connemara pony General Sinatra (70.96), an 11-year-old grey gelding by General Humbert.

On a day when the weather was a lot better at The Ower than in many other parts of the country, Carey also judged two Trailblazers classes, where her winners were Eilis Geoghegan and Bilko (71.96%) in the Junior Preliminary and Lauren Pender with Skycur Classic (68.75) in the Senior Preliminary.