THE Northern Region of Dressage Ireland staged its first show of 2024 last Saturday at Gransha, where Category 3 rider Lisa Dundee topped the scoreboard on three occasions, winning both Elementary classes on RoundThorn Nice N Easy.

In the eight-runner BD57, Dundee and Patricia Connon’s home-bred Irish Sport Horse mare were awarded a score of 65.18% by John Lyttle (List 2), while Ivor Harper (List 4) had them on 67.74 in the nine-strong DI56A. Harper had Caroline Herron and Clantara Lord Louis on the same score, but Dundee was given the nod thanks to her higher collective mark (63.5 to 62).

A six-year-old by Formidable, RoundThorn Nice N Easy is out of the Dutch Warmblood mare Unlimited Roundthorn (by 00 Seven) whose 2005 daughter, Amour Roundthorn (by Sandreo), is dam of Dundee’s first winner on Saturday, Roundthorn Oreo. Also owned and bred by Connon, that five-year-old ISH gelding by Vittorio saw off six rivals to win the Lyttle-judged Preliminary BD19 with the day’s highest score of 70.21%.

Seven combinations also came before Harper in the second Preliminary class, the DI6, where Category 1 riders Rachael Kernaghan and Alexandra Ryan both achieved a score of 67.50. With her marginally higher collective mark (47.5 to 47), Kernaghan claimed top spot with her traditional cob Scarborough Fair, a 10-year-old black mare.

Novice classes

At Novice level, Harper had the bigger field of 13 to assess in the BD23. Topping his scores on 68.75% was Category 2 rider Joanne McSeveney on Donna Bella, with whom she had such a good conclusion to the 2023 season. In the seven-strong DI27A, McSeveney and Richard Finlay’s 13-year-old Hanoverian mare by Don Frederico scored 66.21, as Lyttle awarded his highest marks to Category 1 rider Kerry Taylor and the seven-year-old grey gelding Ballylinney Max (67.07).

In the Medium classes, Lyttle’s winner of the three-runner BD69 was the Carolyn Mellor-partnered Isabelle (64.85%), an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare by Blue Hors Zack, who owner Joan Adrain competed at two Northern Region shows last season.

The chesnut wasn’t entered in the DI65, where Lucinda Blakiston Houston and her 14-year-old home-bred mare Beltrim Double G (63.75) saw off the challenge of Amelia McFarland and Kingston Olive (61.72).

Erin McCoy recorded two uncontested victories in the FEI Junior classes with Jane Howard’s 18-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Bjornsun (by Johnson), scoring 60.59 in the individual test and 58.64 in the team test.

As at Clonshire the previous weekend, there was poor support for the Trailblazers’ section, where there were uncontested wins for Emily Melvin and the Connemara gelding Ballygarris Robe (68.18%), a 12-year-old bay by Robe Earl, in the Under 12s’ Preliminary, and for Amelia Wheeler with the six-year-old Connemara cross gelding Midnight Minty (67.39), a six-year-old piebald by Midnight Mint, in the Junior Novice.

There were no entries in the young horse classes, which may, or may not, be explained by this show clashing with the opening leg of the flexi eventing series at The Meadows.

The Region’s second show of 2024 is scheduled to take place next Sunday, January 28th, at Danescroft, where there will be judges’ training for Lists 5 and 6. Today, the Lisburn equestrian centre hosts an Elevate Equitation training day featuring flatwork lessons with Joanne Jarden, stable management with Jackie Reid and an interactive biomechanics demo with Clare Maria Campbell.

Looking further ahead, the Northern Region has booked the weekend of July 13th and 14th for its Summer Festival at Castle Irvine, Necarne.