THREE Dressage Ireland shows were staged over last weekend, the North Munster Region having the stage to itself on Saturday while, hopefully, the last of the clashing shows between the neighbouring Leinster and Eastern Regions were held on Sunday.

The National Horse Sport Arena in Abbotstown was the venue for leg three of the Leinster Region’s spring/summer league which is being sponsored by ARKequine DERBY. Among those competing was the Kildare company’s local brand ambassador, Tara Hayes, who won both five-runner Medium classes with the home-bred seven-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare Sandora BS and the two Advanced Medium classes on the Dutch Warmblood gelding Ferrero K who faced just a single rival in both.

At Elementary level and higher, scores of 70% or more were recorded by a quartet of riders starting with Aimee Oliver who topped the marks in the eight-strong DI Elementary 52 on Love The Difference (70.14). Locally-born Oliver and her Dutch Warmblood gelding, a seven-year-old dark bay son of Johnson who was having his first start at this level and his first of the season, won both the Preliminary and Novice Category 1 titles at last year’s national championships in Barnadown.

Sole rival

Oliver’s sister, Co Limerick-based Tara Oliver Donohoe, comfortably saw off her sole rival to win the Prix St George on her nine-year-old Oldenburg gelding Senators Rhonaldo (70.74) whose stable-companion, Furst Romance (67.17), recorded an uncontested victory in the Grand Prix.

It was a similar story for Co Galway Junior rider Cillian Curran who, on board his mother Carmel’s Dancing Espri, easily landed the two-runner FEI team test (74.09) and scored 67.79 in the individual test where he and the 11-year-old Hanoverian mare by Denario were the sole starters. Co Westmeath’s Maeve Deverell was a comfortable winner of the Children on Horses team test match with her mother Aisling’s ISH gelding Annaharvey Dunowen (71.29), a home-bred dun son of Radolin.

Para Grade II rider Heather Lemmon narrowly failed to hit the 70% mark in the Individual Grand Prix A on Ladychapel Narnia (69.14) and also recorded an uncontested victory (66.32) in the team test on her 12-year-old roan mare.

Round four of the region’s ARKequine Derby spring/summer league takes place over the weekend of May 6th and 7th at Redhills Stud on the outskirts of Kildare town.