A FULL programme of Freestyle classes was staged at Barnadown last Sunday, the third and final day of the Slieve Bloom Stud national dressage championships.

Having finished second to Dane Rawlins in the previous evening’s Grand Prix, Leinster’s Sorrell Klatzko turned the tables on that Dressage Ireland overseas member as she and her Westfalian gelding Turbo, a nine-year-old son of Totilas, scored 74.815 in the combined St Emillion Grand Prix/Inter A B Kür while Rawlins and Espoire were on 73.005.

The highest Freestyle score of 75.875 was recorded in the Childeric Saddles Prix St George/Intermediate I championship by Belinda Brereton and Galaxy Moone while Angela Lyons was awarded a mark of 73.56 for her performance on her Hanoverian gelding Woodcroft Santa Cruz in the Elementary championship.

That South Munster combination also won the Medium championship on 66.75. There was a narrow victory at Advanced Medium level for Cillian Murphy and his mother Carmel’s 10-year-old Hanoverian mare Dancing Espri (71.08), a grey by Denario. This combination also won the SVS Equine FEI Junior championship.

At the lower levels, there were Freestyle successes for Leinster’s Sandra Hammersley and her Irish Sport Horse gelding Drop The Pilot (Preliminary), an eight-year-old grey by Gallant Cavalier and for the South East Region’s Amy Jo Peskens and her ISH mare Lucy Lulu (Novice), an 18-year-old grey by Red House Condor.

Three combinations contested the FEI Ponies Freestyle championship where the honours went to Lily Larkin and the 17-year-old Dutch-bred Welsh gelding Blokland’s Hoeve’s Amor.

Without music, this pairing had to settle for second in the FEI Pony championship behind Jessica Grogan and the Dutch-bred Klein Roderijs Gold Fee, a seven-year-old dun mare by Veenstra’s Grapjas.

Junior riders

Junior riders were well catered for at the championships with the two Preliminary titles going to Lucy Donnan (Holmestead Saddlery Category 1) on the Connemara gelding Killoughter Nugget, a 16-year-old grey by Ashfield Romeo, and to Maeve Deverell (Category 2) with her mother Aisling’s 10-year-old roan gelding Derravaragh Boy. Deverall was also successful in sole Junior Elementary championship on board the home-bred ISH gelding Annaharvey Dunowen, a nine-year-old dun by Radolin.

At Novice level, the winners were Lucy Maughan (Category 1) riding the 15-year-old bay gelding Valley View Sammy (on whom she also won last year) and Rebecca McGrath (Category 2) on the German Riding Pony Terbofen Queen Two, a six-year-old chesnut mare by Quarterback Junior.