KATE Solon, who has been a lecturer at Kildalton College for the past eight years, is heading away on a short career break on Monday week and does so on the back of two championship successes.

The first of these came at RC110/RC120 level at the Association of Irish Riding Clubs’ National Eventing Championships at Crecora on Sunday, September 3rd, and the second at last weekend’s Eventing Ireland National Championships at Kilguilkey House where she claimed the EI100 title.

In both instances, Solon rode her traditionally-bred 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Oakport Ringo Star who, on Sunday, completed on the winning dressage score (25.5 penalties) he had been awarded the previous day by Elena Satalkina and Angelene Nicholson.

‘Ringo’, the second-placed Sir Barnabus (26.3), a 14-year-old ISH gelding ridden for owner Helen Fletcher by David O’Connor, and the third-placed Tullibards Bennys Optima (26.5), a seven-year-old ISH mare by Tullibards Bennys Legacy, who was ridden by Patrick Whelan for owner/breeder Hans Juergen Keuhnle, were among 14 of the 34 starters who completed on their first phase scores.

Two well-placed combinations withdrew before cross-country while one retired on the final phase where four others picked up jumping penalties. One combination parted company in the show jumping ring on Saturday and so were automatically eliminated.

Oakport Ringo Star, who is by the thoroughbred All My Dreams and was bred in Co Roscommon by Michael Keane out of the Ginger Dick mare Amber Rose, was first produced by Solon for Laura Mullooly. He was then evented briefly by Lee Maher before going show jumping with his owner under Riding Club rules.

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“Laura then agreed to sell him to me and we have mixed it between Eventing Ireland and the AIRC since then,” said Solon. “We didn’t start back competing until mid-summer this year when we won an EI100 at Ballindenisk (2) and then a Riding Club one-day at Frankfort Stud. Ringo is a really, really special horse but he can be a bit quirky at home.

“He’s the only horse I own at the moment and, when I go away, Laura is very kindly going to look after him while he’s on a break. The stallions I ride in Irish Draught classes for Jimmy Quinn have gone home to Cappa Stud for the winter but, hopefully, will come back here when I return sometime in the spring.

“I’m coached on the flat by Heike Holstein who has not only worked wonders with myself and Ringo but has also arranged for me to spend the first month of my career break with Michael Klimke in Germany,” concluded Solon.