THERE will be added interest in the show jumping section of next month’s Irish Pony Club Festival at Barnadown where a five-day residential bursary prize with international show jumper Clem McMahon will be awarded to the highest-placed IPC member (in their 16th year or over) in the senior individual final.

Based at Hilton Farm, Clones, Co Monaghan, Clem has many years of success at the highest level of show jumping in Ireland and abroad and, most famously, partnered Pacino as part of the team who won the Aga Khan trophy for Ireland in 2012.

The winner of the bursary will spend five days in his show jumping yard, receiving private tuition from Clem. The winner will also have the opportunity to experience the breeding side of Hilton Farm where the three-year-old clone, Pacino II, is standing at stud under the expert management of Anne Marie Jamieson Reynolds.

Clem is delighted to support and nurture the next generation of IPC show jumping riders in Ireland and is looking forward to imparting his valuable knowledge and expertise with the winner of the bursary prize. When Sharon Monahan, CEO of the IPC sincerely thanked Clem for his very generous bursary prize, he replied: “I am delighted to support the great work of the IPC and I’m looking forward to welcoming the winner of the senior show jumping competition to Hilton Farm.”

The IPC has amended its show jumping rule book to open the senior individual competition to those competitors in the Captain John Ledingham team competition as well as those members competing at senior level, so long as they have qualified for the senior individual competition at the Festival Area qualifiers which are currently under way.

Head of IPC show jumping Helen O’Neill commented: “This is a great opportunity for a Pony Club member, competing at the Festival, to gain valuable experience with an expert in the field of show jumping. The wonderful prize also complements the bursary support already received from the Army Equitation School which offers a bursary to the show jumping Classic winners.

“We are very excited and grateful to Clem for offering this support to our aspiring show jumping members of the Pony Club and it will give younger members another valuable bursary to aim for in years to come.”

The Irish Pony Club Festival takes place at Barnadown Showjumping, Gorey, Co Wexford from Wednesday, July 26th to Friday, July 28th. The senior show jumping competition is provisionally scheduled for the afternoon of Friday, July 28th.