HISTORY was made recently when a team from Northern Ireland recorded not only their first win at the Royal Welsh Invitation World Team Mounted Games Championships but their first ever international success.

Eight teams lined-out including one from both South Africa and the USA riding borrowed ponies.

“Any breed of pony can be used, all they have to do is love to race!” said Sam Woodrow, joint chairman of the Mounted Games Association Northern Ireland, along with fellow team member, John Hamilton. “Most riders on our team have trained their own ponies which ranged from a trotter to a pony bred originally for show jumping.”

At the Welsh championships, Northern Ireland claimed the title on 110 points ahead of Ireland (107), Wales (106) and England (100).

“The MGA was formed in 1984 by Norman Patrick whose aim was to extend the sport, previously age-restricted by Pony Club rules, for wider participation. Each of our members grew up through the Pony Club but have since moved on to focus solely on MGA. I started off with the Route, John and Natasha Hamilton were members of North Down, Nicholas Tougher came through the Iveagh Branch and Courtney Wray was a member of Mid Antrim.

“In 2022, John and I took on the role of joint chair of the MGA Northern Ireland which, at 24, was a big ask for the both of us. However, we did so to keep the sport going and we are now excited to watch it grow! We would encourage anyone thinking about giving it a go to reach out to us or the Mounted Games Association of Ireland on Facebook or via our websites. We cater for all ages and abilities at our training days and competitions.

“The Ireland team of Ian Hyland, Sadie Hyland, Padraig Moran, Jamie Reavey and Niall Hughes also put in a super performance to fill the reserve championship slot at the Welsh competition,” continued Woodrow. “Most of the riders mentioned here will now travel to the European Team and Individual Championships at Onley Equestrian (August 7th-13th) to try to claim titles there too.”