THE Stuart family’s Gransha Equestrian Centre in Bangor has secured funding from Equine Awards NI to run a performance series for young horses bred in Ireland, young Irish Draught horses and Connemara ponies between the ages of five and 15.

The aim of the series, which will encompass five qualifying legs and a final, is to “provide a medium for Irish breeders and producers to display their quality young stock in the pursuit of exhibiting an athletic, loose-moving horse with a promising attitude and jumping technique which would be likely to excel in the working hunter and eventing spheres.”

There will be six classes at each qualifier and at the final. In both the young horse and Irish Draught sections, there will be classes for four-year-olds only followed by classes for five- and six-year-olds, while the Connemaras will be split into five to seven-year-olds plus eight to 15-year-olds.

Each class will follow the format of a ridden flat work phase to show three correct paces and demonstrate obedience, a jumping phase where the judges will be looking for a bold athletic animal who shows a good basic technique and an in-hand conformation and quality phase to assess if each horse/pony has the “overall build, type and stature” to withstand the demands of the sport.

The series, which encompasses a blend of weekend and mid-week dates, commences on Sunday next, February 20th. The other four qualifying legs will take place on Sunday March 13th, Sunday April 3rd, Tuesday April 12th and Tuesday April 19th. Horse/rider combinations must compete in a minimum of three qualifiers to be eligible for the final which is scheduled for Sunday, May 1st. Full details regarding the entry requirements, rules, marking system, tack, etc can be found on the Gransha Equestrian website where competitors will also find a copy of the ridden flat work test which will be used in all six classes. Participants will proceed directly from the ridden phase to the jumping phase.

The inclusion of a dedicated four-year-old class for young horses will be good news for breeders and producers who were disappointed that the young event horse championships have not returned to the schedule of May’s Balmoral Show. Instead, the organisers have decided to retain the performance horse championships which they ran last year, although this time having one class for five-year-olds only while the second is restricted to six to eight-year-olds.