TIGGY’S Trust has had a busy couple of weeks with the return of Alain Ponsot, the FEI course designer and builder who built the Pony European track in Le Mans this year and was assistant at the WEG in Pratoni in 2022.

Alain’s first trip in early October was a preparation trip for the popular series of ‘Cross Country at its Best’ videos that are available free on the Tiggy’s Trust YouTube site.

Alain also gave a clinic at Kilbride Equestrian courtesy of Bianca Lennon to members of the Irish Pony Society on designing rustic courses in an arena setting, so that ponies could show themselves off to their best advantage. The talk covered all aspects from course layout to colour and shape of fences.

A week later he was back filming for the Tiggy’s Trust YouTube channel with Sam Watson. Filming took place at Spruce Lodge thanks to the generosity of Helen Keogh and several of Tiggy’s young friends came with their horses and ponies to demonstrate the points covered, including how to warm up and cool down correctly when going cross-country and the theory behind non-jumpable elements placed on a cross-country track.

Alain’s week concluded with two talks, the first by kind permission of the Horse and Jockey in their theatre room on Thursday, November 2nd. The theme of this talk was the development of modern eventing and how we can all help it develop safely with horse welfare and rider safety to the fore.

The second half of the talk was a theory session on building cross-country fences covering the themes of colour and construction.

A practical follow up session was held at Graham and Sian Ball’s Equipark in Carlow, on the Saturday – this talk was aimed at helping pony club coaches set up and assist young riders starting out in cross country.

Tiggy’s Trust is as ever grateful for the generosity of the equestrian community, venues and Tiggy’s friends, in their mission to bring cross-country safety to the next generation.