THE annual Home Pony International (HPI) Show hosted by the Clarke family at Cavan Equestrian Centre is one of the hottest tickets going. All pony parents are familiar with the stress of frantically trying to type in their credit card details to book stables as soon as they are released.

Some 435 stables sold out in just 12 minutes this year and the reason for this demand has to be credited to the standard of competition and facilities at Cavan Equestrian Centre, as well as the fun and friendships outside the arena. With the beautiful old oak tree as a picturesque centrepiece for the stunning new outdoor sand arena and the new games room for the children, Cavan put its best foot forward in welcoming a convoy of 17 lorries from the United Kingdom containing 15 competitive families with 60 ponies to join the Irish regulars.

For many, the HPI is their first taste of team competition and the atmosphere in the indoor on Friday evening and Saturday was electric, and thankfully dry, as Ireland’s weather chucked, shone and blew just about anything it could at competitors over the four days. The parades of teams with their flags and colours lends a unique atmosphere to the team events as those not participating surround the arena to cheer on their friends and rivals.

Ruben Foley and Mayfly Green Peter won the 138 1.15m Jump-Off at the Home Pony International \ Laurence Dunne Jumpinaction.net

Huge entries

Thursday and Friday saw huge entries, particularly in the 148 1.10m classes, with 165 contesting the one round speed on Friday. These classes were used to select the Debut Teams on Friday evening. The England Blue Team of Evie Dorise, Abigail Wicks, Sophie Wicks and Jack Martin proved too good for the rest of the Debut Teams, finishing on a zero score.

Saturday’s Team events were kicked off with the U10 85cm Teams and this one went the way of the Irish team of Sonny McGovern, Harvey Oscar Foley, Bobby O’Keefe and Chloe Clarke. The Irish Green team were once again victorious in the 128 1.05m class with Cliodhna McEvoy, Ava O’Neill, Charlie Fynn and Georgia de Bromhead coming out on top.

The 138 1.15m teams class went to the Irish Green Team of Ruben Foley, Mia de Bromhead, Ella Rush and Charlie Flynn. Charlie Flynn deserves special credit for jumping double clear on both the 128 and 138 teams. With Ireland taking three of the four team events to that point, the English came out fighting in the 148 1.20m event with the England Red team of Tabitha Kyle, Connie Mensley, Olivia Brightmore and Hollie Gerken taking the winners’ sashes and much sought after Cavan Coolers back to the UK.

Grand Prix classes

Sunday morning saw bleary eyed parents and children alike around the venue on day four of the marathon show. Jumping in the new outdoor sand arena started at the mercifully later time of 9am with the Grand Prix classes as riders, ponies and arena party had to battle with more changeable weather, from glorious sunshine, torrential rain, strong winds and even thunder and lightning.

The well-maintained surface held up remarkably well under the conditions. The 128 1.05m was won by Jack Dore and Woodside Jerry-Lee. First to go in the jump-off, they set an unbeatable target with Lucia Keane and Ravara Mohawk in second and Ryan Horgan and Million Dollar Baby in third.

The 138 1.15m Brian Taggart Memorial was won by Charlie Flynn, who had a great show with Knud van Orchid’s. Overseas visitor, Raphaela Uma Dawson and Churchfield Bluebell joined them in the top spot. Second place went to Ruben Foley and Sparkling Boomastasia with Andrea Barry and Arcade Eddie in third.

The 148 1.25m Kerry Turkington Memorial was the feature class of the day and saw a strong field of 64 starters, with many riders who had already won international medals this year or will be going on to represent their respective countries later in 2023.

With 22 combinations into the second round, Lauren Adams and Corradino du Bary were early to go and set a time that put the others under pressure over Claus Holle’s long galloping track, making for an exciting competition as 20 riders chased her, but nobody managed to beat the time and leave all the fences up. Ruben Foley and Shamrock Gite came closest, just half a second behind with Jack Kent and HKS Salome in third.

The U10 riders were lucky to keep their jodhpurs dry as the 128 U10 GP was held in the indoor arena. This class saw an extremely long jump-off of 22 ponies, but only six combinations managed to leave all the timber standing. Bobby O’Keefe and The Candy Stripe Man took the win, with local rider, Chloe Clarke and Pepsi Mac in second and Caoimhe Murphy and The Nutcracker in third.

The standard of courses throughout the four days was fantastic for all competitions, with a wide variety of one round speed, two phase and Grand Prix type competitions, offering technical challenges, tight turns and galloping tracks. The entire team at Cavan Equestrian deserves credit for their efforts in putting on such a great show in challenging conditions. They did Ireland proud.

Cliodhna McEvoy and Tynnan Tuttle Pip won the 128 1.05m jump-off at the Home Pony International \ Laurence Dunne Jumpinaction.n