NORTH Co Dublin’s Kevin McGuinness has settled back into the wind and rain following his recent visit to South Africa where he was judging at the Western Cape Showing Championships.

The two-day show was held in the grounds of the Stellenbosch District Riding Club where Kevin assessed a variety of ridden and in-hand classes. He then combined with the more locally-based Larissa Williams, Willem Engelbrecht and Greg Goss to select the supreme champion of show which was Dageraad Geeske, winner earlier of the show hack championship under her owner Sally-Jane Green.

The South African-bred Dutch Warmblood, who goes by the stable name of Pip, is by Upgrade out of a Flemmingh mare. “She was bred to jump but I just want to do dressage and showing,” said Sally-Jane. “She’s now 11 and combining showing with competing at Advanced level in dressage.

“Kevin McGuinness judged us at the Western Cape championships, and rode her so sensitively and beautifully. The competitors all mentioned how well he rode their horses. We thoroughly enjoyed having him judge in our country and province.”