Dressage championships underway

THE Dressage Ireland National Championships commenced yesterday (Friday) and will continue until tomorrow afternoon when DI chair Marguerite Kavanagh completes her second Advanced test on Fursten.

Five arenas are in use at the Mullingar Equestrian Centre to cater for the entry of 259 riders. Six riders – Kevin Acres (Ganesh), Sophia Doheny (Enrico), Sarah Mellor (Let’s Dance), Tara Oliver Donohoe (Furst Romance) and Sorrell Klatzko (Turbo) – are due to contest this evening’s (Saturday) Grand Prix. Of these, only Mellor was crowned National Champion previously in 2010 when she partnered the British Warmblood gelding Farhenheit to victory.

Passport processing times improving

HORSE Sport Ireland and Weatherbys Scientific have confirmed they are working together to address passport processing delays caused by the transition phase to SNP DNA testing. They have also rectified issues that were causing higher-than-anticipated rates of hair samples being marked as unsuitable by the lab for SNP DNA testing with an expected return to normal processing times of foal passports (six to eight weeks) in the coming weeks. HSI apologised for the delays and requested patience as the backlog is worked through, while reminding breeders to register foals ahead of the October 31st deadline to avoid increased fees.

Stark steps into ‘semi’ retirement

EVENTING legend Ian Stark will step down from designing cross-country courses at the end of 2024 following his 70th birthday. Stark began his course-designing career in 2005. He will coach the US eventing squad until the end of 2024 and will continue to act as an FEI advisor.

Star of the Month voting closes soon

DON’T forget to vote for your The Irish Field/Gain Equine Nutrition Star of the Month for August. Voting closes at midnight on Thursday, September 28th and the winner will be announced in The Irish Field on Saturday, September 30th.

The August nominees are Jordan Coyle, Paddy Reape, the Irish pony eventing team and the Irish pony show jumping team. To vote visit therishfield.ie/star