Equijump Ltd Pony Producers final

NOT everything went to plan for Hazel Barden in the past week but the 17-year-old did record two notable successes on her mother Jackie’s Connemara gelding Paddy Jo.

On Sunday, the Mooncoin combination won the Festival 153cms working hunter championship at the Northern Ireland Festival in Cavan while, on Tuesday, they landed the EquiJump Ltd Pony Producers final at the Stepping Stones to Success league in Wexford Equestrian, claiming the league honours as well.

Just seven ponies started in the final where Paddy Jo’s success on a total of 212.6 marks was due to his winning performance before Ian Fearon (show jumping) and J.P. Sheffield (cross-country) in the Derby Arena. Thanks to the highest conformation and type score awarded by Johnny Kyle, Molly Flanagan finished second on Diamant des Mures (210.5) but owner Mary Kehoe missed out on some extra Horse Sport Ireland money as this five-year-old dun mare has no recorded breeding.

Alex Connors guided Ann Grimes’s six-year-old Paulank Easy Peezy gelding Blennerville Rua into third place (209.3) ahead of Gloria Nolan and her home-bred Connemara mare Ardnehue Red Robin (205.1) who had led following Anne Marie Dunphy’s judging of the dressage phase.

Bred by Declan Connick and sourced through the Bardens’ neighbour Aileen Quinn, Paddy Jo is a six-year-old dun by Martan Phaidin Mhoir out of the Streamstown Mickey mare Ballyvary Mist. He will have a bit of a break now while Hazel has school exams but will be brought back in for the Dublin Horse Show Connemara performance hunter qualifiers which commence on Saturday, June 25th at Forth Mountain.

“This series is a great education for pony and rider,” said Jackie Barden. “It also has great sponsorship both from EquiJump and Horse Sport Ireland which is much appreciated.”

EquiJump Ltd pony producers league – 1, Jackie Barden’s Paddy Jo (Hazel Barden) 35 points; 2, Mary Kehoe’s Diamant de Mures (Molly Flanagan) 33.5; 3, Ann Grimes’s Blennerville Rua (Alex Connors) 28; 4, Gloria Nolan’s Ardnehue Red Robin (Owner) 22.5; 5, Robert Widger’s Poynstown Dubh (Sam Widger) 19; 6, Patricia Lawlor’s Addrigoole Atto (Caoilfhionn Lawlor) 10.5.