KILLOSSERY Lodge Stud may no longer feature on the Eventing Ireland calendar, but its facilities were used in the past year by the Irish Pony Club for its Minimus championships and its Area 7 one-day event qualifier and by the Association of Irish Riding Clubs for its Equipeople-sponsored national eventing championships in mid-September.

Although the numbers are still some way off the AIRC championships’ heyday, 10 teams started at Killossery where the honours, on a penalty score of 107.8, went to the Carne trio of Ethan Cahill (Queen Ruby Royale), Joy French (Lilys Rose) and Maire Ni Dhiomsaigh (Ballycullane Sandy), none of whom compete with EI. Coole Lane filled the reserve slot on 113.8, ahead of Thomastown and District on 114.9.

The best supported individual championship was the 45-runner RC90, which was won by Foxborough’s Harriet Aveling riding The Minx, an 11-year-old Emperor Augustus mare, who was campaigned at EI100 (Amateur) back in 2020 by his breeder, Sue O’Doherty. Thomastown and District’s Sheena Holt recorded a six-point victory in the 29-strong RC80 championship on board the 14-year-old bay mare Wemyss Bay.

There were 19 starters in the RC100 championship won by Rathangan’s Francis Downes with Roses Sligo Candy, a nine-year-old Sligo Candy Boy mare, who owner Johnny Drake partnered in an EI100 amateur class at Ballindenisk I in June. Hollybrook’s Aoife Madigan saw off two rivals to claim the RC110/RC120 title on the Royal Concorde gelding Slanduff Bell x 1, who she competed twice at CCI2* level this year.

Venues like Killossery Lodge Stud, which will again host these AIRC championships on September 14th next year, have a lot of riders over 16 competing in their own eventing/arena eventing leagues and it would be great to see more of them join the Riding Club movement, particularly for the team competitions.