THE final show champions of 2019 were decided at Ballinasloe Show, celebrating its 180th anniversary this year. The ringside crowd gathered as the broodmare championship was decided, judged by Clare’s John Aherne. To her delight, it was Susanne Kelly that took home another major championship with her home-bred Susie’s Diamond Miss, by Colin Diamond.

There was another double celebration for the Dooner family from Athlone when their recent All Ireland traditional foal champion, by Loughehoe Guy, won the foal title. It was a good day for Loughehoe Guy’s progeny as Adrian Shoer won the filly championship in the young horse section.

As is typical at the end of the show season, entries were low for the ridden classes, judged by Gary Guyatt and Conor Wixted. Alicia Devlin Byrne’s journey from Co Wicklow paid off with a treble of wins. She took red rosettes in the middleweight hunter, followed by one of the working hunter divisions, the traditional Irish horse class, and finally the ridden horse championship. This was with her all-rounder Samual Glen’s Lad by the Connemara stallion, Callowfeenish Mairtín.

Connemara honours

In the purebred Connemara championship, judged by Liam Cotter, Cathy Snow-Coyne’s three-year-old filly Moorland Silver Pearl capped her year with the Ballinasloe title.

Nicholas Byrne had a lengthy day judging the working hunter pony classes and it was another Connemara that he selected as his overall champion.

Hazelrock Colleen’s polished jumping technique saw the Currachmór Cashel mare take home two classes and the overall title with rider Dean McGrath.

Two more pony titles went the way of Chloe Glynn with Yealand Pilgrim, a big winner in showhunter pony classes, and Ellie Rogan with her new pony, Waxwing Lewis. Having started off with the well-known lead-rein pony Upacott Xotica, Waxwing Lewis arrived from Scotland to the Rogan family’s Springpark Stud in Co Tipperary just six weeks ago.