THE Northern Region of Dressage Ireland held the first of its summer league shows last Sunday at The Meadows, where the six non-restricted Preliminary, Novice and Elementary classes attracted good entries, but just three winners.

Sixteen combinations performed the Preliminary DI6 test before Jacky Reid (List 6), who awarded her highest score (73.85%) to Louise Clelland and her Traditional Irish Sport Horse mare Rumour Has It. Clelland, who is on the regional committee where she looks after test times and results, then also topped the leaderboard of Coreen Abernethy (List 4) in the 13-runner DI15 on 73.40.

The eye-catching Rumour Has It, a seven-year-old grey by the Connemara stallion Builder’s Delight, was bred in Co Tyrone by Anne Torrens out of the German thoroughbred Elle Belle (by Nicaron).

Louise Clelland and Rumour Has It won a Preliminary double at The Meadows \ Ellie Johnston

Abernethy judged a dozen starters in the Novice DI26, where Jaclyn Brackenridge rose to the top with one of Cindy Cunningham’s distinctive appaloosas Comanche Arrow (72.76%) and then repeated the feat in the BD23, where Vida Tansey (List 1) had the pair on 68.96.

Brackenridge has competed Comanche Arrow twice this year at EI90 (Amateur) level with Eventing Ireland and, while they were eliminated last time out at Tyrella earlier this month, that was for omitting a cross-country fence, so they are upgrading to EI100 (Amateur) today at Hazeldene.

The Elementary double was recorded by Katie Lowry, who won the DI51 on 72.78% and the BD57 on 71.43. The two classes were judged by Coreen Abernethy and, in both instances, Lowry rode Sian Phillips’ Connemara gelding Crosspoint Tobin, a 13-year-old grey by Templehill Jasper.

There’s little Amelia Wheeler can do about the opposition, but her cross-Grade double on Midnight Minty was a lot more easily achieved as she was the only starter in the Junior Preliminary, were Reid awarded them 68.27%, and in the Junior Novice where Abernethy had them on 75.17. Wheeler and the six-year-old piebald gelding compete in Pony Club activities for the Killultagh Branch.

The highest score of the day (76.6%) was awarded by Vida Tansey to Courtney Akkari and the tall Hanoverian gelding Bernabeo (by Benicio), the only starters in the four-year-old class.