THIRTEEN championships were staged over last Sunday and Monday at Castle Irvine, Necarne, where the Northern Region of Dressage Ireland held its two-day Festival.

The five-strong judges’ panel comprised Joanne Jarden (List 1), Donie McNamara (List 1), Michael Moore (List 2A), Bernie Webb (List 2A) and Claire Sedgeman (List 5).

The highest combined score (222.75%) was achieved by Ellen McDonald, who won the Dressage Shed Medium championship with her father Jim’s Dutch riding pony Dante Alighieri, a 14-year-old chesnut gelding by F.S. Don’t Worry.

Ten combinations contested that title, while seven took on the Move Right Therapy Advanced Medium championship, where the combined leaderboard was topped by Mary Devine with her 12-year-old black gelding Kingsman (220.75%). There were just two starters in the Advanced championship won by Dale Roberts on the 10-year-old bay gelding Rademon Aachen (222.25).

Riding her Swedish Warmblood gelding Erb Welt, a 20-year-old black son of Weltman, Petra Larkin marginally claimed the Dunmore Gardens Small Tour honours (132.06%), ahead of Marguerite Kavanagh on Danciano SR (131.39).

Fifteen combinations started in the EquiNutritive Elementary championship, where the highest combined score (194.5%) was recorded by Penny Murphy on her Irish Draught gelding Kontiki. This 10-year-old Killinick Bouncer grey, who has 41 Showjumping Ireland points to his credit, was bred in Co Cork by Seamus Neville out of the Holycross mare Glen Cross.

In the 20-strong KR Equine Veterinary Services Novice championship, the overall leaderboard was headed by Karen Murray on the Dutch Warmblood gelding Mister Galaxie Win (200.25%), a seven-year-old chesnut by Grand Galaxy Win, a son of Apache, out of a Roman Nature mare.

Preliminary

Gransha Equestrian’s Courtney Akkari saw off seven rivals to land the Baileys Horse Feeds Preliminary championship on her highly-regarded Hanoverian gelding Bernabeo (195%), a chesnut four-year-old by Benicio. The dedicated Junior title at this level was won by Amelia Wheeler with her mother Lisa’s Midnight Minty (199.25), who she also competes with Showjumping Ireland. Wheeler and the six-year-old piebald gelding recorded the Festival’s highest test score of 78.21 in Sunday’s DI5A, judged by Joanne Jarden.

Leanne Montgomery recorded an uncontested victory in the Para Grade IV championship on Kerrie Hall’s Aughabeg Misty Patch (125.75%), an 18-year-skewbald gelding by Aughabeg Patch.

Tia Wharry won the Introductory championship on Jenny Caldwell’s Connemara/Warmblood cross gelding Dalways Built By Design (153.75), a six-year-old Builder’s Delight grey; Emily Robertson was crowned the Trailblazers’ under 10 champion with Rachel Kinnaird’s nine-year-old dun gelding Hillside Nicely Dun (140.5), while the Trailblazers’ Preliminary under 12 title was won by Harriet O’Hagan on her mother Orlaith’s 00S Fairytale (176.75), a 13-year-old 128cm black mare.

Young horses

The non-championship young horse classes were poorly-supported numerically, but those on Monday were well-supported financially, through Horse Sport Ireland, by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. This was a second qualifying round for the young horse finals, which will take place at the DI national championships in September.

The highest score in the HSI section was recorded in the Michael Moore-judged six-year-old class by Carrick-On-Suir’s Rachel Dowley on her Dutch Warmblood mare GFL Nava (75%), a daughter of For Romance.

“The HSI Studbook series classes gave me a good incentive to make the long journey to Necarne and it proved worthwhile when Nava won,” said Dowley. “It’s a pity the series wasn’t better supported but, being run on a Monday when there was no bank holiday down south, maybe accounted for that to some extent. The show had a lovely atmosphere.”

On the Saturday, GFL Nava and her stable-companion GFL Flashdance, a Hanoverian gelding by Franziskus, were the only two starters in the Moore-judged six-year-old class, where they divided the honours on a score of 69%.

Courtney Akkari added to her Preliminary championship success on Bernabeo when landing the two-runner HSI four-year-old class on a score of 74% with her tall, eye-catching Hanoverian gelding, while Linda McIlwaine was the sole starter in the five-year-old class with her ISH gelding Roundthorn Oreo (68), a bay son of Vittorio.

The scorers had to take a second and third look at Donie McNamara’s marks in the HSI seven-year-old class before announcing Joan Adrain the winner with her Dutch Warmblood gelding VSH Moviestar. Both the winning combination and Denise Kelly Rice on board Pamela Wilson’s Forvanna had recorded scores of 61.52% with collective marks of 13 apiece.

A report on last Sunday’s finals of the O’Brien’s Saddlery midweek summer special series will be carried in next week’s edition of The Irish Field.