SPECIAL mention must be made of Armagh’s Lauren O’Rourke, who stood reserve supreme champion twice on Saturday night at the Northern Ireland Festival, with her mother Sarah’s Welsh Section B gelding, Pine View Remeo.

Nine-year-old Lauren and the six-year-old Barrera Duke Of Windsor grey were first beckoned into that spot in the mini novice champion of champions supreme championship and then in the novice supreme championship, which was open to horses and ponies.

“We bought the pony from his breeder, Sharon Walsh of Pine View Ponies, as a two-year-old and have produced him ourselves,” said Sarah. “He has spent most of his life in the field, but has been very busy over the past couple of weeks, as we were at a BSPS show in England the weekend before NIF, where he and Lauren won two Royal International tickets.

“They also won a few working hunter classes at Lusks earlier in the year.”

Lauren, who also had some good wins in Cavan with Prince Caspian, used to be the only child in the family interested in going to shows but her brother, Brian, who has no interest in ponies, now enjoys the social aspect of showing while her sister, Rachel, is learning to ride. Both girls are members of the Iveagh Pony Club. Their father, Aaron, was also helping with the ponies at the Festival.

While there were no in-hand classes at Cavan this year, we should mention that the organisers continued with their young handlers’ section.

One of the first champions crowned at the Festival was Elissa Cowan, who won the class for handlers aged seven to 10 while Sophie Cathcart, who topped the line-up in the 11-year-old to 16-year-old class, stood reserve.