LAST Wednesday week, a large gathering of horsey and non-horsey friends assembled in the Banqueting Hall of Clandeboye House, Bangor, Co Down, to celebrate the 90th birthday of one of doyennes of Irish equestrianism, Lady Perdita Blackwood.

With the official nomenclature of Lady Perdita Maureen Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, Lady P, as she is more commonly known, most recently had a winner when the Louise Lyons-ridden and produced Clandeboye, a five-year-old grey gelding by Scrapman, won the Irish Draught working hunter class at the Wicklow summer show in Barnadown.

We are indebted to John Micklem for informing us that the first horse purchased by Lady P, and her lifetime friend from her schooldays, Barbara Rich, was the five-year-old Bawbee of Erinbarnett, who they had spotted in an advertisement in 1960 as being for sale in Scotland. The horse, who had been purchased for £80 in Ballinasloe, was put on livery with Dougie Iggulden, Richard’s father, and in October that year, won the National Foxhunter show jumping championship at Wembley.

Back in Ireland, ‘Bawbee’ was jumped by Seamus Hayes until the Iggulden family moved over to Co Down, where Lady P developed a very smart yard of young show jumping stock, with Dougie winning the open show jumping championship at Dublin on three different horses, and the Cavallo Stud.

A large gathering of horsey and non-horsey friends assembled in the Banqueting Hall of Clandeboye House, Bangor, Co Down to celebrate the 90th birthday of one of doyennes of Irish equestrianism, Lady Perdita Blackwood recently

Show horses

Lady P purchased her first show horse, Mr Bergerac, as a foal and he went on to win the ladies side saddle class at Dublin three times. Other horses to win at the RDS included Inspector Clouzot, another Ballinasloe graduate, who won his riding horse class and was then sold to Allister Hood and won at the Royal International.

Other top horses to have passed through Lady P’s hands included Hi Jacker, who won in Dublin as a yearling, two and three-year-old, Commandant Dreyfus, Steeple Jack, the coloured mare I’m A Bertha, who won her middleweight class at Dublin, Will E Thrill, The Full Shilling, Conundrum and Frank Sinatra. The last-mentioned, who got his name through his blue eyes, won the Desert Orchid working hunter pony trophy at Peterborough under Emily MacMahon.

One of her most memorable sales, for the buyers at least, was when selling the magnificent ‘Tuffy’ to the McLoone family in Rush. The tiny grey was Margie McLoone’s first pony and as famous for his cheekiness as for the fact that he was the only pony in the town to have an account in the local shop (only Tuffy could be supplied - not his rider!), his passion for watching Mr Ed in the kitchen and his skill at rubbing his poor rider’s unfortunate leg up against the pebble-dash. Thank you Lady P and a belated happy birthday!