LOSS of an hour’s sleep and Mother’s Day last Sunday, March 30th, didn’t deter the South East AIRC members from showing up to dance their way down those centre lines at the region’s league final, hosted by Barrow Valley Riding Club at Carrigbeg Riding Stables, by kind permission of Susan Patterson.

With the sun shining, the photographer Between the Ears Equine Videos and the first judge Liseanne Kearns in place, all was set for the RC P1 class to commence. The scores were tight at the top, with less than 0.2% percent separating the top two, as Shauna Meaney riding her horse Mooncon Star scored 68.75% to take the lead over Jacqueline Kellet-Bevan riding Macroney Sue to give the host club a first and second.

Third place went to Kilcarrick Riding Club with Cheryl Keogh and her horse Hodson Bay Lass scoring 66.25%. Fourth went to John O’Dwyer (Thomastown and District), fifth to Patrick Deegan (Ballycanew RC) and sixth to Sophie O’Leary (Coole Lane). League results saw the host club take the red, as Jacqueline Kellet-Bevan took the top spot, followed by Cheryl Keogh (Kilcarrick RC) and third went to Patrick Deegan (Ballycanew).

Shauna Meaney and Mooncon Star won the RC P1 class at the South East region dressage final hosted in Carrigbeg Riding Stables by Barrow Valley Riding Club \ Aoife Kavanagh Between The Ears Equine Videos

Close finish

In the RC P1 open, it was another close finish, as the host club member Jacqueline Kellet-Bevan’s score of 69.82% gave her the edge over Cheryl Keogh’s (Kilcarrick) score of 69.11% to give Jacqueline Kellet-Bevan a second league win of the day for Barrow Valley Riding Club.

Next up was the RC P2, the second biggest class of the day, where Barrow Valley continued the winning streak; this time it was Isobelle Gould riding Foxy Furisto who topped the podium with a score of 72.69%. Hot on their heels were Sandra Dalton (Horetown) with Strattonstown Banjo in second place on 71.92% and Faith Jackson (Tinahely) riding Kilquinn Pride placing third. Stephanie Bryan (Horetown), Patrick Byrne (Barrow Valley) and Katie Vickers (Thomastown and District) took fourth, fifth and sixth places.

The coveted league points gained meant a league win for Horetown, as Sandra Dalton moved into pole position, followed by Faith Jackson (Tinahely) and Isobelle Gould (Barrow Valley) in second and third places.

Caoilfhoinn Stoiri and Kildromin Mustaf won the RC P3 league at the South East region dressage final hosted in Carrigbeg riding school by Barrow Valley riding club \ Aoife Kavanagh Between The Ears Equine Videos

Highest score

It was then on to the RC P2 open class, where Faith Jackson (Tinahely), who was topping the league table going into the final, not only held onto the league win, but went and produced the highest scored test of the day, as Kilquinn Pride danced his hooves off to score 76.54%.

Sandra Dalton (Horetown) and Strattonstown Banjo danced into second place on the next highest score of the day 76.15%, ahead of host club member Isobelle Gould riding Foxy Furisto on a score of 73.85%. Stephanie Bryan (Horetown), Maura Gleeson (Ballycanew) and Kate Boldger (Horetown) filled out the placings. The league placings following Faith Jackson’s (Tinahely) win, saw second go to Isobelle Gould (Barrow Valley) and third to Maura Gleeson (Ballycanew).

Following a judge change, Ian Grace took up the reins and it was on to the RC P3 class, the biggest class of the day, where the league placings were separated by one point only going into the final, so it was all to dance for, for the 12 competitors.

The win went to Fidelma Curran (Waterford) riding Ballyadams Philp, with a superb score of 72.50% on their first appearance of the league to lead from Caoilfhionn Ní Stoiri (Barrow Valley) and her horse Kildromin Mustaf in second place on 70.91%, having just pipped to post Mark Carroll’s (Nuenna Farm) and Mr Palm, score of 70.45%. Lorne Deegan (Ballycanew) placed fourth, Sarah Kingston (Thomastown and District) took fifth and Valerie Crean (Barrow Valley) took sixth.

The results saw Caoilfhionn Ní Stoiri (Barrow Valley) retain her lead to take the league win, while fellow club mate Valerie Crean held her second place to Lorne Deegan (Ballycanew) in third.

Winning test

In the RC P3 open, host club member Valerie Crean with her home-bred thoroughbred Kildoon Trix flicked those toes to score 74.32% to secure the win over Sarah Kingston (Thomastown and District) riding Drumagoland R on 71.36%. Barrow Valley member Harry Doran with Jackson placed third on 68.86%. Tinahely members Rosie Deegan and Joan Rothwell placed fourth and sixth, while fifth place went to Carne member Isabelle Rouviere. The final scores kept Barrow Valley member Valerie Crean out in front in the league, as club mate Harry retained second. Third place went to Rosie Deegan for Tinahely.

Melanie Hammel and Taylor Dandy won the RC N class and league at the South East region dressage final hosted in Carrigbeg riding school by Barrow Valley riding club \ Aoife Kavanagh Between The Ears Equine Videos

Perfect points

The last class of the day saw the RC N competitors pull out all the stops and the win went to Melanie Hammel (Carne) riding Taylor Dandy with a score of 73.28%. Caoilfhionn Ní Stoiri (Barrow Valley) and her horse Kildromin Mustaf, hot off their earlier second place finish, gained another blue ribbon for the partnership, this time on a score of 69.48% and third went to Andrea Finnegan riding Matilda’s Melody (Coole Lane) on 68.79%. Coole Lane members Ciara O’Neill and Sally Duffy danced into fourth and sixth place and fifth spot went to Abigail Kent for Horetown.

The league win went to Melanie Hammel, having attained the perfect 40 points; Caoilfhionn Ní Stoiri (Barrow Valley) placed second and third went to Abigail Kent for Horetown. As the day was nearing an end, the winners were photographed with the fabulous prizes from TRI Equestrian, with smiles galore and clapping as members congratulated each other on the end of what was a great 2025 AIRC South East Dressage League, with legs held by various clubs over the last two months.