NEITHER of the two Dressage Ireland-affiliated shows held last Sunday were particularly well-supported and moreso in the Northern Region where there was a disappointing turn-out at Castle Irvine, Necarne, which is due to host the DI national winter finals next month (April 12th and 13th).

Perhaps people were away for the Bank Holiday weekend, competing elsewhere, giving their horses a break or spending time doing non-horsey activities with non-horsey members of their family. Whatever, there was a poor entry which was further affected by a number of withdrawals, with just 44 starters in total and, as at Barnadown, the largest number in any one class at this sixth leg of the Brass Stables UK and Ireland winter league was five.

There were no complaints, only thanks to the organisers, among those who did support the show and compete on a glorious day, especially the four riders who recorded doubles before judges Joanne Jarden (List 1) and Jean Halpenny (List 4).

The youngest of these was Molly Byrne who, on board Michael Boyd’s home-bred German Riding Pony gelding Rostrevor Ard Rí, a seven-year-old bay by Rembrandt DDH, won the Jarden-judged Junior Preliminary on a score of 69.04% and the Halpenny-assessed Junior Novice on 68.79. There were three starters in both classes.

Shannon Magee completed an Elementary double in front of Halpenny on Boyd’s Dutch Warmblood mare Wannabe, a 22-year-old daughter of Rolex. The Narrow Water Stud and Equestrian Centre-based combination recorded an uncontested victory in the BD65 (65.48%), while seeing off four rivals to top the overall leaderboard in the DI52 on 67.22.

Jarden judged all other higher-graded classes and had Lisa Dundee at the top of her standings in both Medium classes on very similar scores. Riding Patricia Connon’s home-bred Irish Sport Horse mare RoundThorn Nice and Easy, a Formidable seven-year-old, Dundee won the duel for honours in the BD69 on 65.61% and the three-runner DI65 on 65.62.

Barbara Ellison’s double was completed on two different horses as she initiated it in the four-runner Novice DI27A on her Dutch Warmblood mare O’Lilly (67.59%), a Desperado six-year-old, and competed it in the second of the Advanced Medium classes, the three-runner DI90, on her eight-year-old Glocks Toto Jr mare Moonlight (62.35).

Uncontested

Amelia McFarland, who was to retire in that class with Kingston Rua, recorded an uncontested victory on 62.73% in the FEI Junior Team Test with the same ISH gelding, a nine-year-old brown son of Furstenball. There were uncontested wins also for Jill Hobson with the unregistered ISH mare Furisto Seven for a Secret (61.09 in the Advanced class), a 19-year-old Cavalier Two For Joy bay, and for Jennifer Egan who scored 63.38 in the FEI Inter I test riding her Dutch Warmblood gelding Gabriel-Tetti.

At Preliminary level, there were four starters in the Jarden-judged DI8, where she awarded her highest score (63.46%) to Cairlinn Carroll riding the former racehorse Polish Partisan, an 18-year-old Pilsudsi bay, and five in the Halpenny-judged DI18 where the overall leaderboard was headed by Maeve Lunny with her 11-year-old dun gelding Sir Ward (67.5).

Five combinations also appeared before Halpenny in the Novice DI21, won by regional chairperson Joan Adrain with her Dutch Warmblood gelding Mathieu (67.59%), an eight-year-old Fabuleus bay. Heather McCrea landed the two-runner Intro class with the unregistered Dora’s Boy (64.78) and Tori Lilly was the sole starter in the Trailblazers Junior Preliminaery class with the Connemara gelding Cloonhill Genius (65.89), an eight-year-old grey by Earlson.