THERE was a festive feel at Marlton Stud in Wicklow last Saturday as Eastern Region Dressage held their Christmas Dressage Show. The canteen was colourfully decorated with a Christmas tree in the corner, along with tasty cupcakes in various festive designs.
Long tables were adorned with beautiful rosettes, rugs and prizes galore as this show was also was the final leg of the very successful Caldene winter league. Darragh Equestrian was in attendance, showcasing some Caldene products and was on hand for the presentation of prizes at the end of the day.
Judges Vida Tansey, Bernie Foley and Jane Whitaker were kept busy with classes ranging from introduction level right up to Prix St Georges.
Some winners on the day include Karen Darcy, Suzanne Garrett, Fiona Kavanagh, Mark Cassidy, Shaunnagh Delaney, Fiona Lee, Kimberley McCann, Antonia Ward, Megan Neville and Fiona Lyons.
The day started with Lisa Carnegie winning the elementary BD57 on Rich Lad with a score of 66.43%. Karen Bennett and Urco followed with a win in the elementary BD59. Nicola Hobson on Cuffesgrange Kings Quality took first place in the medium BD73, while Antonia Ward on Clonguish Flash won the medium BD75.
Heidi Slott-Jørgensen completed a double, winning the advanced medium and advanced with Engtoft’s Concorre. Luke Drea on Gorsehill Horatio won the eventing with a score of 66.82%.
Petra Larkin on Erb Welt produced another fabulous test and then went on to win the Prix St Georges FEI (2016).
Once all tests were finished and prior to the league prize-giving, eight young riders from Marlton Kids Club entertained the large crowd with a quadrille display. Each rider in the quadrille was presented with a special Christmas rosette by Eastern Regions chairperson Gillian Kyle.
LEAGUE WINNERS
The welcome to dressage class specifically for non-members to try out dressage and the league winner was Tiffany Casteret riding the thoroughbred Sabre De La Fontaine. The class winner on the day was Suzanne Garrett with Ballinaguilkey Oyster.
Preliminary league winner was Laura Hall riding Kasala Casanova. The eight-year-old Irish-bred coloured gelding only began his dressage career in September this year and had a great season, the same pair also placed third in the novice league.
This combination has now qualified for the winter championships in both preliminary and novice.
The novice league went to Amy Jo Peskiness and Harley IRL. This combination also took fourth place in the elementary league.
Bonnie O’Reilly, who is on the Pony High Performance development squad, won the elementary section. O’Reilly, who is only 14 and rides Don Quoixite 111, a nine-year-old German-bred pony, is a very focused and dedicated dressage rider whose sights are set on representing Ireland internationally and is definitely one to watch for the future.
Marlton Stud proprietor Barbara Delahoyde took the advanced league with Rubina. The junior league winner was Megan Neville and Tommy Pickles. Second place in the junior section went to Lucy Zeig riding Duncormick Lady. Zeig was also the winner on the day of the junior preliminary class with a very impressive score of 75.25%, the highest score throughout the entire day. The IHWT sponsored league for ex-racehorses which has been running since May was won by Zoe Shannon and Dodge City (FR).
Caldene, through its Irish agents Darragh Equestrian Solutions, provided all the rugs and prizes for the league winners.
Speaking from their headquarters in Bradford, Matchmakers International marketing director Rachel Bowles, said: “We are delighted to participate in this initiative with Eastern Region Dressage in this deal brokered by our agents Darragh Equestrian. We see this as a tremendous opportunity to increase the visibility of Caldene along with the other brands in the Matchmakers International portfolio.”