THE first leg of this year’s Irish Pony Society Sports Pony Challenge was held last Saturday at Raheen Na Gun Stud and Equestrian Centre, Kilkenny, where the locally-based Aoibhinn Ruane recorded a double on two chesnut geldings, awarding herself an early birthday present.

Ruane, who turned 20 on Wednesday past, partnered the first of her winners in the 143cm class, where she was on board her mother Helena Hennessy Ruane’s well-known 12-year-old Dartans Atom Man (275), who topped the scores in the show jumping phase.