CASTLE Irvine, Necarne, once again proved the ideal venue for last weekend’s Dressage Ireland Northern Region summer festival and can only get better according to regional chair, Joan Adrain.

“Every time we’ve run a show here, the facilities have in some way been upgraded,” said Category 3 rider Adrain, who won the 3 Elementary championship on Carolyn Mellor’s Dutch Warmblood gelding VSH Moviestar, a six-year-old bay gelding by Johnson. Category 2 riders Tracy Murphy and Denise Kelly Rice were second and third on Kennedy and Forvanna respectively.

“At present, the owners are doing up 20 rooms on-site for Airbnb lettings and they should suit competitors who don’t have lorries to stay in at shows. We got to have a look around the rooms and they are super.

“The weekend went very well and it was great to see the number of firms and individuals who sponsored the show. We were probably a little bit disappointed with the take-up for the Under 25 championships, but hopefully this will grow between the regions, as these riders need competitive classes to improve.”

Dressage Ireland’s Joanne Jarden (List 1) was joined by British Dressage counterparts, Chrissie Havis and Clare Deithrick, on the judges’ panel for the weekend.

Category 1 rider Eliana Miskelly topped the scores in the Preliminary championship with her Connemara gelding Ballagh Rebel, an 11-year-old grey by Riverside Rebel. Here, Rachel Dowley (Category 3) placed second and third with GFL Flashdance and The Handsome Stranger.

Carrick-On-Suir-based Dowley, a fan of Castle Irvine, Necarne, as a dressage venue, won the five-year-old championship uncontested on GFL Flashdance, her Hanovarian gelding by Franziskus, on an excellent score of 80.20%; the aforementioned Kelly Rice and Pamela Wilson’s Forvanna (75.40), a Westfalian mare by Formidable, claimed the six-year-old title; and Linda McIlwaine partnered her own Irish Sport Horse gelding Roundthorn Oreo (79.20), a son of Vittorio, to victory in the four-year-old championship ahead of Barbara Ellison riding O’Lilly.

Kelly Rice also won the Novice championship on Judi Caldwell’s Dutch Warmblood gelding Ferrol, a 13-year-old son of Ampere. Here, Joanne McKelvie placed second on Peregrina LXX with Jackie Reid finishing third on Tooreen Hugo.

Lucy Adams and her Dutch-bred New Forest gelding Esdals King WA, a bay by Reekamps Eclips, claimed two titles. They won the Medium championship ahead of Brenda Cull on Inclusive S and Elaine Murphy with QT An Tainiste and the Advanced Medium championship where Murphy and QT An Tainiste placed second ahead of Orlaith O’Hagan riding 00S Diego.

Open title for Kavanagh

Marguerite Kavanagh, chair of Dressage Ireland, is a great supporter of the Regions, and here her journey north paid off when she won the Open title with her ISH gelding Fursten, a home-bred bay by Furstenball. Lucinda Blakiston Houston was second on Happy Feet 3 with Yvette Truesdale slotting into third on Homegrown Ajax.

Grade IV rider Gerry Lowry recorded an uncontested victory in the Para championship on board the ISH mare Loughmourne Diamond, a 20-year-old traditionally-bred daughter of Flintstone.

Sunday’s Freestyle championships were won by Katie Lowry with Sian Phillips’ Connemara gelding Crosspoint Tobin (Novice), a 12-year-old grey by Templehill Jasper, and Louise Cleland riding her own 15-year-old appaloosa gelding Siraxta Maverick (Elementary/Medium).

In the Under 25s’ section, Lowry and Crosspoint Tobin had to settle for second in the Elementary championship behind Linnea Larkin and Andrea O’Brien’s Songbird. Larkin and that Oldenburg mare by D’Egalite also won the Novice title and were second in the open six-year-old championship.

Kerry Taylor, who received a nine and a 10 for her riding, won the Under 25s’ Preliminary title with her six-year-old grey gelding Ballylinney Max and Ellen McDonald claimed the Medium crown with her father Jim’s Dutch riding pony Dante Alighieri.

The weekend’s FEI Junior champions were Erin McCoy and Jane Howard’s Dutch Warmblood gelding Bjornsun, a 17-year-old bay by Johnson.

The Trailblazer titles were won by Harriet O’Hagan on the 12-year-old 128cms black mare 00S Fairytale (Under 12) and by Amelia Wheeler, who claimed both the Junior Preliminary and the Junior Novice championships with the five-year-old piebald gelding, Midnight Minty.