IN common with many other sports, affiliated dressage was affected by Storm Ashley last weekend, with the Leinster Region of Dressage Ireland making an early call on Friday to cancel their show scheduled for the National Horse Sport Arena on Sunday.

Action resumes today (Saturday) at Danescroft, where the Northern Region is running the second leg of its Brass Stables UK and Ireland winter league. This show incorporates the final qualifier in the 2024 HSI DAFM dressage autumn development series, with classes for both horses and ponies.

The final of the series, which is being hosted by Leinster Dressage, takes place next Sunday, November 3rd, at CoilÓg. To enter the final, a horse/rider combination must have competed in at least one qualifying round and have achieved a minimum score of 65%. Following last Sunday’s cancellation, this show will be the first leg of the Region’s autumn/winter league.

Surprisingly, there are two other shows scheduled for next Sunday, with the South Munster Region now set to hold the first leg of its Childeric winter league at Maryville Stables, while the North Munster Region is running at Clonshire.

Important dates

While the seven regions in Dressage Ireland are organising their own annual general meetings and awards nights, on a national level there are three important dates to note next month.

Firstly, on Saturday, November 9th, the annual general meeting of Dressage Ireland CLG takes place at the Green Isle Hotel, Newlands Cross, Dublin where proceedings are due to get under way at 2pm.

The former international 4* judge Christoph Hess, now a Grand Prix dressage judge in Germany and a worldwide coach, will speak on ‘ethical judging’ at the annual DI judges’ gala at Kildalton Agricultural College on Saturday, November 23rd. This event is open to all.

A week later, on the night of Saturday, November 30th, the inaugural Dressage Ireland black tie ball, which is restricted to those over 18, will see members and friends descend in their finery on the Knightsbrook Hotel, Trim. Tickets are selling well, but can still be purchased on itsplainsailing.com.

National championships

For some riders, there was an unfortunate clash this year between Dressage Ireland’s national championships at Ballindenisk and Eventing Ireland’s national championships at Kilguilkey House over the weekend of September 6th to 8th.

While both bodies have yet to publish a full list of fixtures for 2025, Dressage Ireland recently announced that it will be returning to Ballindenisk for next year’s national championships, which will run from Friday, August 29th to Sunday, August 31st.

The previous weekend (Saturday and Sunday, August 23rd and 24th), CoilÓg will stage the second running of the youth national championships while, earlier in the year, Castle Irvine, Necarne will once again be the venue for the National Winter finals (Saturday and Sunday, April 12th and 13th).

The dates of three Home Nations’ fixtures in Britain were also published commencing with the Para Dressage competition taking place at Onley Grounds, Warwickshire in July (Thursday, July 3rd to Sunday, July 6th).

On Saturday and Sunday, August 2nd and 3rd, the weekend prior to the start of the 2025 Dublin Horse Show, selected DI members will be competing at the youth Home Nations’ fixture at Vale View Equestrian in Leicestershire, while their senior counterparts will have their chance to represent DI and Ireland at Chard Equestrian in Somerset over the weekend of Saturday and Sunday, September 6th and 7th.