THERE were two standalone championships at last weekend’s Wild Atlantic Dressage Festival at Ard Chuain Equestrian Centre, one a Freestyle competition and one for young horses.

Sponsored by A.J. Hession & Co, the Freestyle was won by Myriam Bunter with her thoroughbred gelding, Star Of Rubykan, who scored 67.50%. Unplaced in three runs in bumpers as a four-year-old when trained by Eoin Griffin, the 2013 Arakan gelding started competing under Dressage Ireland rules towards the end of 2011 and now has 214 points to his credit.

In the nine-runner class, Liz White finished second with her British Warmblood gelding Finlandia (66.44) ahead of Eilis Kennedy riding the appaloosa cob, Joey Joseph (65.42).

Mentioned elsewhere, Killian Gaffney won the Norris Plant Hire on Gleneden Justified (71.8%) and finished third with his Irish Sport Horse gelding, My Bishophill Rolex (68.6). Sinead McGrath split the Gaffney rides with the home-bred, traditionally-bred Ballyj Ed (69.4). Competing out of her home-base, Ballyjennings Stables, McGrath recorded an uncontested victory in the Horse Sport Ireland Advanced championship on her ISH gelding, Killard Precision (124.92), a 10-year-old bay by Mermus R.

Festival organiser, Simone Hession, won her own money back when winning the Beezies Stud small tour championship on her home-bred Irish Draught gelding Beezies Double Diamond (128.31%), a 17-year-old grey by Gentle Diamond. The Catherine Nee memorial trophy was presented to her daughter Aoife as winner of the FEI pony championship on Carmel Curran’s German riding pony Maracuja AG (125.18), a six-year-old chesnut gelding by Movie Star.

In winning the EquiTrace Big Tour championship with her Oldenburg mare Let’s Dance (130.02%), a 2007 bay by Sir Donnerhall, Sarah Mellor beat herself on Hotshot (123.43). The Attymass Country Shop para equestrian title went to Angela Lyons riding her Hanoverian gelding Woodcroft Santa Cruz (135.43).

Lyons and her 15-year-old son of Sandro Hit also won the Festival’s AGS Scaffolding Category 3 Medium title (126.73) and were second (128.78%) in the Slieve Bloom Stud Advanced Medium championship to Jennifer Rea and her ISH gelding Fermoyle Charles (132.95). Earlier, Rea and that eight-year-old S Creevagh Ferro gelding recorded a comfortable victory (139.88) in the Surlis’s SuperValu Medium championship.