JESSICA Murphy (18) from Co Wexford had a very big smile on her face on Saturday evening at the RDS, after she and her pony, Darcy De Chanteloube, were named Working Hunter Pony Champions for 2023.

Jessica’s mum, Melissa O’Connor Murphy, bought the gelding as a lockdown project at the start of Covid. He was rising eight at the time, but Jessica says he could barely walk round an arena. They started working with him and got him doing as much as possible; they discovered that he loved jumping and that they could get him round a ring if there were jumps in it! He is now 11 and Jessica has hunted, evented, show jumped, pony clubbed and even does side saddle with him. In fact, the pair won the Intermediate side saddle class in Dublin last year.

They competed in the same RDS Working Hunter class (97) in 2022 and had a pole down, but despite that, they moved up from fourth place to second following their ridden show.

Of this year’s competition, Jessica said: “I couldn’t have asked for a nicer course. We dropped a pole, but after our experience of being moved up the placings last year, I knew it wasn’t over yet. He was foot-perfect in his show and we were called in first!”

They topped this off by impressing the judges once again in the championship to claim the Working Hunter Pony Champion title for 2023.

The next thing on their list is a trip to HOYS in October. The pair qualified at the Northern Ireland Festival at Cavan in April and again at Cheshire for the Intermediate Working Hunter class at the prestigious show.

Meanwhile, when Aoibhinn Ruane’s own pony Dexter got injured, she was bitterly disappointed; they had qualified for HOYS, Hickstead and international team competitions. Aoibhinn, who is from Co Kilkenny, found herself without a pony to ride, but Louise Lyons kindly let Aoibhinn ride her horses and then introduced Aoibhinn and her mum, Helena Hennessy, to Stephanie Moore from Co Tipperary, who had a mare with potential.

Stephanie bred Dynamite Replay (Jules), now nine, out of her own mare, Dynamite Lily, which she has had for 16 years. The sire is not recorded; the dam ran with a coloured stallion, but the foal came out identical to its mother.

Remarkably, Aoibhinn and Jules were introduced less than four weeks ago, but they gelled immediately. In Saturday’s challenging class, they had two fences down and were initially pulled in third, but after their ridden show, they were moved up to second in the same class as Jessica.

Aoibhinn was delighted to be called in as Reserve Champion and a thrilled Helena said afterwards that it was a pleasure to be Reserve to Jessica and Darcy.

Judges Barbara McGrath and Sharon Thomas had their work cut out on Saturday in Ring Two, as they were tasked with judging the Working Hunter Pony classes. The course looked daunting from the outset and it certainly proved challenging, with clear rounds scarce throughout the day.

On cloud nine

Class 93, the Starter Stakes, had an impressive 25 entries catalogued, which led to the class being divided. The first division, with 11 participants, was won by Louise Lyons from Co Kilkenny’s Tybroughney Cloud, ridden by Nancy Lyons Teehan, followed by Annabel Hillman from Co Kildare’s Tic Tac, ridden by Philippa Hillman in second; both of whom jumped clear.

Of the 13 participants in the second division, Cara Foley rode Camtra Bucks Fizz, owned by J.P. McManus from Co Limerick, into first place, closely followed by Richie O’Hara from Co Waterford’s Thistledown Winter Breeze, ridden by Aoibheann O’Hara, who were the only combination to jump clear.

Class 94, not exceeding 133cm, saw no clear rounds from the 10 starters, with the win going to chesnut stallion Jacodi’s Anja’s Admiral, owned by Teresa McKenna from Co Derry and ridden by Victoria Darcy. Inishturkbeg Cloisin, owned by Sara and Morgan Kavanagh from Co Carlow, with Ellie Kavanagh on board, slotted into second.

There were 22 starters in Class 95, exceeding 133cm but not exceeding 143cm, but none managed to get round the course without penalty. The top two, Christine Harte from Co Cork’s Turpane Farhana, ridden by Calum Harte and Moona Curragh Ted, owned by Hannah Horgan from Co Meath, with Imogen Horgan in the saddle, secured the same final score of 71.0. The aforementioned took the top spot, with the latter settling for the blue ribbon on this occasion.

Twenty three combinations battled it out in Class 96, exceeding 143cm but not exceeding 153cm. This time there were six clear rounds, with two of those being secured by the top two finishers. Ella’s Melody, owned by Emily Widger and Joe Widger from Co Waterford and ridden by Hannah Mackey, went home with the red ribbon on a very impressive score of 103, while Hogan The Brave, owned by Cassandra Kenny from Co Tipperary and ridden by Abigail Kenny, was runner-up.

Class 97, exceeding 143cm but not exceeding 153cm, saw 13 starters and, once again, the challenging course took its toll, with no clear rounds.

Despite this, however, there were some respectable scores, with the winner being found in Melissa O’Connor Murphy from Co Wexford’s Darcy De Chanteloube, with Jessica Murphy in the saddle on a score of 85.5.

Second place went to Dynamite Replay, owned by Stephanie Moore from Co Tipperary and ridden by Aoibhinn Ruane. These two combinations being the eventual Champion and Reserve.