THE Kildare/North Leinster Area of the Irish Pony Society held its summer show last Sunday at Tattersalls Ireland where, as usual, it ran in tandem with the sales company’s July show which, too, was returning to the calendar following a two-year break due to Covid.

There were 300 entries for a range of flat, working hunter, performance jumping and in-hand classes spread over five rings which resulted in 18 championships being decided before the judges selected their mini supreme and supreme champions. While the sun shone in the morning and early afternoon there was a lot of ‘buzz’ about the show as the IPS rings were quite close to one of the registered jumping rings with all its associated announcements and starting buzzers.

Owners and riders came from all over the country and show/Area secretary, Rena Rawluk, was particularly delighted to welcome back to the fixture Nikola Concannon and her daughter Kitty who travelled to the Co Meath venue from their home on Innishbofin island off the coast of Connemara. They picked up a number of placings with their Connemara gelding Bridgo’s Knight, a seven-year-old Glencarrig Prince gelding who finished second in the ridden Connemara class for riders over 16 to the Grace McDonagh-partnered Banks Timber.

Joe Burke’s famed stallion, whose extensive competition CV includes wins at Olympia, the Royal International Horse Show and Dublin, had an excellent show, winning three classes and three championships. In landing the Mountain & Moorland championship (he won both the large ridden and in-hand classes), the 14-year-old Teglstrup Duke stallion was the first winner of a new trophy presented by his family in memory of the late Henry Kelly, the Athy Connemara breeder and producer.

The other class winners in the ridden Connemara section were Anne Magee’s Macs Silver Cookie, who won the class for riders under 16 years of age in the hands of Kirsty Greene, and Kathy Curley’s Glencarrig Bracken who won the novice class under Jessica Murphy. A four-year-old by Glencarrig Knight, Glencarrig Bracken was to stand reserve champion.

The small ridden Mountain and Moorland class winner was the Jennie Curran-owned, Amira Curran-ridden Bunbury Suarez, an 11-year-old gelding by Millcroft Beluga, while the small in-hand class winner was Ann Grimes’s Sianwood Pretty Penny.