ANNUAL general meetings and awards nights are very much the focus of attention at present of members of the Association of Irish Riding Clubs, but some will have already thought about qualifying for next year’s national championships.

Late last week, the Association’s head office published its 2025 fixture list, which sees the action get underway on Sunday, April 13th when Nuenna Farm outside Freshford in Co Kilkenny will be the venue for the national hunter trials championships.

The Riding Club Festival, with its wide range of classes, returns yet again to the central venue of Mullingar Equestrian Centre over the weekend of June 7th and 8th and the Co Westmeath venue is also due to hold the AIRC show jumping championships on Sunday, July 20th.

Following the usual qualifying process through the Association’s eight Regions and the Wildcard qualifier at the Festival, nine squads will line out for the team show jumping championships on the closing day of the 2025 Dublin Horse Show, which runs from Wednesday, August 6th to Sunday, August 10th.

Seven days later, it’s back to Mullingar for the national dressage championships, with the national eventing championships returning to Killossery Lodge Stud in north Co Dublin on Sunday, September 14th.

While Dressage Ireland beat the AIRC to it when publishing their major dates and venues for 2025 back in October, Riding Club members appreciate seeing the above fixtures being confirmed so early, so they can plan ahead.