Killard Horizon dies aged 24

THE Irish Sport Horse Killard Horizon has died aged 24. Traditionally bred by James Healy, the grey show jumping gelding was by Crannagh Hero out of a Clover Hill dam. He was owned throughout his show jumping career by Paul and Kathryn Duffy in Co Galway, and he helped their son, Michael, become the youngest ever Irish National show jumping Champion in 2012 at the age of 17. Before that, he was produced by both David Blake and Paul O’Shea, before finishing out his life in America.

Verona pull out of Endurance Championships

THE FEI Board has confirmed the termination of the host agreement for the FEI Endurance World Championship 2022 that had been set to take place in Verona, Italy from October 19th to 23rd. The decision, taken on Thursday (September 8th) during the Board’s monthly teleconference, also includes the provision to reopen the bid process in order to find a new host for the Championship. The Board decided that the rescheduled Championship should take place no later than April 30th, 2023 to allow organisers from all regions of the world to bid and given that other FEI Endurance Championships are scheduled to take place later in 2023.

Lambertstown Derby Show entries

ENTRIES close on Monday for next Sunday’s Lambertstown Derby Show where there will be a prize fund of €2,250 on offer for the Connemara Derby and also for the Irish Draught Derby, both over an 85-90cms track, thanks to Horse Sport Ireland’s breeding initiative fund.

These two classes, and the show’s Bective Stud Tea Rooms Open Derby (1m-1.10m), for which there is €500 on offer for the winner, and Novice Derby (90cms) will take place in the Lambertstown Derby arena which has been completely revamped since last September by course designer Eugene O’Neill. New for this year are performance working hunter classes (60cms-1m), open to horses and ponies, which will take place in a separate ring.

A full programme of ridden horse classes will include the finals of the Treo Eile showing pathway series for Open and Novice thoroughbreds, while there will be a host of classes for young pony riders and, as usual, the very popular dog show. Entries should be made through itsplainsailing and, apart from the dog show, a strict pre-entry policy will be in place.

Hunt Chase at The Ploughing

THE Ploughing Championships is looming at Ratheniska, Co Laois (September 20th-22nd) and traditionally the Hunt Chase always took place at this hugely successful event, fielding teams of four. However, this year teams of three will be considered for the Hunt Chase with stipulations relaxed as to the make up of the prospective teams. The Hunt Chase will be a more fun event rather than hugely competitive this year so please do consider taking part and keeping up this important tradition.

Please contact David Lalor for more information, phone 087 2542114.

IPS show date

THE Irish Pony Society Annual Hunter Pony Show, cancelled last weekend, will now take place at Spruce Lodge on September 17th next.

New series at CoilÓg Equestrian

IN a bid to introduce new classes for young horses this autumn, CoilÓg Equestrian, Kilmeague, Co Kildare has launched the CoilÓg Equestrian Pro Series, supported by the HSI breeding Grant 2022, DAFM, SJI and CoilÓg. This pilot series will carry a prize fund of €6,000, divided equally between four classes: four-, five-, six- and seven-year-old horses with a DAFM-approved passport. The Pro Series will be reviewed at the end of the pilot with a view to expanding the series in 2023.

The series will run over a five-week period in conjunction with the CoilÓg Autumn Midweek League and will commence on Thursday, September 15th. The remaining rounds will take place on September 22nd and 29th, October 6th and the Final on October 13th. A minimum of two appearances and one double-clear round to qualify for the final prize fund. The four-year-olds will be a judged class in the final. All other classes will be under Article 238.2.2 in the final.

Picture captions

UNFORTUNATELY some of the Irish Pony Club photo captions that appeared in last week’s issue were inadvertently mixed up. Many apologies to all concerned (see Picture Desk on page 98).