FOUR arenas were used to cater for the large number of entries at last Friday’s Irish Pony Club national dressage day at its new venue of the CoilÓg Equestrian Centre, Co Kildare, where the prizes were sponsored by TRI Equestrian.

“We had a great day at CoilÓg with over 200 dressage tests entered,” said show co-organiser Kate Harvey, the IPC’s head of dressage and combined training. “We had an unprecedented response to the competition this year, particularly from younger riders, which is very encouraging for the future of Irish dressage.

“Due to the demand, we had to close the entries early and start a waiting list, which ran to 115. Where there was room in a class, we were able to take a few from the waiting list, in strict order of when they made their entry.

“The weather was very kind – we seemed to have a window between bouts of severe weather – and it was lovely to see the sun shining on the immaculate ponies and riders as they performed their best. Marie Hennessy, who co-organises the show, commented ‘this is dressage at its best, searching for a happy partnership between pony and rider’, which is high praise from a List 2 Dressage Ireland judge.”

Given the size of the wait-list, it was a pity that there were so many withdrawals on the day, but there were a variety of reasons for this, including lorry problems.

As well-flagged in advance, members could only win prizes in one competition class, on the same or a different pony, and were asked to declare one competition entry hors concours if they had made two entries.