BRINGING home a red rosette to show to family members is the highlight of the day for many youngsters and Galway Mid-County Pony Club member Allie Newell did just that. Allie is pictured with her grandfather Mike Newell after she and her pony Beauty were among the prizewinners at the East Galway Hunt Pony Club show jumping league in Ballinasloe.

“Allie started riding in Langley over here when she was on holidays about five or six years ago now and she was hooked immediately,” said her uncle William Donnellan. “She loves it so much and it’s fabulous to see the joy it brings to her and her family.”

Many of the Donnellan and Newell family members have visited William and his wife Laura (nee Newell), since their move to Canada and another photo in the family albums is of Mike holding McGregor, one of William’s hunters, at a Fraser Valley Hunt meet. McGregor and William, dressed up as a leprechaun, became the St Patrick’s Day news story in Vancouver in 2021 after their famous appearance at some of the city’s famous landmarks that day.