IT may have been a bit cold at times, but it was a welcome dry, bright day last Sunday at the Milchem Equestrian Centre, Tynagh, where Ralph Conroy, chairman of the Western Region of Eventing Ireland, hosted the second leg of the 2023 Horse Sport Ireland eventing autumn development series.

Conroy was the show jumping course designer and builder for the day and his colourful, well-dressed track incorporated the bank. The participants, who were kept moving along by starter Linda Kenny, included Conor Dunlop, who managed to compete two horses while also attending to his task as the day’s photographer.

Much like the first round at Ballindenisk seven days earlier, Sarah Ennis was the rider in form, as she again won two of the three combined training age classes but with two different horses. Her rivals will be pleased that the Co Meath rider is due to miss the third leg of the series at Wexford Equestrian next weekend as she is heading to France for the CCI5*-L at Pau with Grantstown Jackson.

What a Lark

The HSI action got underway just before noon with the well-filled (18 entries) EI90 class for four-year-olds, where the dressage phase was judged by Petra Hewer. Here, Ennis came to the fore on Wendy Harris’ Irish Sport Horse gelding Silken Lark, who completed on his flat work mark of 30.3 penalties, while finishing second on Joan O’Connor’s ISH mare DS Are You Calypso (31.8), a grey daughter of DS Are You With Me.

As his name would suggest, the winner, who has recorded many double clears in Showjumping Ireland classes, was bred in Co Armagh by Helen and Philip Troughton. The Colandro bay is a full-brother to the Harris-owned, Ennis-ridden Silken Icon (CCI3*-L), being out of Silken Twist (by Coronea Eagle). That 1999 ISH mare represented the Irish Sport Horse studbook at the 2006 world championships for young event horses at Le Lion d’Angers, where she was ridden by the Troughtons’ now son-in-law, point-to-point handler Ross Crawford.

Experienced

Ennis doubled up in the HSI EI110 for six and seven-year-olds, which she won on Deirdre Connolly’s experienced OnceUponATime, who completed on the flat work mark of 27.75 penalties she was awarded by Vida Tansey. This home-bred 2016 ISH mare by Barely A Moment, who carries 78.76% thoroughbred blood, is out of Monicas Dream (by Maltstriker), dam previously of the Robin de la Maison mare Fairytale (CCI3*-L).

OnceUponATime, who won the five-year-old RDS national young event horse championship at Lambertstown in 2021 under Alice Copithorne, has a very consistent Eventing Ireland record over the past two seasons with Ennis. She won the EI110 title at last year’s National Championships at Lisgarvan House and, on just her third start of the campaign, narrowly failed to double up at this year’s championships in Kilguilkey House. Last time out, when she had a fence down show jumping, OnceUponATime finished second in the 24-runner CCI2*-L at Ballindenisk.

An excellent Tansey-awarded dressage score of 26 penalties would have seen a win in the HSI EI100 class for five-year-olds for Charlie Krause and her once-raced thoroughbred Gervada who did so well in the Western Region’s arena eventing league earlier in the year. However, the Vadamos gelding, who finished joint-third in his young event horse class at the Dublin Horse Show in hands of Chloe Fagan, lowered two show jumps and dropped to fourth.

The honours therefore passed to the ISH gelding Ardeo On Q who completed on his first phase score (28.8 penalties) much to the delight of his Co Wicklow owner/rider, Melanie Wrynn. A bay by OBOS Quality 004, the winner was bred in Co Clare by David Williams out of the Scottish Sport Horse mare Ashton Ena (by Canturano) who was out of a mare by Burggraaf.

Combined training

Conroy and his team also ran some open combined training classes on Sunday and there was a notable result in the 1m class where riding for her mother Marie Dunne and for Conroy himself, 15-year-old Katie Gibbons saw off her seniors to finish first and second with the ISH pony mare Milchem Mischief (28.3 penalties), a seven-year-old dun by Carnhill Bertas Lad, and Milchem Watermill (30.5).

Another pony rider, Isla Coad, saw her journey from Co Wicklow pay off when she won the EI80 class with her mother Carol’s now gelded Irish Sport Pony Glencroft Setanta (34.5 penalties) who had six registered foals in his sole crop of 2021. The five-year-old dun by is Glencroft Back To Basics out of an I Love You Melody mare.

Co Galway’s Maeve Connolly won the EI90 class with her father Conor’s Barnaboy Shauna (32.5 penalties), a seven-year-old mare by Cottage Fire, while Co Wexford’s Patrick Whelan had little trouble in partnering Hans Juergen Kuehnle’s eight-year-old Holstein mare Joyce L (35.75) to victory in the EI110 for which were just two entries.