AN excellent 2024 Balmoral Show for Fethard’s Katie Wyse commenced on Thursday afternoon in Horse Arena 1, where she won the Clifden high performance qualifier with Clareville Kodiac.

“I rode this pony for the first time at the BSPS (British Show Pony Society) championships last year,” revealed Wyse who, having just finished First Year studying Business and Law at UCD, now has more time to devote to her riding.

“On the first day of the Northern Ireland Festival, he won a huge Connemara working hunter class for riders over 16 and then went on to win the 153cm Horse of the Year Show qualifier,” continued Wyse.

“We’re next heading to the first of the Dublin working hunter qualifiers (at Sceilig on Wednesday just past) and will then do the Dublin Connemara performance hunter qualifiers.”

Qualifier

An eight-year-old gelding by Caherlistrane Bay, Clareville Kodiac is owned by Newmarket-On-Fergus’ Claire Bannon and was bred in Co Galway by John Tierney out of the Slisneoir mare Tegan.

The grey narrowly won this qualifier ahead of Co Carlow owner Anna Murphy’s similarly-aged Pem Boy, who was a ‘spare ride’ for Diarmuid Ryan, while Marjorie Hardiman’s Creganna Kerfuffle finished third under the owner/breeder’s daughter, Lara Field.

Performance hunter

Pem Boy, a son of Clifden Silver, will be ridden by his owner when tackling the Connemara performance hunter qualifiers for Dublin. Connections of the nine-year-old Silver Shadow mare Creganna Kerfuffle hope to get to Dublin via a different route, the new working hunter qualifiers, and were due to start the grey at Sceilig on Wednesday.