THE final of the Horse Sport Ireland dressage autumn development series, run in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, was held last Sunday in CoilÓg, where it was hosted by the Leinster Region of Dressage Ireland.

Competitors had to be members of DI to qualify for the final and, while this year the series was open to all studbooks in a bid to promote the sport of dressage in this country, only Ireland-based breeders were eligible for breeders’ prizes. Two classes for ponies were added to the 2023 series, but these were staged at just three of the five hosting venues and were run as standalone legs, not part of a league.

From HSI’s early review of the series in general, its media and communications manager, Ian Gaughran, told Irish Horse World: “Entries were promising in the five and six-year-old classes with scope to continue to grow. Overall in the four-year-old category, numbers were a little below what were expected and that also applies for the seven and eight-year-old combined category... ahead of the series in 2024, we will look to build on them with increased promotion and awareness of the competition.

Challenges

“This series is still in its relative infancy and is a long-term project for HSI. We appreciate that there are challenges around the timing of the series during the year and also that the calendar is very busy across all disciplines. HSI is here to support in whatever way we can and the series was largely well received by breeders and producers. Just like Lanaken for show jumping and Le Lion d’Angers for eventing, the long-term aim is to hopefully bring Irish horses to a level where they can compete at the WBFSH Young Dressage Horse Championships in Ermelo and this is the starting point for that.”

All HSI classes were judged by The Netherlands’ Hanneke Gerritsen and Ireland’s Bernie Foley, who sat in the same car and assessed the horses together. The tests used were the FEI tests for young horses, which award marks on an assessment for trot, walk, canter, submission and perspective (potential as a dressage horse). Marks can be deducted for errors in the set test of movements. HSI was represented at CoilÓg on Sunday by Holly Nolan, a member of the organisation’s breeding team.

Highly-regarded

Three of the four winning horses were owner-ridden, the odd one out being the Westfalian mare Forvanna who, on a score of 74.8%, added the six-year-old title here to that which she won at September’s National Championships in Mullingar, where she also topped the scores in the Category 2 Elementary championship. The tall, highly-regarded bay by Formidable out of Rivanna (by Rheingau 3) is produced near Newry by rider Denise Kelly Rice for American owner Pamela Wilson, who flew in from Virginia to attend the final.

Kelly Rice is a busy woman as she not only runs a yard of nine horses (six of whom are on full livery), but she is also a hair extension specialist. While not listed as an occupation, she is a staunch promoter of Ponease products, as is Wilson in the States, and credits Forvanna’s current wellbeing to their use.

As to the immediate future for the champion, who was imported into Ireland from The Netherlands as a three-year-old, the rider stated: “We hope to train over the winter and move her up to Medium level in the new year, with Advanced Medium in mind for further on in the year.

"However, we will, of course, take our time and adjust the training to suit the mare when needed but I’m very excited about our future together.”

As in the age championship at Mullingar, Joan Adrain, chair of the Northern Region of DI, filled the reserve slot on Sunday with Carolyn Mellor’s Dutch Warmblood gelding VSH Moviestar (72%), a bay son of Johnson.