THE North Munster Region of Dressage Ireland held a show at Clonshire on Sunday, February 4th and, as it had become available, returned to the Co Limerick venue last Sunday (February 11th), when the judging duties were undertaken by Marie Hennessy (List 2) and Elena Satalkina (List 5).

Hennessy awarded her highest score of the day, 72.59%, in the Novice 27A, where the overall leaderboard was headed by young Amber Lane and the 20-year-old Rotherwood Statesman gelding Barkway State Affair, who are just as proficient in the show ring as they are in a dressage arena.

Three combinations came before Hennessy in both Elementary classes, where her winner of the DI51 was Owen Smyth with his now 20-year-old Hanoverian gelding, Dark Site (69.26%). Smyth and the son of Don Frederico didn’t contest the BD43, where the honours went to the earlier runners-up, Susan Humphreys and her Irish Sport Horse gelding One Station Diamond (67.76), a 13-year-old bay by Le One out of a Roadstown Diamond VII mare.

Hennessy also judged the seven-runner Preliminary DI8, where her winner was Rebecca Hayes riding her thoroughbred gelding Hash Brown (69.04%), a 15-year-old Vinnie Roe chesnut, whose five wins on the track, when trained in nearby Patrickswell by Michael Hourigan, included the 2014 running of the Grade 3 Greenmount Park Novice Hurdle at Limerick.

Easy start

Elena Satalkina judged the other two Preliminary classes and had an easy start, with just four combinations coming before her for the BD19 in the long arena. On completion, the leaderboard was headed by Glenn Cullen, who scored 69.79% with his ISH gelding FCM Fincken D Hall, a six-year-old by the Hanoverian stallion Desert Moon out of the Trakehner mare Contessa SF.

Satalkina, and her writer, had far more to do in the following DI5A, as they were faced by 17 starters in the short arena. Five Category 1 riders were on board registered horses, but the winning mount was the unregistered German riding pony My Lady, who was partnered to a 70% score by Laura Collins. The 10-year-old brown mare is by Makarli out of Night Lady 5 (by Night Star 6).

In spite of the large number forward, there were six withdrawals from this class, while none of the four entries in the DI Intro Test B met their engagement.