THE 2023 Dressage Ireland season concluded last weekend when four regions staged shows in some challenging weather conditions.

The Leinster Region held the final leg of its ARKequine DERBY league on Sunday at CoilÓg, where they were lucky to avoid the worst of the rain until the very last competition. Thankfully, or otherwise they would never have heard their music, the BD Medium freestyle took place indoors where, in front of judge Dermot Cannon (List 1), Lorna Keogh won the duel for honours on DBS Second Chance (69.83%).

Keogh and her 15-year-old chesnut gelding finished third in the ARKequine DERBY Medium league, which was won by Rhona McNamara on Reenmore Duke. The other non-restricted graded league winners were Emma Downey on Rocky Beach (Preliminary), Taylor Deane with Candy Kid (Novice), Kim McCann and Bray Summer Breeze (Elementary), Helen Dunne with Felino (Advanced Medium), Hannah Fielding on Florentina D (Advanced and above) and Clodagh Walsh with Knockvalley Mai (Para).

Elle Jordan and Rosedale Markus were Trailblazers Under 10 winners at CoilÓg \ Louise O’Brien

Trailblazers

The four Trailblazers league winners were Elle Jordan riding Rosedale Markus (Under 10), Pippa Dunne with Jacob’s Dream (Under 12 Preliminary), Georgia Kehoe on Kassala First Edition (Junior Preliminary) and Finn Breen with Goldengrove Morsecode (Novice).

On Sunday, the Trailblazers’ classes were all judged indoors by Michael Moore (List 2A), whose winners were the above-mentioned Elle Jordan and the 14-year-old Welsh Section A gelding Rosedale Markus (68.53% in the Under 10s’ Intro B) and Sarah Reynolds with the Irish Sport Horse gelding Shilo Warrior (68.24 in the Walk/Trot warm-up test).

Reynolds and that five-year-old son of Coolafancy Fearless Warrior doubled up in the Trailblazers’ Junior Preliminary where, on 68.16% and with the same collective score of 68, they shared the honours with Ellen O’Hara and the 14-year-old bay mare Miss Pollypockets, who were winners also of the Novice class on 69.14. Pippa Dunne and the 12-year-old Welsh Section B gelding Jacob’s Dream ensured victory in the Trailblazers’ Under 12 Preliminary league when winning Sunday’s class on 69.21.

Staying with younger riders, Moore’s winner of the FEI Pony team test was Kate Murphy riding her father Ronan’s Top Hero 2 (70.14%), the 13-year-old Westphalian gelding by Top Champy, on whom she also won at Marlton on Saturday.

Aisling Deverell and Annaharvey Firefly, winners of Medium and Advanced Medium classes at CoilÓg \ Louise O’Brien

Success

When it came to judging the more senior riders, Moore wasn’t nearly as busy and the Medium league winners, Rhona McNamara and the former three-star eventer Reenmore Duke, a 14-year-old ISH gelding by Quicksilver, recorded an uncontested victory in the DI77 on 67.43%. Similarly, Helen Dunne ensured her success in the Advanced Medium league when the only starter in the second of Sunday’s two classes at that level (61.76 in the FEI Junior individual test).

The FEI Prix St George saw four combinations come before Moore, whose comfortable winner on 70.15% was 15-year-old Sophia Doheny and her European Junior championships ride, the 17-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Batiqar.

On duty on Saturday at Marlton, Dermot Cannon (List 1) judged three classes at CoilÓg, but only had two winners as Aisling Deverell and the home-bred ISH mare Annaharvey Firefly, a 10-year-old bay by Floriscount, topped his leaderboard in both the Medium DI65 (70.31) and the first of the Advanced Medium classes (67.09 in the FEI Junior team test). In the two-runner Grand Prix, the honours went to Sorrell Klatzko and her new ride, the British Warmblood gelding Rock My Heart EA (66.63), an 11-year-old bay son of Royal Classic.

On duty at The Meadows on Saturday, Ivor Harper judged three classes on Sunday, when topping his leaderboards were the Preliminary league winners Emma Downey and her ISH gelding Rocky Beach (67%), a seven-year-old bay by Beach Ball in the BD15, Niamh Kavanagh riding the ISH gelding Clonmethans Kingstar (68.33), a 13-year-old son of Kings Master in the Novice BD23 and Ger McNulty with Dionysus II (71.48) in a very competitive Elementary DI51.

McNulty and Floyd Mills’s 13-year-old British Warmblood gelding by Desert Moon also won the second Elementary class, the BD45, on 66.90%, a score they were awarded by Ruth Daunt. That List 4 judge also assessed those competing in the adults’ Welcome to Dressage test, won by Jennifer Haverty on her ISH mare Greenlawn Paris (70.29), a 19-year-old daughter of Sirocco Rouge Del Sauro, in the Preliminary DI18 won by Ciara O’Gorman with the unregistered Waterhill Island (67.29), a five-year-old ISH mare by Watermill Swatch, and in the Novice DI24A won by Rebecca Mills and her Anglo European Studbook-registered mare San Tiaga (71.17), a tall, nine-year-old bay by San Liberty.