COMPETITORS, organisers and volunteers alike were delighted that last Saturday’s fourth round of the 2024 Baileys Horse Feeds flexi eventing series at The Meadows was staged in bright, sunny conditions, which made the high standard in turn-out more obvious.

From the moment the action commenced in the show jumping and cross-country arenas, it continued almost non-stop throughout the day, apart from course changes to tracks, which ranged from 70cm in both phases up to 1.20m over coloured poles and up to 1m in cross-country.

Among those who recorded a double clear in the 1.10m show jumping was Ella Boyle, who did so on both Mountview Storyteller (aka Feeny) and FJK Back To The Future (aka Oscar), on whom she had earlier finished first (70%) and third (68.5) respectively in the Joanne Jarden-judged Novice dressage test. In this 16-runner class, Alex Houston finished second on the previous weekend’s winner, My Atlantic Encore (69.5), her seven-year-old home-bred Irish Sport Horse mare by Centre Stage.

Annahilt-based Boyle is aiming both of her horses at two-star international events in the spring and, all being well, will upgrade them to three-star later in the season. Last year, she had some excellent results with Mountview Storyteller, a 2016 ISH gelding by Tullibards Bennys Legacy, finishing second of 49 in the CCI1*-Intro at Millstreet and seventh of 18 in the CCI2*-S at Lisgarvan.

“‘Oscar’ is a new ride for me this season, so I’m just getting to know him,” said Boyle. “He’s a seven-year-old by Future Trend and was previously competed by Adam Haugh.” Haugh and the grey ISH gelding had some great results last season, when they were never out of the top five in seven Eventing Ireland starts, winning at EI110 level at Hillcrest in April and on their last outing of the year at Vesey Lodge in August.

Looking forward

Boyle had a third horse out on Saturday, Samiro Cruise MC (aka Tiger) with whom she finished second (66.2%) in the Jarden-judged Intermediate behind Denis Currie riding Arodstown Aramis (67.3).

“Tiger only did the dressage, as I rode him in the demo with Laura Collett (at Portmore Equestrian) on Friday night,” revealed Boyle. “It was super and I picked up lots from Laura. I must thank Christine McBride (of Equipe Saddles) for including me in the demo and for organising it all. We’ve been training hard all winter with Debbie Byrne and Terry Boon and I hope that Tiger and I will step up to Advanced later this year. I really have a lot to look forward to.”

Following their win in that four-runner Intermediate, their sixth-place finish in the Novice and their double clear in the 1.10m show jumping, Currie and his ISH gelding Arodstown Aramis, a 19-year-old bay son of Shannondale Sarco St Ghyvan, are lying second on the series leaderboard with 35 points. Young Zara Reid continues to occupy top spot with her father Gary’s 14-year-old British-bred pony mare, Greylands Diamond Girl (44 points).

The Baileys Horse Feeds flexi eventing series continues today and every Saturday until February 24th (prize-giving day), with points being awarded for performance and attendance up until next Saturday, February 17th. Special prizes are on offer for the highest-placed thoroughbred, highest-placed cob, the highest-placed Riding Club and Pony Club member, as well as prizes for the top six Pony Club members in dressage.

The series is run by the Northern Region of Eventing Ireland, which also organised a discussion on ‘Future Proofing Eventing’ with France’s Alain Ponsot in the Lisburn Island Centre on Tuesday evening, followed by cross-country training with the FEI Level 2 course designer, builder, lecturer and coach on Wednesday and Thursday.