THE Welsh Pony and Cob Society (WPCS) of Ireland held their annual awards and dinner at the Avalon House Hotel, Castlecomer, recently. There were many happy young people in attendance, as well as a few hopeful adults.

There were many awards to get through, as all the sections of the breed were individually catered for in every different discipline from show jumping to mounted games and culminating in the Supreme Pony of the year.

The first awards went to the Section A ponies and were once again dominated by the Geoghegans with their lovely Pantycoed Mercutio taking the top spot. The Section B overall was taken by the multi-talented Glynsylan Magellan, ridden by Lennon Moloney. The Section C honours went to Aisling Connolly’s RDS winner Twyford Captain Morgan and the overall Section D went to Dawn Thomas’s Brenig Meligedig.

A very large return of cards from the competitors in the Part bred section saw Fiona Goor’s Barkway State Affair taking the top slot and going on to be Supreme Pony of The Year – he was ridden by Amber Lane.

The Overall Working Hunter Pony (WHP) was won by Kilcreene Serendipity (Thalia Smithwick), this combination also took the ODE plate and Thalia also won the mounted games section with Kilcreene Chevril. The Mini WHP went to Aisling Connolly’s Wychoniea Polly Pocket, while Orla Whelton’s Whitleaze Secret Temptation took the overall Mini section. The Combined Training went to Glynsley Magellan with Barkway State Affair taking the Dressage top spot and the ever-consistent Parcglas Maid in Splendour once again taking the top show jumper place, ridden by Eva Carey.

The broodmare title went to Carol Power’s Mellau Talulah, with Dawn Thomas and Brenig Meligedig winning the In-hand section. Jessica McAuliffe took the young handler title amassing huge points, and Ashleigh Tate was overall adult handler with her delightful Welsh youngstock. The overall rider went to the consistent Aoide Brennan, with Nancy Lyons Teehan taking the Mini rider trophy.

Membership is now open for the 2023/’24 season – please send your enquiries to Mary at irishwpcs@gmail.com