Hughes Kennedy is Star of the Month

CONGRATULATIONS to young rider Seamus Hughes Kennedy who was voted The Irish Field/Gain Equine Nutrition Star of the Month for May, when he won the two-star Grand Prix at Balmoral Show aboard ESI Ali. Well done Seamus!

IDHBA Stradbally date

THE IDHBA Laois annual Branch Show takes place in Stradbally Hall on Sunday, July 2nd. It is always a great day out for Irish Draught enthusiasts with a full range of ridden, working hunter classes for Irish Draught and Traditional Irish Horses. There will also be in-hand classes for youngstock and mares. The feature class will be the Laois Breeders Championship, funded by the HSI Irish Sport Horse Studbook Breeding Grant. This class will have a prize fund of €1,500 with Irish Draught Mares and their purebred foals at foot being judged as a unit, with 60% for the foal and 40% for the mare. There will also be a prize for the breeder of the mare and the breeder of the sire of the foal. The full schedule is available on the Irish Draught Laois Branch Facebook page. Please note there will be no entries on the day this year. Pre-entry only via https://www.itsplainsailing.com/club/laoisid

Galileo Dance set for Dublin

FORMER charge of trainer Joseph O’Brien, Galileo Dance is among the entries for the Thoroughbred stallion class at Dublin Horse Show this year and will also be in the Friday afternoon parade of Thorougbred stallions. The class winner is awarded the Croker Cup, won last year by Gibeon, standing at the Hatton family’s Slyguff Stud.

Galileo Dance (by Galileo x Danehill Dancer x Secretariat) is a 16.2hh seven-year-old bay TB eventing stallion, with a great temperament and attitude to work. He won the Stepping Stones TB eventing horse league and final in 2021 and in 2022 enjoyed three wins at EI100 level and top 10 placings.

He is now available for fresh semen daily at Cullintra Stud, Co Kilkenny, contact: Peader Murphy at 087 9962789.

Ossory Show highlight

OSSORY Show takes place at Rathdowney, Co Laois, on Sunday, July 23rd with its feature class being the All Ireland T.I.H. Hunter Broodmare Registered Championship offering a €3,500 prize fund. Open to IHR-registered TIH hunter mares, four years old and upwards, the winner takes home €1,000 with prizes awarded to 10th place. Passports must be brought on the day. In order to encourage new mares, the organisers have restricted entry to mares which haven’t been in the first three places at the RDS Horse Show or Balmoral since 2019. Pre-entry only at €50 and there is also two foal classes for entered mares.

IPS training sessions

FOLLOWING the success of training days run by the Irish Pony Society and Dressage Ireland, the Irish Pony Society is branching out to offer pole work as well as flatwork in the next Elevate training day at Ennis Showgrounds on Thursday, June 29th. The training day is open to any young rider from beginner to advanced aged between six years and 18 years. The subsidised cost to the participants is €25 per training day which includes lunch and participant rosette with a raffle for an Elevate rug or saddle pad. The trainers will be Gerald Bloomer and Cormac Rafferty and there will be IPS and DI judges on hand to answer questions and give guidance on show riding and riding a dressage test. Bookings are made through www.itsplainsailing.com/org/ipstraining .Bookings will close on June 26th and there are limited places available. Enquiries elevateequitation@gmail.com.

North East Connemara show

THE North East Connemara Pony Breeders’ are holding their annual show next Saturday, July 1st, in Slane, Co Meath. The show has in-hand, ridden and working hunter classes, as well as qualifiers for the Green Hunter and High Performance finals at Clifden Show in August. With a prize fund of over €4,000, the event promises to be a great day out for all the family with a dog show and trade stands. For more information contact Ciara McMenamin on 087-6413390.