Everybody has their own approach to preparing for a competition and most riders know what routine is likely to get the best tune out of their horse on the big day. Mick stuck to his own recipe this weekend, taking Angel to the Donegal Harriers’ meet at Baronscourt for three hours of exhilarating cross country warm-up on Saturday, priming her for today’s third leg of the North West League. (Admittedly it was no great hardship for Mick to go through this lengthy warm-up exercise!) Angel rewarded him in spades by delivering the winning round in the Advanced Primary class. Mick had finally won something!
All in all, it was another very successful day for the North West League, albeit not without some drama. Early in the day, Cyril took a tumble from Lady in the warm-up arena and suffered a painful shoulder injury. Maura whisked him off to hospital where a thorough check revealed no broken body parts. Cyril returned to watch some of the later action from the canteen area, his arm comfortably accommodated in a good sling. Get well soon, Cyril.
The other significant pain in the day was endured by the Intermediate level fraternity who gnashed their teeth as, one by one, rider after rider racked up time faults. With the judge sticking to her guns, just two competitors out of a large field made it to the jump off. Finola Murphy of Benbulben Riding Club demonstrated all her skill, experience and competition craft to get safely through round one and adeptly conquer Tommy on Armstrong in the two-way jump-off. It was a very well-deserved win.
Liz and Enda performed excellently once again in the Primary class but had to settle for second and third placings as Donegal Gaeltacht Secretary Roisin Magee rode the winning round on Lawrence’s Jenny’s Jigsaw.
One particular fence — a decent lump of a spread constructed of white poles and ridden off an awkward enough line — proved the bogey all day long. Nadine and Molly tackled it in memorable fashion in the Advanced Intermediate class and survived to complete an otherwise beautiful clear round. Nobody else managed the feat, leaving Nadine with an excellent victory.
Once again, thanks to everybody who helped out on the day. Roll on 20 March!
We’ll post the results as soon as we have them. Enjoy the pictures in our Gallery and keep your eye on the Gaeltacht’s site for further goodies.
Pictured below: Mick regales Carmel with some crazy hunting stories before riding his winning round on Angel; Finola Murphy lunging her connemara, Park Alex; and Nadine looking relaxed and confident before her competition round.
Letterkenny Riding Club 