All roads lead to Mullingar for Amelia

Inishowen’s show at Lenamore on the 25th of July was one of the best supported events in the region for a long time, with dressage running from 10 in the morning till well after 6pm. As the dressage was a qualifier for the national championships the results were very eagerly awaited and the hosts had the unenviable task of tracking numerous team entries as well as the individuals. The results were as follows

Intro

1^st Clodagh Brady – Kildare Hailey’s Comet, Stracomer

2^nd Teri Hall – Redhot – Pepper, Stracomer

3^rd Grace Rodgers – Kildrum Boy, Inishowen

4^th Joanne McCartney – Zaitsev, Inishowen

5^th Caroline Harrie – Carnaff G Holly, Stracomer

6^th Hannah McNelis – Jessie D, Inishowen

Primary

1^st Alex Coyle – Lily Rowan, Stracomer

2^nd Clodagh Brady – Kildare Hailey’s Comet, Stracomer

3^rd Teri Hall – Redhot – Pepper, Stracomer

4^th Joanne McCartney – Zaitsev, Inishowen

5^th Hannah McNelis – Jessie D, Inishowen

6^th Ciara Boyle Ballylennon Duke, Donegal Gaeltacht.

Advance Primary

1^st Claire Kirkwood – Actinium Lily,  Inishowen

2^nd Therese Anderson – Its Zoro, Benbulben

3^rd Sinead Gibson – Shannahjmore Ring Master, Donegal Gaeltacht

4^th Victoria Hopkins – Moonlight Shade, Stracomer

5 Sinead Gibson – Well Dun Welby, Donegal Gaeltach

6^th Tina Reaney – Magil, Donegal Gaeltacht

Intermediate

1^st Amelia McFarland – Ruby of Inishfree, Letterkenny

2^nd Megan Coxford – Carrickview Undercover, Inishowen

3^rd Lauren McLaughlin – Actinium Lily, Inishowen

4^th Leah Farrell – General Amiro, Benbuben

5^th Lynne Thompson – Blackstown Master Class, Inishowen;

6^th Lauren McLaughlin – Cullion Midnight Blue, Inishowen

Advance Intermediate

1^st Rachel Carton – Aughavannon Merlin,  Letterkenny

2^nd Jodie Carr – Tullibards Smiling Lady,  Ard Lu

3^rd Tara Fergus Sheridan – Tirconaill River Rose, Stracomer

4^th John McDaid – Corskeagh Express, Donegal Gaeltacht

5^th Andrea Gallagher – Annie’s Lad, Tir Conaill

Dressage Teams

1^st Inishowen – Lauren McLaughlin (Actinium Lily), Lynne Thompson (Blackstown Master Class), Dawn McAllister (Farrah)

2^nd Stracomer – Tara Fergus Sheridan (Tirconaill River Rose), Jodie Fergus (Carrickfact Rocco), Victoria Hopkins (Moonlight Shadow)

3^rd Letterkenny – Amelia McFarland (Ruby of Inishfree), Rachel Carton (Aughavannon Merlin), Vera Keatings (Madges Land Jen)

4^th Donegal Gaeltacht – Ciara Boyle (Ballylennon Duke), Tina Reaney (Magil), Sinead Gibson (Shannaghmore Ring Master), Michael McHugh (Simply Mitch)

5^th Stracomer – Eva McGlone (Haslemere Rose), Coleen Granaghan (Super Nova), Alex Coyle (Lily Rowan), Teri Hall (Redhot Pepper)

6^th Stracomer – Kelly Fergus (Art Monarch), Samantha O’Sullivan (Redpark Clover), Beverley Ann Slack (Rainbow Dancer), Victoria Hopkins (Bo Peat)

Team scores are calculated by adding together the scores achieved by the individual team members and the winning Inishowen team had an excellent score of 215 points. Stracomer narrowly pipped the Letterkenny team for second place, scoring 207.9pts while our team finished with a final score of 207.7pts. It’s safe to say you cant get much closer than that at a national qualifier. With so many teams entered for the qualifier there was an increased chance of securing a place at the nationals, and the Donegal Gaeltacht team also won a golden ticket to Mullingar.

As so often happens at our amateur level in the sport the trip to the championships was not realistically on the cards for a lot of competitors and Amelia will be the only Letterkenny athlete to take on the best of the rest in Sunday’s competition. We wish her the very best of luck. Fly the flag high Amelia.