This Friday, 22nd Feb, sees us enjoy the annual club dine-and-bowl at Arena7 in Letterkenny. Our meal is booked for 8pm with bowling to follow. If you fancy joining in the fun and laughter contact Marina on 086 8216335 to book a space at the table. Saturday brings the final meet of the Donegal Harriers in Creeslough. This is always an excellent day of sport and if you’ve had a days hunting on your bucket list for a while then you should contact them and book in as a visitor for the day.
Sunday 24th is the date set for a regional training day in Sligo. The details of the day are available on the poster below
The following Friday, March 1st, Cliff is organising the second flatwork lesson with Mary Devine. The first of these was held last Friday and was very enjoyable and beneficial. Contact Cliff if you wish to book in.
Apologies to everyone for the lack of a report on the first leg of the spring league. We now have two legs under our belt (wonky ones in some peoples cases….isn’t that right Hazel?!)and the competitors who made the journey to Drumanoo Equestrian on Sunday were treated to a very warm welcome by both the host club, the Tirconails, and the host family the Vials. The weather gods were in a good mood and whilst it was blustery it was still dry and enjoyable. Hot food helped keep the chills at bay and a challenging course gave the riders plenty to think about while the spectators were well entertained. Our own club had just two representatives at the second leg, namely Francis and Rachel. Francis and Bonzo saved their best work for the training rounds while Rachel and Merlin built on their first leg success by recording the only clear round in the Advanced Intermediate class and bagging the red rosette. Results and the overall league table are available at the following link. Remember that the league aint over till the fat lady sings so saddle up and join us on March 3rd in Greenacres Equestrian Centre, Convoy.
With cold weather starting to take a good grip as winter-proper begins we have a couple of event amendments to pass on.
First of these is the fact that the first leg of the NWRC league, which was due to take place in Twin Towns Equestrian Centre tomorrow, Sun 3rd, has been postponed and relocated to Templemore Equestrian Centre next Sunday 10th Feb. This leg of the league is still our responsibility to run so as always we’d appreciate all hands on deck on the day, even if you haven’t quite got round to getting your club renewal done or a photo updated.
The other event rescheduled is the Pilates taster night with Ruth McCrossan. This will now take place in Trinity Hall, across the road from Letterkenny cathedral, on Fri April 26th.
Outside of the AIRC local calender we have an increasing selection of events available over the coming weeks and months. Details of some are included below.
Mulvin Stable’s Saturday Training shows start 9th February!!
•Starterstakes – 1m20
•11am start with starterstakes and 80cms at 1pm approx
•Euro for pound entries £7€7
•courses suitable for all levels with newly painted fences
•enquires – Richard 07753957646
Cloncaw Equestrian 2 Phase Event league 2019 May 12, June 2 & 23,July 28, September 8 & 22 Details to follow
We are delighted to announce the launch of the Wild Atlantic Dressage Festival facebook page. WADF takes place on the 4th and 5th of May, 2019. Please click the “About” tab for further information, stabling and contact details.
The inaugural Wild Atlantic Dressage Festival, a two day dressage show offering competition classes from Preliminary to Grand Prix, is a natural progression of the sport in the area. Competitors from the West and all of Ireland can look forward to excellent surfaces, great facilities, sponsored competitions and judges from Ireland and abroad.
With the arrival of the Wild Atlantic Dressage Festival as one of the premier dressage competitions in Ireland, the future looks bright for the sport, not only in the West, but also as a contribution to the continuing development of Dressage throughout the country; helping Ireland to continue its upward trajectory on the international stage.
At a very sociable and entertaining meeting on Friday evening we mapped out the club calendar for the coming months. Memberships were renewed, with the necessary photos being handed over, and some talk was given to the dearth of primary and AP riders which we’ll need for forming teams for the Audrey Jacob Team Challenge (the AJTC).
First and foremost, and much anticipated by previous participants, is the annual wii night in Damian and Nadines house. This has proven over the years to be as viciously competitive as any RDS qualifier, with a lot more entertainment and infinitely better catering than the RDS itself can offer. Don’t worry if you haven’t yet renewed your membership as this night is all about the sociability of riding club and acts as a glue for the rest of the year. If you can make it just let either Damian or Nadine know that you’re on the way.
The next event is an inter-club event aimed at providing a few laughs as well as tightening a few muscles. On Friday 1st of February a pilates night, with coach Ruth McCrossan, is on offer ,in a venue to be confirmed when numbers are known. If you are game to give it a try, contact Ruth on 086-3179328 and let her know you want to hook up with the riding club night.
If you can still move after your pilates taster you’ll be ready to take to the saddle as the mounted entertainment kicks off. Sunday 3rd of February is the date for the first leg of the North West Riding Clubs Spring League and as our club is responsible for hosting it we’ll appreciate every hand we can get, both mounted and on two feet. Details will be ironed out closer to the day but, as we need to gather up our own club jumps to boost the venue equipment and ensure a challenging course on the day, we’ll definitely appreciate everyone mucking in.
Full details of events over the coming months will be on the Calendar page but with competitions, gridwork lessons, training shows, team challenges, RDS qualifiers and most importantly the annual camping trip in Carrickfinn, to look forward to, 2019 is shaping up to be a great year with Letterkenny Riding Club.
Our first club meeting of the year is being held this Friday evening. The venue is still to be confirmed. Following on from a very relaxed inter-club meeting on Monday we can sit down and start to pull together plans for our own year. The first leg of the spring league, on Feb 3rd, is rapidly approaching and has the advantage of being an indoor affair at Twin Towns Equestrian Centre. No doubt everybody will be a bit rusty at the showjumping but the league is a great place to get started again and you’re all encouraged to come and support it. You do need to be a paid up member, with your membership card in your hands, in order to take part, but even if you haven’t yet got around to joining/rejoining it would be great to see you come along and enjoy the social aspect of riding club. Remember to bring passport photos if you’ve been a member for five years or more, or if you,re joining up for the first time. The photo-booth in Tescos is a handy place to get them if you need an out-of-hours photography service.
Why not use the remaining dark evenings to get up to speed on the AIRC rule book? As well as educating yourself about the disciplines you normally take part in, this publication throws a lot of light on the workings of the clubs and association in general. Read it at the following link
Welcome to the 2019 edition of Letterkenny Riding Club, complete with challenging competitions, sociable shenanigans, enjoyable events, fantastic friends, hilarious horses and inevitable inebriation (purely drunk on fun and emotion). As some of you will have heard we have to offer get-well-soon wishes to our hard working secretary Hazel, who is currently sending you riding club updates from her hospital bed on the wrong side of the Atlantic as she recovers from a very nasty broken leg. No doubt her trusty steed Darcy will be only too delighted to enjoy an extended winter holiday. Also on the recuperation bench is Donegal Gaelteacht member John McDaid, who landed wrong when coming off on the hunting field and is now waiting for four vertebrae to knit before he can return to the saddle. Cormac must be feeling like something of a trend setter at this stage as the competitive ranks of the clubs get decimated! No doubt we’ll see you all back fighting fit before the year is out.
Those who are still able to throw the leg will be glad to see a small stretch in the length of the days now and can look forward to the start of the spring league at the start of February. Dates and details are on the poster below and as you can see the league has received a big shake-up this year as the different legs are in different venues. This should create a very different dynamic and will make for an interesting and challenging league.
If anyone is interested in travelling farther afield over the late winter or early spring then they might like to support our neighboring Western region clubs by attending some of the following events.
Our own North West Riding Clubs meeting is being held this coming Monday 14th January at 8pm in the Glencar Inn. As always everyone is encouraged to come along and get involved in what is happening in the region.
