Looking forward to Tattersalls International Horse Trials

The forthcoming international horse trials at Tattersalls were in the limelight on Monday when the event was officially launched (isn’t it amazing how our events thrive without being “launched”?). This really is a top class competition and remember that Orla has a contact who she hopes will take interested members on a course walk of the daunting cross country phase.

Read about the launch of the event on the Horse Sport Ireland website, visit the Tattersalls site for detailed event information, and contact Orla on 087 643 2458 if you’re interested in the opportunity to walk the cross country course.

Introducing our prize pig…

Suzanne had barely taken her eye off the trailer after unloading Jack at the weekend when the prize for our raffle appeared on the front ramp…

Mick and Suzanne are generously donating a side of free range, happy-pig pork as the premium prize for the raffle at our Spring League Show on Sunday. Hopefully Mr or Mrs Pig will raise lots of funds for the club and provide some lucky soul with a supply of the tastiest pork in the country (and that’s coming from someone who’s worked her way happily through half a freezer’s worth of gastronomic experience!).

Pictured below: Our fundraising pig looking relaxed and happy (aka tender and tasty) at the weekend.

Weather forecasts likely to cause wrinkles

Damien and Nadine obviously have a gift for reading the future — how wise were they to book Eglinton for our Spring Show this coming Sunday? The weather looks far from promising but the indoor facilities at the venue will ensure that we have a great day in spite of any rain. (The dressage riders might need to bring a change of breeches but that’s a minor inconvenience.)

The picture is looking equally gloomy for our camping trip to Carrickfinn the following weekend, but there’s plenty of time for the weather systems to mutate over 12 days. The picture was similarly pessimistic 12 months ago but photos of the expedition in last year’s Gallery prove that things worked out for the best.

Keep an eye on how things develop at both locations:
AccuWeather | Derry
AccuWeather | Burtonport

An odd shower does nothing to dampen enjoyment of the weekend’s activities

A spectacular thunderous downpour at 6pm on Friday raised a question mark over the weekend’s activities but, as usual, fortune favoured the brave. Everybody who decided to carry on regardless enjoyed hours of beautiful sunshine and stunning spring light, whatever their activity of choice.

Orla designed a really enjoyable course for Friday’s clear round jumping in Milford. Using only verticals, the 7 fences were arranged to create a course of 11 obstacles, including two doubles, a couple of challenging but safe turns, a dogleg, and plenty of other interest to keep the mind focused.

It was nice to see Jack out making his 2011 riding club debut. Audrey has been putting in all the work on him in the background with daily hacking while Tanya takes over in the arena. Nadine, still nursing Molly back to health, made the most of Tommy’s absence on the evening and had a turn on Damien’s pocket hero, Armstrong. The partnership which really seemed on song was Paddy and Lizzie. Although Lizzie isn’t fully fit, she had a spring in her heels and looks ready for Paddy’s debut at Intermediate level at our Spring Show next weekend.

Thanks to Annette for organising the evening and taking some really good photos, and to Orla for building another great course.

There are no reports in yet of any of our members having attended the Dressage Ireland show at Deanes. The Cuffe lorry was spotted fueling at Moorefield on Sunday morning so perhaps Liz and the girls have discovered a new passion for the discipline?

Most of the Sunday traffic was headed either for Baronscourt or the racing at Manorcunningham. Rachel’s North West League mount, Bruce, proved that show jumping lays the ideal groundwork for the racecourse when he delivered a big win on his first outing of the season.

Meanwhile, at Baronscourt, Marina and her daughter Jade rode the 11 mile circuit with Libby, travelling through magical scenery by lakes and through bluebell-covered woodland flanked by rhododendrons and deciduous azaleas in full bloom. John and Sharon were out ahead of them and were joined for a time by six deer who had nothing better to do on their Sunday afternoon than admire the ILDRA riders.

Pictured below: Warming up for clear round jumping on Friday evening (more pictures in the Gallery); Marina and daughter Jade on Jenny and Monty amongst the bluebells on the Baronscourt Estate, on Sunday.

Jumping, dressage and endurance riding on the menu this weekend

Tomorrow evening sees the return of clear round jumping in Milford, providing everybody the chance to get back into the swing of jumping coloured poles in advance of our Spring League Show at Eglinton on 15 May. Please let Annette know on 086 157 1259, if you plan to go along.

On Sunday there are two very different activities to choose from. Deanes are holding one of their Dressage Ireland shows, giving dressage enthusiasts a rare opportunity to ride a registered dressage test within the county borders.

Just across the border in County Tyrone, ILDRA, the Irish Long Distance Riding Association, are holding their annual endurance ride at the beautiful Baronscourt estate. Several members are planning to participate and it should be a great event that you can do at your own pace, choosing your preferred length of route.

Pictured below: Liz, Martina and Libby in clear round jumping action, April 2010; Rachel and friends enjoy the ILDRA ride-out at Baronscourt, June 2010.

More cross country opportunities at Cloncaw Equestrian

Cloncaw Equestrian in Glaslough have several more events planned that offer riders the opportunity to enjoy their really excellent cross country course right in the heart of drumlin country.This coming Saturday, 7 May, there’s a Go-As-You-Please from 2pm to 5pm. The cost is €20 per horse. If you need further details, phone 087 975 1009 or 047 88882.

The first leg of the Cloncaw 2-Phase League takes place on Sunday 22 May and full details will be available later this week. This league attracted great interest last year with several of our club members making the journey.

For anybody who needs to get their head around all these different types of events, take a look at our competition glossary.

Tynagh qualify for the RDS on a dusty day in Claremorris

22 teams turned out on a sunny, breezy and very dusty Sunday to try their luck at winning the region’s coveted place at the RDS in August. Tynagh Riding Club were victorious when their team captain produced a clear round to pip Round Tower in a two-way jump off after both teams finished on a zero score.

Hanley’s equestrian centre in Claremorris was a super venue for the biggest event in our region. With stabling available, the majority of the Letterkenny contingent travelled to Mayo on Saturday and enjoyed a good evening’s craic in one of the local watering holes. But the upbeat atmosphere received a serious dent on Sunday morning when Nadine found Molly lame in her stable at breakfast time. Immediately ruling her out of the competition, Nadine set about finding a vet to make the mare comfortable while heads were put together to find the best substitute for the anchor combination on the Finn team. Francis volunteered Zak’s services and Damien stepped into the breach to take the ride and sign up for a hectic day as a rider on all three teams.

The spacious, poplar-lined competition arena was covered in sunlight throughout the day and the course provided a fitting challenge for such a competitive event. The proceedings began with a parade of teams which gave Damien a taste of the day come. He popped up like a jack-in-the-box on each of our teams and Millie had plenty of opportunity to familiarise herself with the environment.

It was a day of mixed luck for our riders and by the end of Round One it was the Lennon team of Erica, Francis, Damien and Geraldine that kept a clean slate and carried our hopes into the second half of the competition. The Donegal Gaeltacht team were another of the six teams still in serious contention on a zero score.

The second round of jumping brought a high toll of scattered poles and planks and the number of clear rounds dwindled significantly. By the end of the day just two clubs finished on a zero score and they jumped-off to decide who travelled straight to Ballsbridge and who took a diversion by Stradbally for the wild card qualifier at the festival.

As the convoy of trailers and lorries headed for Donegal, they were passed by a solitary club member travelling in the opposite direction. Francis had lost his car key somewhere in the acres of dust and sand of the extensive venue and it was Maura who saved the day by heroically driving the long road to Claremorris with the spare.

We may have to wait another year but we’ll look forward to the 2012 qualifier with passion and enthusiasm. 2011 gave us a wonderful day out in a lovely venue amongst good friends. Well done everybody. A big thank you to Audrey, Leo, Geraldine, Tanya and Keary who fulfilled the club’s volunteer duties at the event and to all our riders and foot followers who were there to grab the reins or put up a practice jump at every moment of the long day.

Pictured below: Letterkenny’s Finn, Swilly and Lennon teams join 19 others for the opening parade. More pictures in the Gallery and also lots on the Gaeltacht’s site.