North West League provides another great day’s competition

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.

3-yr old Arab Connemara cross for sale

Bruno, a really lovely 3-year old Arab/Connemara cross, is for sale. He was recently broken in by Rachel Carton who thought the world of him and believes he’d make a lovely prospect for somebody with the time to bring him on. He’s a good 14.2hh, bay, and has a great temperament and attitude. He’s still an entire but with excellent manners.

Owner’s number to follow. In the meantime, contact Rachel on 086 161 7087.

Learn how to safely transport your horse at another of our armchair evenings

Tonight, at another of our armchair evenings, Francis will cover the topic of safely transporting your horse. As we all know, hitching the trailer is the easy part. Loading the horse is generally not too difficult either (although some remedial work is sometimes necessary). And sure once that bit’s over we just sit back in our rightful position in the driver’s seat, forget about the horse until we arrive, and then start worrying about the parking manoeuvres. Right?

Francis will cover all phases of the operation with the insight of many years’ experience transporting animals on both an amateur and professional basis.

The talk takes place at Tir na nOg at 8pm. Everybody welcome.

TREC Donegal brings another equestrian sport to our area

Orla and some of her henchmen around the Ramelton area have been working away over the winter season in an effort to bring the sport of TREC to Donegal. The fruits of their labour were rewarded recently with a visit from a TREC Ireland technical delegate who discussed plans to initiate TREC Donegal.

TREC is an international equestrian discipline which originally tested the competency of trekking guides. There are three phases  to the competition: Orienteering, Control of Paces, and Obstacles. The sport is special in that adults and children can compete together. Horses and ponies over 13hh are eligible to compete. See the TREC Ireland website for further information on the sport.

TREC Donegal will kick off on the Friday 18 March with an information session in the Milford Inn. If you would like to know more about TREC, come along. On Saturday 19 March there will be a training day in Milford with orienteering followed by obstacle training.

If you would like more information on either of these events please contact Orla on 087 643 2458.

Much anticipated images of Creeslough hunt

Rosaleen Harkin of the Gaeltachts has kindly sent us on some photos of Leo and Keary enjoying the Donegal Harriers’ glorious day at Creeslough recently. You can read her great account of the action on the Donegal Gaeltacht’s site:  Creeslough Hunt 19 March 2011

A full collection of Clive Wasson’s images of  can be enjoyed on line: Donegal Harriers Creeslough Meet | Clive Wasson

Pictured below: Keary and Leo trying really hard to concentrate on their jumping and not get distracted by the fantastic scenery at Creeslough.

Entries open for Flowerhill

The schedule, entry criteria and closing dates have been announced for the Connolly Red Mills sponsored AIRC National Hunter Trials Championships which take place on Sunday 17 April at Flowerhill, Co. Galway.

There are no changes to the schedule from previous years with competitions on offer for individuals and pairs. Postal entries close on Wednesday 28 March while online entries open on 28 March and close on Friday 8 April.

For full information visit the AIRC website. And if you’re thinking of going, make sure you contact Orla promptly. She can help you a lot with both your horse’s and your own accommodation and, for anybody who’s new to Flowerhill, she can offer a lot of input on the competition.

Pictured below: Letterkenny members at the club’s very first excursion to Flowerhill in 2007. Left to right: James Diver, Kerrie Chambers, Marina Hamilton, Christy O’Donnell and Donal Diver. It was a less than successful expedition from a competitive point of view but it certainly whetted the appetite and we’ve been back in numbers every year since. Kerrie had a marvellous win in the Intermediate Championship just 12 months later in 2008.

Brand new filly foal for Spitfire

Spring is definitely here. Yesterday, in her characteristically impetuous style, Spitfire (Annatelle) delivered a perfect filly foal a full two weeks ahead of schedule. The youngster is by the Arab stallion, Redhouse Condor, and is typical of his stock: chestnut with four white socks and a white blaze.

Spitfire was covered in the week leading up to Flowerhill last year and continued to participate actively in riding club life until being turned out for the summer.

Redhouse Condor has several representatives in the club already. His son Dancer is ridden at present by Joanne McBride while Libby’s current mount, Mai, is also by him. And Keary and Anne have a 2-year old Condor filly out of Keary’s lovely thoroughbred mare.

Pictured below: Rachel on Spitfire at Flowerhill, April 2010, and Libby competing on her at the Team Show Jumping Championship Qualifier in Sligo, May 2010.

Happy Birthday Teldel

Every horse has its official birthday on New Year’s Day but few of them are actually born on 1 January. Today, 2 March, is Teldel’s 21st birthday. Many happy returns, young man!

Read Teldel’s full story from our Meet The Horses feature: Teldel.

Pictured below: Teldel, on his most recent competitive outing, winning the Primary class with Enda at the North West League on 20 February.

Opportunity to train as a show jumping judge or course builder

The AIRC strongly promotes the training of members in a range of disciplines, including the arts of building courses and judging show jumping competitions. Training courses lead to exams and competent individuals are then qualified to officiate at riding club events.

Donegal Gaeltacht Riding Club have invited us to join them in training for the Level 1 & 2 exams. If you’re interested in participating, contact Orla on 087 643 2458. Orla has herself successfully taken the course building exam and can fill you in on what’s involved.

The club benefits greatly from having members who are qualified in these different disciplines. Where would we be without Orla and Seamus? It’s also worth remembering that learning about course building and judging can be of tremendous benefit to your own competence as a show jumping rider. Anybody who attended Orla’s recent armchair show jumping evening will understand the close relationship between the theoretical and the practical end of the art.

Read more about the AIRC’s training programmes for show jumping officials on the AIRC website.

Pictured below: The master course builder — Seamus with his measuring wheel in summer 2009.

Cross country training on the horizon: Sunday 13 March

On Sunday 13 March we have the opportunity to join our Tirconaill and Gaeltacht neighbours for a day of cross country training at Lenamore. With Flowerhill just six weeks away, it’s time for anybody who hasn’t been hunting to regain their feel for open country and solid obstacles.

The training will be split into two groups, one for riders up to Advanced Primary level and the other for Intermediates and above. Patricia Warren will join the resident Lenamore instructor to give us the tuition we need.

If you’re interested in participating, please let Orla know on 087 643 2458.