Apparently storms are like buses…..none for ages and then two come bumper to bumper. Having lost the first leg of our spring league to the ravages of Ciara we are now having to cross all fingers and toes in the hope that Dennis wont put paid to the second leg. Scheduled to be held this Sunday, 16th Feb, in Greenacres Equestrian Centre, and being run by Tirconail RC, this show will hopefully kick off the 2020 season in style.

Looking further down the calendar we now have a non-AIRC hunter trial to look forward to at Gordon’s Bay. Details on the flyer.

Tomorrow’s first leg of the North West Riding Clubs spring show-jumping league has been cancelled for safety reasons. Details on how scoring for the league will be affected will be posted in due course.

The third one’s the charm, so they say, and so it is with a date for our Audrey Jacob Team Challenge. It is now confirmed for Sunday May 24th in Eglinton. Even more time to perfect your moves.

If it looks like heaven and sounds like heaven it probably is heaven. I feel a little escapism coming on.

This coming Sunday sees the start of the north west riding clubs spring show-jumping league. The first leg of the league is in Templemore Equestrian Centre in Muff and promises to kick off the competitive year in great style. Inishowen riding club is running the first leg and the action kicks off at 11.00, with entries being accepted from 10.30.

Classes will run in ascending order, starting with crosspoles and finishing with the advanced-open class at 1.20m. There will be a training class at each height following the graded class…for example there will be an 80cm training class after the advanced-primary class finishes. The training classes are open to all grades of rider at or below the height i.e an advanced-open rider may ride a 70cm training class but an advanced-primary rider may not ride a 1.0m training class. Your €15 entry fee allows you to jump in as many training rounds as you wish, as well as competing in your graded class, making the riding club leagues an excellent and affordable way to bring on young or novice horses.

As always, the social aspect of riding club is all-important, with the canteen open to supply hot cuppas and good grub for refuelling while you dissect the days classes and cheer on fellow club mates. Even if you are not competing its worth coming along for a couple of hours to meet everyone, share the craic and practice cheering. See you there.

Many thanks to Mary Devine for providing photographic evidence of the hardy crew who travelled to Twin Towns equestrian centre for this evenings lesson. Looking good folks

 

Having set myself the goal of taking part in my first ever one day event this year you can imagine my delight when I saw that AIRC  hq had published the dates and venues for all the national championships and the eventing championship is to be held in Flowerhill!  That’s all the motivation I need to get myself and Merlin started on a personal fitness and training regime. All the championship dates are on our Calendar page. Why not set one as your own goal now? You know you want to.

Our north western sub-region is part of the the greater Western region of the AIRC, which stretches from the tip top of Malin head to Kilbaha on the southern toe of Co. Clare. As a general rule clubs within an area are not allowed to run events in competition with each other, so getting a free date to run a show or training clinic can be quite difficult. Fortunately the powers that be agreed to the formation of our sub-region  and now we only have to worry about fitting our dates in around the other Donegal clubs (a tough enough challenge) and any national championships that happen to be on. The advantage of being in the AIRC is that all the affiliated events are available to you, with a welcome guaranteed at all of them. A friendly phone call to the local organiser will frequently result in a stable being found for your four-legged companion, allowing yourself and any significant others you want to bring along to enjoy a relaxing weekend away. Check out the most up to date version of the Western Region calendar here.

AIRC West Regional Calendar 2020

Intermediate riders may now compete in Young Horse and Green Horse competitions. Previously the competitions were restricted to riders graded Advanced Intermediate and higher.

In show jumping and eventing, the competitions are traditionally run over a 0.90m track while the young horse class is run over a 0.80m track at the National Hunter Trials Championships.

Riders who compete in a young or green horse competition in dressage or show jumping may still compete in their graded class on the day if they wish.

Young Horse competitions are open to horses aged 4 & 5 years while Green Horse competitions are open to horses needing experience and applies for one calendar year commencing 1st January.

The talk given by Jim Hickey on Thursday evening was a great success, with almost ninety people attending and taking away an increased awareness and understanding of the power of the mind in our day to day riding endeavors. Top marks to Marina for organising the whole event, which added a tidy sum to the club coffers and will help fund the next educational clinic.

With our positive mental attitudes firmly in place we can now start to put action behind our good intentions by taking part in the flatwork lessons this Friday evening at Twin Towns Equestrian Centre. These lessons are being organised by Vera and you can contact her on 087-2325632 via sms or WhatsApp to book a slot. Remember that you must have membership paid up before riding at an AIRC event.