No Letterkennys for National ODE at Annaharvey

Unlike last year when three members travelled to the National One-Day Event Championships, this year the club has no competitors at the event this weekend. Travel costs are a serious consideration for most of us these days and trips aren’t undertaken lightly. Add to the financial constraints the difficulty of keeping horses fit and sound and it’s clear why we won’t always be represented at championship events. Of the three horses who participated last year, two (Fenway and Molly) are currently laid up in dry dock.

Patricia Warren and Connor Gallagher represent the Donegal Gaeltachts while Sally Mahon, who qualified at Border Counties for the Open Championship class, is not among the entries. Anne Granahan is the only Benbulben member on the start list and there are no Tirconaills so we have relatively few neighbours travelling to the competition.

The AIRC has started to publish the breeding details of the horses entered in national championships and it makes for very interesting reading. Look carefully and you’ll spot our very own Jenny Coe as the breeder of one particular competition entry. She looked slightly puzzled when asked about it!

AIRC National ODE

Gaeltachts enjoy a great Masters show

Full results are now available from the weekend’s 2-day Masters Series Final show at Mullingar Equestrian Centre. As last year, entries were very low but Donegal was well represented by four members from the Donegal Gaeltacht Riding Club. All of them came home with ribbons — several of them red! Well done everybody.

Results below. See the full report on the AIRC website.
Masters Series Final Results 2010

Pictured below: Conor Gallagher competing recently at the Benbulben cross jump. Conor was one of the Donegal Gaeltacht riders who successfully competed at the weekend.

Harvest time on horseback

Normally at this time of year we ride along the roads looking wishfully into those beautiful big fields as the silage is cut and the corn harvested. Last night we found ourselves on the right side of the fence and enjoyed a spectacular autumn evening of childish fun careering around the freshly cut headlands of the Jacobs farm in Castleshanaghan. The picture perfect backdrop of freshly harvested barley fields with the Swilly beyond was matched only by the atmosphere of the evening. Thanks again Audrey and Tanya. Pass on our gratitude to Cecil and assure him that Paddy will be there shortly to help with the harvest!

Pictured below: Baby Pippa was present to witness her Daddy part company with Brownie and apparently abandon her in disgust; Paddy and Erica in full flight around the stubble field. More pictures in the Gallery.

Perseverance pays off with a new horse for Annie

There are many ways to skin a cat, as Gabriel McCole found out when trying to find a new horse for his daughters, club member Annie and younger sister Eimear. Little girls grow into young adults and childhood ponies shrink by comparison. The progression from ponies to horses proves problematic for many young riders and it’s particularly difficult when the right horse can’t be found.

Annie’s first horse was the brilliantly talented but phenomenally difficult French mare, Nisquailly de Mai. Annie persevered where most people might have given up but, earlier this year, wisdom prevailed and Mai was finally parked safely in pasture. Annie is determined that she will be ridden further but “just not in circles”.  Annie continued to participate in club events and might even have given Libby a run for her money in the Most-Horses-Borrowed Stakes had Gabriel not hit upon the simple idea of advertising for a “horse wanted”.

Annie and Eimear have now given a 5-star home to Boleybawn Silver Gem, a 16-year-old schoolmaster from County Wicklow. The lovely grey mare competed in SJAI with her breeder, Joan Rothwell, until she was 12. She had a foal two years ago and then moved on to her current owner, Catherine Duggan. She participated in riding club activities down south until work forced Catherine to move back to Dublin recently. She spotted Gabriel’s ad and saw a perfect opportunity for her much-loved 16-year-old mare to continue enjoying active working life on permanent loan in Donegal.

Annie’s victory in the Under 21 Pony Club class at the cross jump on Sunday proved that the partnership is working well. We wish horse and riders all the very best for a long and enjoyable future together.

Pictured below: Eimear and Annie waiting with Boleybawn Silver Gem for Annie’s flatwork lesson with Jackie on Friday; Annie competing at the Benbulben Cross Jump on Sunday.

Early autumn cross country evening at Audrey & Tanya’s, Thursday 2 September

Audrey and Tanya hope to squeeze the very last gasp out of the waning summer daylight with a cross country evening at their farm in Castleshanaghan this Thursday. The silage has been cut and Audrey plans to make jumps around the headlands of the fields so that we can enjoy an early-autumn cross country adrenalin rush.

Let Audrey know in advance if you plan to attend so that she can decide whether to park people in the field or in the yard: 087 285 3687.

Pictured below: Our midsummer visit to Castleshanaghan, 23 June 2010.

Great day at Annaghmore

Kean and Louise O’Hara’s Annaghmore Estate south of Sligo was the venue for Benbulben Riding Club’s cross jump on Sunday. Thick grassy cover on the rolling fields, lovely jumps, a great natural water obstacle and a challenging sunken road all made for a great cross country experience.

Tanya and Mick competed at Advanced Primary level and both (almost) went clear! Mick was stunned to see an E beside his name on the results sheet but quickly put 2 and 2 together, realising that he had missed Fence No.15 on the home straight. Tanya went clear all the way but realised herself that she had taken the wrong route through the final five show jumps. Although the judge called her clear, Tanya very sportingly confessed her error and was duly eliminated.

Erica and Annie competed in the Intermediate class. Neither finished in the placings but Annie had a brilliant win in the Pony Club Under 21 class immediately afterwards. Liz and Mike Cuffe’s daughters, Joanne and Claire, managed 3rd and 5th in the Pony Club classes so plenty of ribbons made their way back to our club territory.

It’s a wonderful venue and luckily we’ll get another chance to visit it. All going well, the Benbulbens will run a hunter trial at Annaghmore on Sunday 3 October.

Pictured below: Letterkenny members Mick, Tanya, Annie and Erica in action in Sligo. More photos in the Gallery.

Active weekend ahead

24 riders have booked in for what’s shaping up to be a marathon session this Friday evening with Jackie McPherson. From 6 to 10 pm, Martina has scheduled 4 lessons to accommodate everybody who booked in punctually this week. Who ever said flatwork was boring?

Jackie has set two AIRC tests, 4 and 17, for our dressage competition (to be judged by Mary Devine) two weeks from now on 10 September. Primary and Advanced Primary riders will work on No.4 while Intermediates and Advanced Intermediates will ride No.17. Martina will have copies for everybody this evening or you can download them from the AIRC website if you’re too impatient to wait.

On Sunday, several members will compete at the Benbulben Riding Club’s cross jump on the Annaghmore estate just south of Sligo. It’s a lovely course and the event will make an enjoyable day out even on two legs. Best of luck to everybody who’s riding.