The AIRC’s big event this weekend is the National Dressage Championships but, since it takes place in Tipperary, it’s hardly surprising that none of our members are competing. A more local alternative is Deane’s End of Summer Show in Bruckless where you can try your hand and hooves at dressage, show jumping and cross country.
Full details from Deane’s website.
Benbulben Riding Club are running a cross jump competition at the Annaghmore Estate, a few miles south of Collooney, on Sunday 29 August. It’s run in conjunction with Sligo Hunt Pony Club so it’s a great opportunity for riding club and pony club members to compete at the same venue on the same day. When it last took place in 2008, it was a great success.
You need to pre-enter by Wednesday 23 August but you can pay on the day.
Benbulben RC Cross Jump Schedule 2010 · Download
What’s a cross jump? See our competition glossary.
Pictured below: Nadine and Libby preparing for the pairs class on Molly & Molly; Mary Gallagher, Orla, Molly, Harvey and the picnic basket, Benbulben RC Cross Jump, 2008.
It’s almost like back-to-school time at the riding club with a series of lessons beginning this Friday at Harley’s arena in Trentagh. Jackie McPherson will instruct us in flatwork for three consecutive weeks. Please book as early as possible (and by Wednesday at the latest) to help Martina get groups and times organised. Contact her on 085 103 3242.
The AIRC National Horse Trials Championships take place at Annaharvey Farm, Tullamore, on Sunday 12 September. Last year three of our members competed in the event. Nadine had qualified for the championship class while Libby and Sharon O’Donnell rode in the national classes.
This year none of our members have qualified for the championship classes but this doesn’t prevent members from competing in the national classes.
Postal entries must be pre-entered and pre-paid by Monday 30th August and must be made through the club secretary. Online entries will open on Monday 30th August and will close on Sunday 5th September.
Full details are on the AIRC website.
A snag has surfaced with insurance for the show jumping in Maghery this Sunday. Unfortunately it means that the event is now confined to Pony Club members only. The big children will have to find their own entertainment or else cheer on the small fry.
Our region has stepped up to the modern IT plate with a new group on Facebook – AIRC Western Region. It will keep members up to date on what’s happening. With 20 clubs in the region there should be plenty on the news front.
Annette Gallagher from Elly, deep in our treasure hunt landscape just north of Rathmullan, has joined the club. She’s a Primary rider and she’s lucky enough to have two young horses being broken by Peter Smyth at present — an Irish Draught and a sport horse.
It’s a while since we’ve had any instruction on Fridays but there’s plenty coming up over the next month. Francis isn’t able to run his safe towing talk/demo this Friday so instead we’ll have a jumping lesson at Glenleary to keep everybody out of trouble. The emphasis of the class will be on riding a good line and developing a suitable canter rhythm. Groups of three or four will be arranged on the basis of rider and horse experience/ability.
Contact Orla to book on 087 643 2458.
From Friday 20 onwards, we’ll have a series of three flatwork lessons instructed by Jackie McPherson, followed by a dressage test with Mary Devine on 10 September. These activities take place at Harley’s arena in Trentagh.
Contact Martina to book on 085 103 3242.
Well, Phoenix Riding Club won the competition on the day. Audrey and Tanya enjoyed the whole event while thinking about what could have been in a small corner of their minds:
Congratulations to Benbulben RC who gave a great performance, on a scorcher of an afternoon, out in Simonscourt. They secured a very credible 3rd place with a team total of 8 faults (times must have come into the equation as there were a few other teams on 8 as well). The atmosphere was lovely with the usual cheers, ooh’s and ah’s as the supporters got behind their clubs. We, of course, cheered on Sligo even if that green eyed monster was sitting on our shoulders at times. But hey! we always have next year and the next and the next!
All four members from Phoenix had clear rounds and it went down to a jump off. Compared to the qualifier at Sligo, the course seemed lovely with no real spooky fences or difficult lines. But then that’s from ground level.
2011, here we come!
The full official report is on the AIRC website.
Things suddenly started looking a bit different on the website today and it seems that WordPress, the software/platform on which the site runs, is undergoing some changes. We’ll give it a little bit of time to see if it settles back down to the usual look. If not, a bit of re-jigging should have us looking presentable again to the rest of the world reasonably quickly.
Letterkenny Riding Club