Great day at Border Counties ODE

There may not have been any great success on the day but everybody enjoyed the 1-day event at Glaslough immensely. Nobody disgraced themselves in dressage and most of our members were lying in the middle of the pack after the initial phase. Both Nadine and Tanya were lying right up with the leaders in their respective classes after riding beautiful tests and then going clear in the show jumping phase. But victory eluded both of them with problems on the cross country course.

Nadine was focused so strongly on not forgetting the Giant’s Teeth that she missed one of the jumps just before it and, despite an otherwise immaculate round, ended up with an ignominious E beside her name on the scoresheet!

Tanya’s anticipated bogey was the water jump which Jack had refused at the 2-phase the previous week. This time she got him in perfectly with a textbook example of powerful positive riding, only for Jack to cat leap with surprise as he made contact with the water, leaving Tanya absolutely no chance of staying on board. The pair emerged dripping but unscathed!

Sally Mahon was the only Donegal Gaeltacht member riding on the day and she took first place in the Open class. Brenda Burke represented the Tirconaills but had a less successful day as her horse fell in the dressage arena. It was a horrible incident but luckily the mare, Cristobel, was comfortable in a stable at Cloncaw last night.

There were club photos taken on the day (see Gallery) as well as some great video footage which should emerge in due course. KGB Equestrian Photography were also there as official photographers and their images are on their website. Official results are on the Border Counties RC website.

Next ODE stop is the event at Corbeagh House, Longford, on Sunday 1 July. More details to follow shortly.

Pictured below: Everything still going according to plan for Tanya and Jack!

Another perfect evening at Cyril’s

Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight.

The clear round jumping evening started off in a threatening gloom but brightened up to finish with a brilliant sequence of yellow sky, a complete rainbow, and finally a magnificent red sky. As a side show there was a bit of equestrian action. Everybody enjoyed the course and Orla laughingly admitted that she found herself thinking a little differently about the course design when she knew she had to ride it herself!

Pictured below by Martina: The reasonably punctual group who kicked things off. Stragglers arrived later! More pictures in the Gallery.

Closing date for National Show Jumping Championships approaches

Remember, if you’re interested in competing at the AIRC National Show Jumping Championships in Mullingar on 18 July, entries close soon. Postal entries have already closed but online entries remain available until this Sunday, 11 July.

There are both conventional show jumping classes and derby classes. Full details for the Championships are available on the AIRC website.

Clear round jumping at Cyril’s, Friday 9 July

This Friday, 9 July, we return to Cyril’s arena near Milford for an evening of clear round jumping. Orla will build the course and she’d like if people let her know in advance what kind of heights and types of obstacle they hope to jump.

Anybody who’s interested in course building is more than welcome to turn up early and give Orla a hand. She’ll be there from a quarter to 6 onwards. Understanding the course from the designer’s point of view can be invaluable in riding it well. For those with time it’s a great opportunity to gain additional benefit from the evening.

Contact Orla on 087 643 2458.
Directions to Cyril’s · Download

Pictured below: Clear round jumping at Cyril’s, April 2020.

BHS camp a great success yet again

The trio of members who travelled to last week’s BHS camp at Necarne Castle came back with beaming faces and happy horses. No photographic evidence of Rachel and Dante yet but here are two happy partnerships enjoying the magnificent facilities in County Fermanagh.

Pictured below: Orla on Molly and Martina on Rosa at work in the walled garden at Necarne.

Large squadron on course for Border Counties ODE

A quarter of the club will be competing at the Border Counties One-Day Event Qualifier at Glaslough this Sunday, 11 July. No fewer than 11 members have entered the competition and it promises to be a hectic but enjoyable day out.

Mick, Leo, Tanya, Keary, Anne and Catherine will compete at Advanced Primary level. Annie, Sharon O’Donnell, Nadine and Libby are entered in the Intermediate class. Last but not least, Orla will compete in the Primary level Combined Training.

Dressage times will be available on Thursday and we’ll know then at what time the convoy will be out on the road.

Treasure successfully hunted despite best efforts of weather

Sunday morning arrived with torrential rain and a pretty big breeze. The breeze got bigger but luckily the rain diminished to occasional showers. Nine hardy riders gathered at Oughterlin, Rathmullan, to follow Francis and Maura’s cryptic treasure trail over 12 miles of beautiful scenery. Divided into three teams of three, the riders were started at intervals. At one stage, Team 3 (Marina, Enda and Libby) overtook Team 2 (Vera, Cyril and Catherine) while Team 1 (Nadine, Damien and Tanya) were occasionally spotted as flourescent yellow dots in the distance around bends in the roads and dips in the hills.

There were one or two ferocious squalls, near-gale force winds, and long spells of dazzling sunshine and brilliant blue skies. Managing the fiercely fluttering sheet of clues was the biggest challenge while discussing solutions over the noise of the wind made for some amusing conversations.

Team 2 eventually reappeared from the wilds to regain their position ahead of Team 3, beating them back to the finish line with a momentous effort up the final few killer hills. The treasure huntmasters totted up the scores while everybody discussed the answers over refreshments under a sunny sky.

Team 1 were victorious on the day but the real heros were the trusty jeeps that towed the horses up some of the Fanad Peninsula’s finest hills to the start point.

Pictured below: Marina and Enda hunting treasure near Glenvar. Further below: The judges’ box.


Friday activities on two fronts

Kelda’s second lesson at Lenamore proved a huge success with a group of eight keen pupils treated to a generous 2 1/2 hour session. Starting with schooling over a grid in the sand arena, Kelda then moved the group out to the grass where everybody jumped the course for the Tuesday SJI League at the height they were comfortable with.

Meanwhile, Tanya, Audrey and Libby were on the road to Cloncaw Equestrian Centre in Glaslough, Monaghan for the non-AIRC 2-phase league. Despite Libby forgetting a minor piece of equipment (Jack generously loaned Fenway his bridle), she finished 4th on 8 time penalties in the Midi competition category. Tanya and Jack had a disagreement about the water jump in the Mini competition but Tanya had her way in the end and the duo completed the cross country course with smiles on their faces.

It was a most enjoyable event, efficiently run on a beautiful sunny evening. The results showed yet again that time means everything at Cloncaw. It’s a lovely course but those drumlins sure are demanding.