With our Derby Show over us for another year we can look forward to getting out to lots of other club’s events over the coming weeks The following are a taster of some of the great shows coming up.

In Stracomer Stables, Bundoran:

Two day clinic – open to everyone. Pony club, riding club and individuals

Day 1 – flatwork/polework
Day 2 – showjumping
Both private and group lessons available.
Approx 4/5 riders in each group
Lessons will last 1.5 hours each day to ensure each rider gets plenty out of the two days. If you are unable to attend both days individual days can be booked

For more information please contact Sonya McAleer on +44 7874 350665

At Deanes Farm Equestrian in Bruckless:

All the club members who turned up to take part in or help out at the Derby were very glad that they made the effort. The weather gods were very kind and, once a morning shower passed over, the day was warm and dry. The venue was perfect for the event, with an impressive array of jumps available for Trish to use in designing the course. Kyle Hayes, of Aldertree Equine, was our dressage judge for the day. He was cheerful throughout and provided plenty of helpful comments on his judge’s sheets. Congratulations to all the competitors, particularly those who went away with a ribbons. A very sincere thanks to everyone who took part. We had a very good spread of clubs on the day and every club took home some rosettes or silverware. 

Grace Rogers claimed the Primary Derby winner’s rosette.

Caroline Shiels was the AP Derby winner, with Samantha O’Neill and Suzanne Deeny-Wylie coming in 2nd and 3rd .

Cliff did Letterkenny proud when he managed a 1st and 3rd in the Intermediate Derby, with Lynne Thompson coming 2nd, Marina Hamilton 4th, and Francis McNicholl 5th.

In the Advanced Intermediate class Stephen Greene took the top prize, with Derek Kane 2nd, Daire Diver 3rd, Vanessa 4th and Jodie Carr 5th. Rachel will be back in action soon to keep this lot on their toes!

Great to see such good support.

dressage-times-Derby-2019

Our recent club meeting had a very good turnout and arrangements for the impending Derby show were cemented. Greenacres Equestrian centre has been running it’s own jump-cross league recently and their jumps look fantastic in their outdoor arena. Entries are taken on the day for the jumping at our show but dressage entries should already be in. As always it would be great if our members could come and support on the day, whether by entering or by helping out. The weather forecast is good and a sociable day is pretty much guaranteed at riding club.

If you enjoy riding club life, and would like to spread your competitive wings a bit, you would be very welcome at any of the events run by our (distant) neighbors in the Western region of the AIRC. The regional calender are is as follows.

Apart from our own show we are spoiled for local competitive opportunities at the moment. The following are flyers from some local events which are open to all and sundry and afford us all with ample excuses to spend our time out with our horses.

Our annual regional training day, organised this year by the Donegal Gaelteacht  club, was a great success. The weather, barring one minor blip in the morning, was superb, and the company was excellent. Top marks to all who took part. The coaching was top class, with every rider being challenged as well as having their all-important confidence boosted. Thanks as always to Liz Potter for the photographic evidence of the day.

The AIRC show jumping championships  has just about wound up in Mullingar. Our club had just one representative at the championship, namely Rachel on Merlin, who finished 12th of the 56 entries in the AI championship. The venue was superbly presented as always and the weather was, if anything, too good. Donegal could be proud of the Donegal Gaeltachts Cassandra McGee, who won both the Open and Advanced Open championship and the young horse class, on Trish Warren’s Well Dun Welby.

The next national outing for our club is the national dressage championship in the 18th August. Before this we have our regional training day in Gordon’s Bay on the 28th July.

One of our closest clubs, the Border Counties Riding Club, is holding its annual one day event at Cloncaw Equestrian Centre. Many of our members are aware of how good a venue this is and Cliff in particular has clocked up many miles around it’s undulating cross country course. Details are on the flyer

I don’t know about the rest of you but in my opinion June has absolutely flown by. With just one week left in the month we can just about draw breath while we look back at the great activities enjoyed over the past few weeks.

The charity ride out at the start of the month was highly enjoyable and was a welcome break from competitive outings. Suzanne did us proud in Mullingar at the riding club festival, bringing home ribbons with her valiant mounts. A good portion of the club’s riders attended the Gaeltachts one day event, which was very well run by all accounts. With no AIRC events on the local calender for next weekend we can enjoy an outing to Finn Valley show on Saturday while we look forward to the options offered in July.

On a national level we have the Show Jumping Championships in Mullingar on the 14th. There are no prior qualification criteria for this event and the championship classes are run ‘nations cup’ style, with all riders jumping two rounds and a third jump off round used as a decider if needed. There are also accumulator and derby classes so have a look at the schedule and get entering. I have my stable booked already! The schedule is as follows

nsjc_schedule_2019

Another fantastic opportunity in July is our regional training day, which is being held at Gordon’s Bay on the 28th. All details on the flyer below

If you need a break from the equines you can sign up for our go-karting evening on Friday 5th July. Details for this will be circulated soon but it should certainly satisfy the competitive nature of the organiser….

Best of luck and congratulations to Suzanne and her two trusty (a description which may be stretching the boundaries of truth a little) steeds. Suzanne is the only Letterkenny member making the journey to the AIRC Festival in Mullingar this year and she is quite literally flying the flag for us down there.

Suzanne is already in the ribbons, having placed in the Ex-Racehorse Showing class on her new mount, Dubai Flyer. Safe journey home.