Postmortem and plans for the future

The working group who get together to organise the collaborative Donegal clubs events will meet this evening, Tuesday 27, to set our sights on 2013.

The first task is to review the autumn league and the dinner dance to see what we can learn from the experience. We’ll then sketch out a plan and provisional dates for the Northwest Team Show Jumping Challenge and the spring North West League.

If you have any feedback on the recent events or would like to jump on board as a regular member of this working group, come along to the meeting. Alternatively, get in touch with Damien, Francis, Cormac, Paddy or Libby.

Memorable night with riding club friends

Sometimes these much-anticipated events can prove a mighty anti-climax. Not so the inaugural Donegal Riding Clubs Dinner Dance! It was a truly wonderful evening and the level of enjoyment was evident at every table and on every smiling face.

Rachael(!) has done a great write up on the Gaeltachts’ website and Ryan’s collection of photos gives a colourful flavour of the event. But you had to be there!

A million thanks to Ruth and Rachael who did such a professional job in organising the entire event. The rest of the thank-yous were made on the evening and we won’t repeat them here.

Inaugural Dinner Dance promises to be a great night

Wherever the three Donegal riding clubs come together, a great social occasion is guaranteed. This Saturday presents the first opportunity to enjoy the get-together in the blissful absence of horses, haylage, shavings, muck, sweat, riding boots, nerves, plaiting, polishing, grooming, or towing. It’s purely about enjoying ourselves. Some members will leave with rosettes and prizes while others will be satisfied with sore hands from clapping their clubmates’ achievements. Everybody will leave with sore feet from dancing the night away.

If you haven’t bought your ticket yet, contact Rachael McCrossan on 087 212 8031 in advance of the big occasion and she’ll get you sorted. Ticket sales are very healthy and a lot of members are looking forward to the big night out.

Excellent tuition as the weather plays ball at Cyril’s

Geraldine’s debut as a riding club instructor was a great success on Friday evening at Cyril’s. Horrible weather during the day gave way to a fine dry evening and two batches of four pupils enjoyed the instruction.

Francis, Leo, Tanya and Libby opted for a jumping lesson and Geraldine focussed on shortening and lengthening strides over poles before gradually building up a grid. All four horses (or rather three horses and a pony!) mastered the exercise well, each adopting very different attitudes to the task.

Vera and Liz, Rachael and Ruth turned up for the flatwork session at 8pm and looked to be getting nicely unto their stride as the first batch of riders made their way carefully up Cyril’s steep and windy lane.

Jenny and Audrey were on site to ensure that the non-riding division of the club was adequately represented. Audrey’s tea station was left at home for a change and it did everybody good to rediscover what Friday evenings are like without this wonderful service. Audrey, we’ll never take it for granted!

Tuition with Geraldine Porter, Friday 17 November

The club’s younger generation of instructors has the chance to put us through our paces between now and the end of the year. This Friday evening Geraldine will teach us at Cyril’s arena near Milford. If demand is there, she’ll do both flatwork and jumping sessions, so indicate which you would prefer when you book.

Contact either Geraldine on 086 071 8086 or Leo on 086 853 2609 by Wednesday, if you’d like to go along.

Three out of four ain’t bad — Autumn League concludes with another enjoyable show

Although a clash with the Donegal Harriers’ meet at Maggies kept three or four familiar faces off the scene, Sunday’s third and final leg of the North West Autumn League was a great success under the direction and manpower of the Donegal Gaeltachts.

Double points on final day threw everything wide open and resulted in one or two surprises amongst the finishing places on the league leader board. The results make fine reading from Letterkenny’s perspective with leading riders in three of the four categories. Hazel and Sapphire nailed the Primary division after three consistent performances. Ann Chambers and Molly took top spot in the hard fought Intermediate class, having entertained the spectators at all three shows with exciting performances in the jump off. In a nail-biting finish to the Advanced Intermediate league, a tactically intelligent clear round won Joanne second place on the day and a great victory in the league.

Rudi Schneider was a popular winner of the Advanced Primary league, squeaking through on the final day to pip the AP king, Tommy McGinley.

The league, with its compact three week format, provided a great opportunity for club members at a time of year when we are sometimes at a loss for competitive opportunities. All prizes will be awarded at the Donegal Riding Clubs Dinner Dance in two weeks’ time on Saturday 24 November — a night to really look forward to.

Thanks to the Gaeltachts for a great show this week and thanks to the organisers from all three clubs for pulling off another memorable riding and social success. Provisional results, as usual, in double-quick time from Ruth:

Results | NW Autumn League Final Show
Points | NW Autumn League Final Show
Overall League Placings | NW Autumn League

Another good Autumn League show as the points table starts to simmer

Sunday’s second leg of the Northwest Autumn League ran smoothly and successfully under the stewardship of Tirconaill Riding Club. Unfortunately the hosts didn’t have a winner on the day but Charlie, Mona and Cyndi all managed to find the time to ride and each one of them placed in their class.

Victories on the day were spilt half-and-half between Letterkenny and Donegal Gaeltacht. The Gaeltacht’s Tommy McGinley won the Advanced Primary competition while his daughter Carla followed suit when the poles were raised 10cm to Intermediate level.

Hazel and Damien chalked up 7 points a-piece for the Letterkenny account with excellent wins in the Primary and Advanced Intermediate classes.

It’s all to play for next Sunday with double points for the final classes of the league. Donegal Gaeltacht will be running the day and a large turn-out of competitors and supporters is expected.

Many thanks to all the Tirconaills for doing such a great job at Show 2.

Results | NW Autumn League Show 2
Points | NW Autumn League Show 2

Horses off the hook as Mary Finneran focuses on the rider

Mary Finneran has chosen to focus her current series of three flatwork lessons on the correctness of the rider, leaving the performance of the horse out of the equation  for a little while. Of course, as anyone who benefited from last Friday’s tuition will have noticed, the two go hand in hand. When the rider sits well and applies the aids correctly, the horse — not surprisingly — tends to go better.

We all develop certain poor habits over the course of time and it’s great to have an instructor who can identify one or two small but critical details which can help get things back on track. Book with Louise for this Friday’s lesson, if you want to put your riding under the microscope. It’s well worth it.

Tickets for dinner dance go on sale this Sunday

Our collaboration with our neighbouring Donegal clubs has brought us many enjoyable moments in the past. On Saturday 24 November we’re all set to get together socially, leaving the horses at home as we head for the Silver Tassie and a night of good eating and dancing.

Tickets for the Donegal Riding Clubs Dinner Dance go on sale this Sunday at the second of our league shows. They cost €30 and are available from Ruth and Rachael McCrossan.