Northern Ireland Show Jumping Championships, Eglinton **with schedule

At our last club meeting Cormac made the excellent point that we have some first rate show jumping on our doorstep next weekend. The Northern Ireland Show Jumping Championships take place this week at Eglinton and are well worth a visit, particularly at the weekend.

Saturday evening’s spectator highlight is the Masters Championship with a tempting £3,000 pot of prizemoney. Sunday features the finals of the classes from throughout the week as well as the £5,000 Grand Prix. Both evenings run on fairly late and the atmosphere is palpable as the crowd gets behind its favourites.

Contact Cormac if you’d like to know anything further about the event (or to wish him luck when he jumps Charlotte there on Friday and Saturday). There’s currently no plan for a formal expedition to the show but you all have each other’s contact details, if you want to pool transport and sandwich packing.

Northern Indoor Championships Schedule 2012

Warm-up opportunity as hunting season beckons

How time flies! Hunting season kicks off in the not-too-distant future and this Saturday, 6 October, presents a great opportunity to have a good cross-country warm-up at Robert Smith’s Ballylennon farm.

The event is open to all — you don’t have to be a member of the Donegal Harriers. Called a “warm-up hunt”, it will be similar in format to a Go-As-You-Please, and there will be prizes for the best-turned-out riders on the day.

Contact Marina on 086 821 6335 for further information.

Pupils benefit from super tuition on Friday evening

Richard Smyth’s jumping lessons on Friday evening proved a great success with seven riders making the journey to Mulvin Stables at Victoria Bridge. Nadine, Tanya, Marina and Enda rode at 7pm while Denis, Anne and Keary took the 8pm slot.

Every instructor has his or her own particular style and the emphasis in Richard’s class was on riding quietly. He maintains that it’s important to give the horse time to think things out for himself, something that he can’t do if he’s constantly being harried and hustled.

If you wish to take advantage of Richard’s tuition this coming Friday, book with Denis straight away.

Donegal Trec activities increase over the coming months

If you fancy trying out the equestrian sport of Trec, you’ll be glad to hear that Donegal TREC will hold a TREC skills training league over the autumn and winter months. The aim of the league is to give riders an opportunity to build their TREC skills or to try the sport for the first time.

The league will commence with an orienteering practice day at Nixon’s Corner, Derry. The routes will take riders on quiet farm trails, lanes, forestry and small amount of road work. The day will start with an information session for newcomers to TREC. Riders may choose to complete the Level 1 or Level 2 routes.  Level one will be ridden in pairs (riders under 16 must partner an adult) and the longer and more technical level 2 route may be ridden in pairs or individual. As this is a training day there will be with map reading available so it is a perfect opportunity to try out the orienteering phase of TREC.

The league will then focus on the PTV (obstacle) and Control of Paces skills with the competition, moving to Stracomer Stables (Bundoran), Lenamore and Templemore. Rosettes will be awared at each leg of the league, with overall prizes presented at the final.  Riders may compete with more than one horse with league points being awarded to the horse and rider combination.

League dates
Saturday 13 October – POR Orienteering at Nixon’s Corner, Derry
Saturday 20 October – PTV & CoP at Stracomer Stables, Bundoran
Saturday 3 November – PTV & CoP at Lenamore
Sunday 18 November – PTV & CoP at Templemore
Sunday 9 December –  PTV & CoP (League final) at Templemore

League classes
Class 1: Open (experienced TREC riders)
Class 2: Novice (new to TREC)
Class 3: Children’s,(ages 10 – 15)
Newcomers always welcome. All riders aged 12 and over may take part in the first leg of the league (orienteering) and riders aged 10 and over in the subsequent legs.

Conditions and cost
Minimum age for horses/ponies is four years of age.
It’s not necessary to be a member to take part as riders may avail of temporary insurance for the day. Entry fee €12 for members of TREC Ireland and €17 for non-members.

Entries and information
Please enter by the Wednesday before each leg so that times may be allocated to riders. For entry forms or further details please visit the Donegal Trec website or email donegaltrec@gmail.com or phone 087 643 2458.

Donegal Clubs meeting makes progress on all fronts

Tuesday evening’s meeting of the three Donegal clubs was a productive and pleasant affair. Plans are now firmly in place for the 3-leg Autumn Mini-League which will run in the same format as the North West League, albeit with double points for the final. That should spice things up somewhat and we’ll use the autumn league as a pilot before deciding if we want to carry the idea through to the spring equivalent.

Letterkenny will take responsibility for the first show on Sunday 28 October, Tirconaill take the second while Donegal Gaeltacht will run the final leg on Sunday 11 November.

The Team Challenge, originally planned for Sunday 18 November, is being moved to the Spring to avoid a clash with the Benbulben Show in Kerins’s on the same day.

Presentations for the league will be made at our Donegal Clubs dinner dance in the Silver Tassie on Saturday 24 November. It’s shaping up to be a great night and the ticket cost will be €30. Dress code is “make an effort!”, so nobody is expecting black tie but guests should be nicely plaited and have their hooves oiled for the big occasion!

Lots to look forward to. Your help, particularly on Sunday 28 October, will be much appreciated in making the league happen. Most importantly however, make sure you come out and compete!

Gradual build-up to autumn mini-league begins this week

With under six weeks to the beginning of our new Autumn Mini-League, it’s time to work on both organisation and equitation to ensure that the event is a success.

Tuesday evening sees another meeting of the Donegal Division, the collaboration between the three Donegal AIRC clubs. Several of our club members have committed themselves to being active in this working group. If anybody else would like to get involved, contact Orla. While this week’s meeting will focus attention on the organisation of the mini-league, it will also cover longer term plans for collaborative opportunities in Donegal.

On Friday it’s time to concentrate on the equitation side of preparations. Richard Smyth will give us jumping instruction at his arena in Victoria Bridge. Contact Denis if you’re interested in participating. The time will fly in until the league starts and you might regret missing the opportunity for some expert tuition when Sunday 28 October rolls around!

Friday activities fall by the wayside once again

The keystone of club life, our Friday evening activities, are falling by the wayside with disappointing regularity this season. Once again, this week’s lesson has been cancelled due to lack of support.

There are a number of contributing factors but two of them — money and travel — are the main culprits. Things would be a great deal easier for everybody if we had a venue central to the very expansive area that our club caters for. Travelling 45 minutes for a Friday night lesson is achievable for almost everybody. When it rises to an hour or hour-and-a-half, the pleasure of the outing quickly disappears and for many, the diesel costs are quite simply prohibitive.

So keep playing the lotto! If nobody has won it by our AGM, we probably need to have a good discussion about how we proceed in 2013 so that we retain the great dynamic and life that is the fabric of our club.

Geraldine steps into instructors boots as Richard Smyth’s lessons are postponed for a week

In a change of plan, Richard Smyth’s jumping lessons will kick off a week later than originally scheduled on Friday of next week, 28 September. This week, in his place, we’ll be instructed for the first time by our very own newly-qualified Geraldine Porter.

The lessons will take place at Miranda Doherty’s arena near Strabane. If you wish to participate, contact Denis on 087 925 8996.

Jumping lessons with Richard Smyth

Next weeks sees the beginning of a short series of Friday evening jumping lessons with Richard Smyth at his yard at Victoria Bridge, between Strabane and Newtownstewart. Richard needs no introduction and this is a great opportunity to train with an accomplished show jumper with a great reputation as a teacher.

Denis is arranging the lessons so contact him by Wednesday at the very latest on 087 925 8996, if you plan to attend.