Francis lands in the limelight at Lenamore

A day which began in brilliant sunshine before turning briefly to rain and then switching back emphatically  to sunshine will be best remembered as the time when Francis and Zak finally landed in the limelight. After years of knocking on the door, the beautifully turned out partnership were massively popular winners of the Take Your Own Line class which brought the curtain down on the day. Packie on Gypsy led the pack for most of the competition but Francis, who relishes the combined mental and equestrian challenge of this particular class, produced all the aces to take the honours for Letterkenny.

It was a day when things began slowly and built up quietly, with the car park bulging at the seams by the middle of the afternoon. An unusually high number of riders were competing at a new grade for the first time and all of them did themselves proud. The number of upgrades from Primary to Advanced Primary resulted in just two competitors, Denis and Hazel, competing for novice show jumping honours. It was Denis who took top honours over the jumps but Hazel had her revenge in the dressage arena, netting herself a dashing red cooler to rival Denis’s smart black bridle.

Rosaleen Harkin continued the good form she showed in the North West League with an excellent victory in the Advanced Primary show jumping. Liz, screeching in at the last moment with the lorry balancing hair-raisingly on two wheels, joined forces with Enda for a great win in the Primary & Advanced Primary Pairs class. In the dressage arena, Finola Murphy claimed the Advanced Primary red rosette and its accompanying red cooler before delivering her customary flatwork masterclass when finishing second in the Intermediate show jumping jump-off. One could spend quite a while debating where flatwork ends and dressage begins!

It was Packie who took the red rosette in that Intermediate competition after a very thrilling 7-way jump off which concluded the biggest class of the day. Top honours in the smaller Advanced Intermediate division went to Marina who delivered the only clear round in the competition.

The Intermediate dressage class again produced the biggest entry with Rachael McCrossan coming out on top. We all have personal goals and ambitions — one of Rachael’s was to win a cooler and she did just that. Well done! At the higher level, Nadine proved that motherhood is no obstacle to excellence when finishing top of the class in the Advanced Intermediate division. Great to see her back in action on Molly.

Many thanks to everybody who supported the show, either by competing or helping. As always, it was a most relaxed, friendly and enjoyable event. The pleasure of getting together with club mates and neighbouring rivals never wanes. Particular thanks to Patricia and Jackie for for judging, to Seamus and Orla for course building, to Audrey who worked flat out all day long on entries and scribing, to Sally and her camera, and most of all to Nadine and Damien who coordinated the entire event even though they weren’t actually responsible for it this year!

Full results to follow in due course. More photos too.

Pictured below: The crowd looks on; Francis plots his path to victory while the 4-strong judging panel concentrates; The smile says it all; and Cormac explains to Charlotte that he needed to cross the finish line before she helped him dismount.

It’s showtime!

The days are long and light and the hedgerows are green. The horses are beginning to look their summer best. It’s not going to be warm at our Spring Show in Lenamore but, with only a very occasional shower forecast, it looks like we’ll win the battle with the weather this time.

Show jumping kicks off at 11.30 with dressage beginning at 12.30 and running until 3pm. Remember to bring your AIRC card and, although you don’t need to present it when making your entry, you should have your horse’s passport with you every time he travels.

All help will be appreciated on the day. Even if you haven’t got a designated duty in advance, check with Damien or Cormac to see where you can give a hand as the action gets underway.

Best of luck for Sunday and for the rest of the show season. We all know that rosettes and prizes are nice to take home but everybody has their own very personal ambitions at a show and these are the most important ones.

19 teams turn out for top class table quiz

Last night’s table quiz at Arena 7 drew large numbers of teams and the quizmaster, ably assisted by Cormac and Sally, challenged them in style.

The quiz, with five 20-question sessions, deepened the furrows in many a brow and had participants’ memory cogs grinding loudly. The questions were fair with widely diverse subject matter and the only horse who got a look in on the night was Shergar.

By the end of it all, Ruth and Rachael’s team finished top of the club pile in second place but it was the aptly named “In First Place” — a horse-free team with a strong Ramelton profile — that led from start to finish.

The night raised a magnificent €900 for our Relay for Life fund. Thanks to all our own members who took part, to our very supportive friends in the East Donegal Pony Club, and to the various completely non-equestrian participants who turned up to support the event. Thanks too to quizmaster Hugh McClafferty, scorer Sally, and the biggest thanks of all to Cormac who put so much effort into the entire event.

Relay for Life Table Quiz, Tuesday 1 May

Everybody had an opportunity to air their heads at Sunday’s fundraising ride-out — now it’s time to put the braincells to work at Tuesday evening’s fundraising Table Quiz at Arena 7.

The challenge begins at 9pm. Bring yourself and as many teams and/or team mates as possible. It’s not an equestrian quiz so ordinary civilians would probably be a great bonus on any team. If you have anything to donate as a prize for the raffles, bring that along too. See you there.

Clubs meet at Crossroads for wonderful ride-out and BBQ

Wonderful support from Letterkenny and Donegal Gaeltacht riding clubs combined with sizeable troops from the East Donegal and North West pony clubs ensured a memorable ride-out on a brilliantly sunny day in the Finn valley.

Denis and his family gave a masterful display of car park management, successfully accommodating both the insurance demands of the pony club and riding club authorities as well as the significant number of lorries and trailers. A very hospitable welcome and warm drinks primed everybody perfectly for the punctual departure. The riding club members took the lead with the pony club posse bringing up the rear after a 15 minute interval. Mick drove the first-aid-mobile, ready to jump into the breach for any human or equine casualty. (Happily he had an uneventful journey.)

A steep climb south up a picturesque little road brought the riders out onto a high plateau with spectacular views south west across Barnesmore Gap and north, south and east over Derry and Tyrone. Continuing the ascent, Enda and Teldel led a calm and graceful canter on a long uphill track, the civilised pace ensuring a safe passage for even the most canter-wary of riders.

After a stretch through woodland, Denis’s family conjured up roadside refreshments at a scenic stop and everybody took a breather. The energetic walk back to base gave everybody the opportunity to catch up on friendships, old and new. Leo and Denis accelerated their pace on Cool and Davy Arthur to get back and get their aprons on while the guests hacked home at a leisurely pace.

The yard at Denis’s house was lit up by the appearance of Gemma, looking great and in fine form. Leo slaved behind a hot grill producing great volumes of burgers and hot dogs, with an endless array of salads and side dishes served up beside the communal tables. The whole entourage settled down to a most enjoyable meal, rounded off by a dessert table which stole the show.

It was a wonderful gathering of friends. What a pleasure to be out on a horse on such a lovely day with such enjoyable company in support of a very, very worthy cause. Huge thanks to Denis and Leo and their families for orchestrating the whole event with such calm and friendly professionalism. It all seemed easy but that was only because the preparation was so good.

Pictured below: Leo hard at work for a great cause. More pictures in the Gallery. There were plenty of cameras in action at the event so hopefully plenty more shots will emerge.

Remember the ride-out! Sunday 29 April

If anybody needs any further encouragement to support the fundraising ride-out at Crossroads, Killygordon, on Sunday, the weather forecast might be an incentive. Everything is relative — by April 2012 standards this picture looks positively carribbean:

Your support would be very much appreciated, either on horseback or just with a good appetite for the afters. Contact Denis on 087 925 8996 if you plan to attend.

Fourth and final flatwork lesson with Mary Devine set to conclude excellent series

If you can find a bookmaker to give you odds on the winners of the dressage classes at our show on 6 May, you’d be well advised to back the competitors who have benefitted from flatwork tuition with Mary Devine over the last few weeks.

Hazel, Karen, Laura, Finbar, Rachael and Ruth McCrossan, Tanya, Vera, Sharon, John, Paddy and Nadine have all been beneficiaries. Baby Emily has been learning her mother’s craft from the sidelines and will probably be offering to call dressage tests before very long.

Overall, the emphasis has been on flexibility and the use of lateral work. Mary has been tremendously enthusiastic and generous with her time and expertise focussing completely on the quality of the riding. Vera has kept the numbers very small per lesson ensuring that everyone has had fantastic value for money.

This coming Friday is the last in the series. Book now with Vera 087 232 5632, if you wish to participate.

No shortage of diversity on the social front: Goof’s Gaff, Friday 4 May

Fundraising and charity events make up a large part of the social calendar these days and our club members are active in different guises in their other lives. Orla and Annette are the latest activists to declare themselves. They’re both involved in Goof’s Gaff, a Letterkenny-based initiative set up by a music student with a view to supporting and promoting original music in the North West. The sessions are simple but effective; high quality video recordings of local musicians taken on a sofa in a living room in Letterkenny and shared with a community of music lovers and potential fans through YouTube and Facebook.

They’d appreciate your support at a live event on Friday 4 May. Read the full details on the line up and pencil the date in your calendar.

Goofs Gaff Live · Friday 4 May