CONGRATULATIONS!

Tattersalls International 3 day event took place this weekend and in the Pony class David Hannigan took first prize on Castleview Rakish Milly with Joseph O'Brien coming   2nd and 3rd with Calvin and Puzzles. Anna Geraghty finished well also.  In the Junior competition Peter Hannigan took 4th place on First Mate.   Well Done!

First Team Event

A Tipp Pony Club Team took part in Kilkenny Hunt Pony Club Showjumping Team Comp on Sat 31st May near Warrington. On the team was Natasha Quirke on Freddie, Lucy O'Donnell on Flossy, Jack O'Donnell on Bobby and Oonagh Hynes on Dancer. It was a first team event for everyone. We competed in the 60cm class. It was great fun being in our first team event. In the first round we had a clear from Natasha and Jack, whilst Oonagh and Lucy each had 4 faults, then in the second round we had clear with Natasha, Lucy and Oonagh and a four faults with Jack. This left us equal first with Warrington, Waterford and Kilkenny. We were delighted to get red rosettes, sweets and prizes. It 32 degrees and very hot so we all rounded off the afternoon with a cold coca cola!! It was a real fun day out, and ideal for any younger child to gain valuable competition experience.

Annie Quirke

                                             WINDSOR 2008                                                                                                    

 This year we had the pleasure of having two players on the Irish Mounted games team travelling to Windsor to represent their country namely Kate O’Connor and Kate Mulvihill. We sailed to England on Monday and set up camp on the grounds on Wednesday. The games were played over 5 days with 2 sessions per day and the final on Sunday afternoon. The points were carried through every day with double points on Sunday. After a shaky start the nerves settled and we won two sessions outright, the first time ever achieved by an Irish team, and by Saturday we were joint 1st with England with Wales 3rd. Unfortunately the final didn’t go our way but it was close right to the end with England 1st, Wales 2nd and Ireland 3rd.

 ITALY

 The Irish Mounted Games Team of Charlotte Blackmore, Rebecca Lait, Stephen Heffernan ,Heather Heffernan and Ailbhe McGuinness. We arrived in Dublin in the early morning of the7th May and were in Italy by early evening. The ponies, who were kindly and carefully transported by Ballinroe Transport, had arrived that morning and were waiting for us in the stables. We were greeted by the Capotondi family and kindly invited to eat with them that night. The weather was scorching and that night we ate outside with a traditional Italian meal.       

  The next day we had our first practice, in the morning we braved the warm sun, and got the feel for Italian soil. That evening we traveled into the city of Turin to witness its spectacular architecture and glorious views. Giuliano Capotondi kindly escorted us around Turin and we had a wonderful time shopping and eating there! We ate that night with the Pony Club and later went to an ice cream parlour for Italian ice cream (itsa the besta ica cream)!

  On Friday we had our briefing and met with the mayor of Turin! We were formally introduced to the large crowd that had gathered for the opening of the games.Most of the teams had arrived and the competition was to start the next day! After Saturday's competition we were lying second, with only points between all the teams. The 1st session on Sunday, did not go too well. The rules were different and difficult to get used to. We were eliminated in four of the games which pushed us to 4th place. We fought hard in the final session and in the end we moved up to third place with the Italians in second and the Swiss in first. We had a wonderful time and made many new friends including Italians,French and many others. I would like to thank everyone who made this wonderful trip possible.

  Report By Charlotte Blackmore

HUNTER TRIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS 2008 What a day -we arrived in the rain- walked the course in the rain- and competed in the rain! The course did not hold too many new surprises one or two changes from last year , namely a long option for the narrow Y fence which caused so much trouble last year; not many opted for this, and the fence rode well this year with most combinations taking the the straight route through . A new fence which did cause some problems was a pair of cottages offset on top of two mounds,these required precision riding, plenty of impulsion ,and gymnastic skills from the ponies due to the going deteriorating by the minute. Subsequently this fence was altered for the juniors and became two quite jumpable cottages on the flat instead . A knockable towards the end of the track, positioned after a galloping fence dissappointingly undid many perspective clear rounds.

This year a rule change was introduced -namely one fall = elimination. In our teams of 3 Jane O'Brien , Craig O'Connor and Maura O'Neill were caught out at the cottages,but all went on to compete in the consolation pairs in style ,Craig finishing 2nd . Mattie and Seamus Holohan with Jamie Deveraux succumbed to the slippery ground and Jamie had a fall, Mattie and Seamus then went on to finish 9th in the consolation pairs. Then it was the turn of the junior teams: Kate O'Connor and Kate Mulvahill, Bill and Charlie Carroll, Joss Murray and David Bergin, Leanne Sheehan and Saidhbh Sweeney, Joseph O'Hagen and Robert O'Donnell. Unfortunately the defenders of last years title,Kate O'Connor and Kate Mulvahill suffered a fall at the first water complex which was a great shame as they were showing good form in the lead up to the Championships, and as the junior consolation pairs were cancelled they could not show their true colours later either! Our former champions having had a fall really focused the minds of the subsequent teams, and they battled on in the relentless rain, at times with very little visability and not a stich of dry clothing . The conditions deteriorated by the minute, but the O'Connor /Martin Cup was hotly contested between two teams finishing on equal faults, Joseph and Robert, and Leanne and Saidhbh. The boys just pipped the girls by a few seconds,and went on to win the title.

As trainer for the day, I would like to compliment all riders, parents and supporters(clinging to their umbrellas and fighting their way through a mud bath)! The ponies and riders were beautifully turned out and all the hard work was noticed, even though one circuit of the warm up arena rendered both pony and rider filthy! All riders maintained a concentrated mind, and showed great tenacity in the awful conditions,they manged to bring their ponies and themselves home without injury and considering the day this was no mean feat!! Just to crown the day, when all was finished and the last bedraggled pony was boxed up and the tractors were busy towing trailers out of the carpark,the SUN came out ,just to tempt us to return and do it all again next year !!

Trainer Anne Croome- Carroll

Old News from 2006 and 2007

Old News from 2005