Cumann Marcaíochta Gaeltacht Dún na nGall

Best of luck and safe journey to Tricia, Laura, Anne, Rudy, Rachael, Ruth and their drivers/supporters who are travelling to the regional qualifier for the National Dressage Championships in Galway this weekend.

Letterkenny have announced the new date for their previously postponed Derby and Dressage show. The show will now take place on Sunday 30th June.

Unfortunately due to the torrential rain last night and with more forecast in the following days, Letterkenny RC have made the decision to postpone their Derby & Dressage show which was scheduled to take place this Sunday, 12th May. A new date has not been organised yet but will be announced as soon as it is.

With less than 4 weeks to go, the schedule has now been finalised for our Beach Show which will be held on Sunday 2nd June at Ballyness Bay, Falcarragh. There will be Clear Round jumping, individual graded jumping classes and novelty jumping classes for Primary/Adv Primary and Intermediate & Above. There will also be Dressage classes for all grades. There is a special price of €20 for Showjumping, Dressage and Novelty class. Stabling is available for free on a “first come, first served” basis, contact Roisin on 087-9180008 to book. We hope to have a good turnout from all clubs and hopefully Lawrence will do enough praying in the run up to the show to guarantee us good weather!

Beach Show 2013

There was a good turnout at the show jumping training on the beach on Monday 6th May. It was a great opportunity to get in some practice before Letterkenny’s Derby on Sunday and our own beach show on Sunday 2nd June. Photos can be viewed in the Gallery

Letterkenny Riding Club have now released the schedule for their highly anticipated Derby and Dressage Show. It will take place on Sunday 12th May at Hillsborough Farm, Ramelton – earlier than previous years in a hope to boost entries. This is a great days fun and competition and, being close to home, will hopefully attract a large number of competitors from all five of the Donegal Clubs. It’ll be a great opportunity for the club to try and get their hands on some of the coveted silverware up for grabs and with pairs novelty classes for both Primary/Adv Primary and Intermediate and above, and Dressage classes for all grades, it is guaranteed to be a great day out! Both jumping and Dressage begin at 11:30am sharp and you can enter all three (jumping, dressage and pairs) for the bargain price of only €30! This show requires a huge amount of work to pull off, similar to our beach show, so we should all endeavour to attend and compete to show our support for our neighbouring club! Tricia will be judging the jumping, I wonder how she feels about brown envelopes…

Letterkenny RC Derby & Dressage Show

Below are the results from Sunday’s Northwest Team Challenge – by all accounts it was a great days competition! Congratulations to Inishowen on winning the Show Jumping and Letterkenny for winning the Dressage. Well done to our own club on coming second in the Dressage and fourth in the Show Jumping! Roll on next year!!

nw-show-jumping-challenge-2013-results

nw-dressage-challenge-2013-results1

Photos can also be viewed on Inishowen’s website

Here are the finalised teams, jumping order and dressage times for the Northwest Team Challenge on Sunday. Good Luck to everyone!

NW Dressage Challenge 2013_Teams

NW Dressage Challenge 2013_Times

NW SJ Challenge 2013_Teams

NW SJ Challenge_Starting Order

Here are the Dressage times for Sunday’s competition – it’s going to be an exciting day!!

NW Dressage Challenge 2013_Test Times

We’re fielding three showjumping and two dressage teams for Sunday’s North West Team Challenge and with entries of 14 showjumping and 8 dressage teams, its going to be a fierecly competitive day!

Dressage times will be posted when they are issued.

Showjumping Team 1:

Rosaleen Harkin on Santa Cruz Lady (I), John mc Daid on Smithy Breeze (AI), Roisin Mc Gee on Marela (AP), Anne Harkin on Banshee Lady (AP).

Showjumping Team 2:

Mickey Mc Hugh on Freddie (I), Rachael Mc Crossan on Sioux Indian (I), Lawrence Smyth on Jenny’s Jigsaw (AP), Paul Curran on Cyd (P).

Showjumping Team 3:

Rachael Mc Crossan on Batteries not Included (I), Trish Warren on Colourado Kid (AI), and Denise Anderson on Queenie (P).

Dressage Team 1:

Trish Warren on Colourado Kid (O), Rachael Mc Crossan on Batteries not Included (I), Anne Harkin on Banshee Lady (AP), Denise Anderson on Queenie (AP).

Dressage Team 2:

Rachael Mc Crossan on Sioux Indian (I), John Mc Daid on Colourado Kid (AI), Roisin Mc Gee on Marela (AP).

Best of Luck to all competitors!

Pre-entry for the Regional Dressage Qualifier at Creagh Equestrian Centre, Ballinasloe closes on 12th May for individual entries, however if you wish to be part of a team please contact Patricia by Monday 29th April in order to facilitate teams being submitted to head office.

Dalysgrove Riding Club schedule.

Major changes introduced to this years National Dressage Championships

Below is the schedule for the Benbulben Riding Culb Show at Kerins Equestrian Centre, Tubberbride, Sligo on Sunday 5th May. Please note, dressage classes must be pre-entered by 1st May.

BENBULBEN RIDING CLUB spring show 2013

In advance of the North West Team Show Jumping and Dressage Challenge on Sunday 28th April at Eglinton Equestrian Centre, Derry, John Mc Daid has hired Eglinton this evening (22nd April) for training so if you want to have a school between 5pm and 7pm today, please contact John on 087-6963299.

On Wednesday evening (24th April) there is a flatwork lesson with Petra in Anne’s arena at 8pm (€20 per person). This will be a great chance to get in a bit of dressage practice before Sunday and indeed the Team Dressage qualifier in May.

Sunday’s north west team challenge is set to be a highly competitive day and if you haven’t already contacted Patricia to be on either a dressage or showjumping team (or preferably both!) please do so today as teams need to be formed as entries need to be with Libby tomorrow.

With the deadline of 30th April looming to declare teams to head office for the Team Dressage Qualifier (Creagh Equestrian Centre, Ballinasloe on 19th May) and the Team Show Jumping Qualifier (Kerins Equestrian Centre on 26th May) if you would like to compete on teams for your club, please contact Patricia as soon as possible so teams can be formed. The showjumping qualifier is open to riders graded Intermediate and above whereas the dressage qualifier is open to all grades. Each club can enter two teams so if you’re interested, get your name down soon – and remember to ensure that your horse is registered with the Airc.

Sunday 5th May sees a leg of the Masters Series qualifier taking place in Tubberbride, Sligo. This is a fantastic competitive opportunity for Intermediate and above riders and an opportunity to qualify for the prestigious Masters Series Finals which take place in Mullingar Equestrian Centre on Sunday 15th September.

Sunday May 12th is the highly anticipated Letterkenny Riding Clubs’ Derby show which has moved to an earlier spot in the calander this year in an attempt to boost numbers. This is a fantastic show, that, like our own beach show, requires a huge amount of effort to pull together and we should endeavour to support it by as many of our members turning out to compete as possible.

The Team Dressage Qualifier takes place on Sunday May 19th, with the month being rounded off by the Team Show Jumping qualifier on the 26th May.

June 2nd sees our annual beach show (a meeting will be called soon to organise all the details!) taking place in Ballyness Bay, for many, the highlight of the year!

8th and 9th June are the dates for this year’s Riding Clubs Festival and a larger than usual turnout is expected from the club this year – could this have anything to do with a certain tv crew?? Surely not!! Postal entries (made through club secretary) close on 24th April with online entries being accepted on http://www.airc.ie up until the 5th May so have a look at the schedule and get those entries in.

Sunday 16th June is the date Inishowen club have chosen for hosting their inaugural show which is a showjumping and dressage show and will be held in Lenamore – We wish them the best of luck and hope that it will be the first of many shows the new club will host.

For those interested in showing their horse or simply a great family day out, the Finn Valley Agricultural Show is scheduled this year for the 29th June. Further details are available on the Finn Valley Show facebook page or on the irish shows association website.

With a number of National Competitions and qualifiers taking place over the remaining summer months and the possibility of a regional training day being explored for the end of July, it’s all go!

If you have any queries relating to any of the events above, contact Patricia and she will point you in the right direction!

Many thanks to Liz for her great action shots taken at the National Hunter Trials in Gurteen!
For more see the Gallery