THE weather held out giving great conditions for the Northern Lights NI Riding Club End of Season Show jumping Show at the RDA Causeway Coast and Glens Arena on Sunday, August 14. The spectators and riders all made it a great day, with some travelling from as far as Donegal and Saintfield!
The pony cross-poles class was well supported and the many young jockeys starting out on their horse riding journey were all turned out beautifully; for some it was their debut show. Grace McAuley, a great supporter of local equestrian shows, riding her pony ‘Konni’ was delighted to win the class, followed closely by the youngest competitor Polly Watt on ‘Brocky’ and in third place was Willow Martin on ‘Brocky’ (keeping the ribbons in the family).
Grace McAuley on ‘Konni’ took first place in the 30/40cm pony class. Darcy McMichael and ‘Topper’, who were impeccably turned out, took second place and Maya Taylor on ‘The Gypsy King’ (aka ‘Tinker’) took third place. Club member Maya Taylor continues to show great progress, she is part of a group taking lessons through the Northern Lights NI Riding Club under the instruction of Kelly Galbraith. Congratulations to all!
The 50cm pony class was won by an avid supporter of the Northern Lights Riding Club NI, namely Cara Grant on her pony ‘Lady P’; Cara and her pony have come on so much over the last few months. Miley Rourke on ‘Cinnamon’ were delighted to take second place, closely followed in third place by Darcy McMichael on ‘Topper’.
Lacey McLaughlin is a young horse crazy girl, who loves nothing better than getting out on her ponies; she had an especially good day, as she took first place in the 60cm class on her pony ‘Spirit’. Leah Wylie took a well-deserved second place on ‘Shadow’ and was closely followed by Aoife McGarry on ‘Blackie’.
Leah Wylie was on fine winning form, as she took first place in the 70cm class with her pony ‘Shadow’, followed in second place by Lacey McLaughlin on ‘Flash’ and third place went to Heidi Smyth on ‘Buddy’. The 70cm class had some strong competition, so well done all.
Rebecca Coulter of R Coulter Equestrian, Aghadowey is no stranger to being in the ribbons and took first place on ‘Jake’ in the 80cm class, followed closely by Hannah Funston on ‘Buddy’ in second and Lacey McLaughlin on ‘Flash’ in third.
The 90cm pony class showed some strong competition and the support from spectators was fantastic. Spurring on into first place was Rebecca Coulter on her pony ‘Sam’s Secret’; second went to Clodagh Callaghan on ‘Gail’ and Victoria Greaves on ‘Twister’ took third.
The 1m pony class was again won by Rebecca Coulter on ‘Sam’s Secret’, followed closely by Clodagh Callaghan on ‘Gail’ and third place went to Victoria Greaves on ‘Twister’. Rebecca’s mum was feeling generous and, as Rebecca had already won two classes, she offered for the first prize to go down to the next winner, but Rebecca won her prize fairly and was encouraged to hold onto it (all timings were overseen by independent spectators Colleen Murtagh and Melissa Lemon).
Horse classes started with 60cm and Geoffrey Ross Glass on Melissa Lemon’s horse ‘Democrat Queen’ took first place, second went to Allison Taylor on ‘Sally’ and third went to local rider Erin Armstrong on ‘Rosie’.
The 70cm horse class was won by avid club member, Chloe Millar on ‘Nellie’, with Kenzie Watt on ‘Finn’ in second (correction of announced winner).
The 80cm horse class was well supported and placings went to Randalstown rider Helen Forgrave on her horse ‘Maddie’ in first, Emma Magowan on ‘Bonnie’ in second, with third going to Niamh Porter-Payne on ‘Bear’ and Kenzie Watt on ‘Nellie’ was delighted to take fourth place.
Hollie Williamson on ‘Pedro’ took a well-deserved first place in the 90cm horse class with Adam Kelly on ‘Lily’ in second and John Kilgore on ‘Bruce’ taking third.
The day’s jumping culminated with Geoffrey Ross Glass on his horse ‘Ollie’ taking first prize in the 1m class, followed closely in second by John Kilgore on ‘Bruce’ and Ryan Stewart on ‘Lucky’ taking third place.
There were some fantastic prizes up for grabs in both the pony and horse classes, including sweets for all cross-poles class competitors; horse treats, lead ropes, gloves, numnahs, vouchers, headcollars, socks, horse shampoo, hoof picks, hoof oil brushes, rugs, so competition was tough!
Aimee Torrens of Torrens Equestrian kindly sponsored prizes for the best turned out and the well-deserved prize for best turned out rider and pony went to Caitlin McCullough on ‘Barney’, while the best turned out horse and rider prize was presented to Helen Forgrave from Randalstown.
The winner of the 90cm horse class, Hollie Williamson was asked to do a random selection of raffle tickets, for which first prize of a horse care hamper was won by Melissa Lemon and a second prize of a fruit and wine hamper was won by Cara Grant.
Thank you to all the helpers, who not only ensured the day ran smoothly, but also added to the relaxed, friendly atmosphere. Many thanks to Cormac Murtagh, who took the photographs, which will be uploaded to Murtagh Photography or the club’s Facebook for viewing and orders (contact Cormac directly for enquiries and orders).
Thanks are also extended to the various sponsors for their generosity, including Nature’s Dawn Ireland (Gerard O’Neill); Steele’s Farm Supplies, Ballymoney; Hullabaloos Grill and Bar at Riverside Regional Centre, Coleraine.
The organising committee would like to express their gratitude to the RDA management for all their help in enabling the club to run this show using the fantastic facilities at the RDA Causeway Coast and Glens Arena. Lastly, a shout out to Margaret and Lauren in Trotters Café, who both send massive thanks for everyone’s support; 100% of your support goes directly to enabling the RDA to provide the much-needed therapy horse riding lessons to the local disabled community.
Thank you to everyone for the kind feedback on Facebook and at the show – it makes it all worthwhile.
The Northern Lights NI Riding Club will be holding a dressage day on Sunday, September 18 at RDA Causeway Coast and Glens Arena starting at 12 noon, everyone welcome – all details available on the Club Facebook page.
Armoy Show will be held at RDA Causeway Coast and Glens Arena on Saturday, August 27; check out Armoy Show Facebook for full details.
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