WEEK three of the Northern Lights NI Riding Club winter league was held on Sunday, November 6. It was great to see each and every one that supported the day, making it the success that it was.
Jumping started with the pony cross-poles class, then at 11am, pony competitors were able to join in a free Hallowe’en fancy dress competition, where rosettes for ‘Best Pony Costume’, ‘Best Unmounted Costume’ and ‘Best Mounted Fancy Dress’ were presented. It was fantastic to see such effort and everyone joining in the spirit of things. Winner of the ‘Best Unmounted Costume’ went to Annie Lee and ‘Snowy’; the ‘Best Mounted Costume’ went to Oliver McGlinchy on ‘Polo’, with a fabulous Darth Vadar costume and, finally, the ‘Best Mounted Fancy Dress’ went to Laoise Kelly and her pony ‘Spirit’.
Week three pony entries were brilliant – though again the knock-on was that horses didn’t commence until after 2pm and that was with the earlier 10am start!
The pony cross-poles class up to and including 50cm classes each had a special prize for the Best Turned Out, kindly organised by Melissaa Molloy. Winners received sponsored baseball caps from #poweredbybluegrass, #transformingnutrition, #teambluegrass, along with a goody bag. Melissaa came up with the idea as a way to encourage young riders to be proactive in turning themselves and their pony out for a show.
Moving on to the horses and, before any jumping was done, the fancy dress was judged; again it was brilliant to see so many taking the time to be part of it. A special mention has to go to Helen Forgrave and family, which included great-granny Lillian, baby Oscar, his dad Alistair and mum Ciara; not forgetting Joanne White with daughter Cali and ‘Tootsie’ the dragon.
Everything is still up for grabs, so good luck to all for the remaining weeks of the league. Many thanks to Kevin Hegarty of Hoof and Rim Photography for capturing these moments.
Event organisers were away buying the trophies and are very excited to be presenting these at the final, along with the prizes – which include rugs, saddle pads, head collars, blingy browbands, trophies, farrier vouchers and much more! The same competitor/ mount, must compete in four of the six weeks (one being the final) to be eligible for prizes.
Northern Lights NI Riding Club are indebted to Causeway Coast and Glens RDA Arena management for the opportunity to use the fabulous facilities of the RDA Causeway Coast and Glens Arena; a spokesperson said: “To have this state-of-the-art facility and all the amenities it offers, we feel very fortunate to be able to offer this to everyone that supports our events here”.
Causeway Coast and Glens RDA Arena is available to hire privately or as a group and it is not restricted to equestrianism; visit their website: www.CausewayCoastArena.co.uk and select ‘Arena Booking’ to check availability.
Margaret and crew in Trotters Café send a massive thank you for everyone’s support, all of which goes directly to the RDA, enabling them to provide the much-needed equine therapy sessions to the local disabled community.
A big shout out goes to everyone who volunteers and helps with the smooth running of these shows; the club couldn’t do this without them, so thank you very much! Organisers are looking forward to seeing everyone to do it all again – follow the Northern Lights NI Riding Club on Facebook and keep up-to-date with what’s happening in your local equine community.
The Northern Lights NI Riding Club would like to congratulate club member and ambassador, Rebecca Coulter of R Coulter Equestrian, Aghadowey for her recent success competing in the SJI TRI League, winning the 138 80cm and 90cm classes on her pony ‘Sam’s Secret’. Riding her pony ‘Jake’ they secured fourth place in the league and jumped a lovely double clear in the 90cm class to finish fourth on the day and claim seventh place in the league.
Heads Up
Sunday, January 8, 2023 starts a series of Cash Jumping days; £5 of each entry is ‘banked’ and all clear rounds will share the cash on the day!
RESULTS
Sunday, November 6
Best Turned Out Winners:
Cross-poles: Laoise Kelly, Spirit.
30/40cm: Rose Semple, Prince.
50cm: Amelia Doherty, Charlie.
Current placings for pony classes
Cross-poles: =1) Maya Taylor, The Gypsy King; Neala Grand, Lady P; =2) Cora O’Hagan, Dizzy; Laoise Kelly, Spirit; Grace McAuley, Konnie; =3) Molly Kerr, Dandy; Bronwyn O’Neill, Pippa.
30/40cm: 1) Cara Grant, Lady P; =2) Katie Surgenor, Tommy; Holly Surgenor, Spot; =3) Maya Taylor, The Gypsy King; Aoibhínn Kelly, Cindy.
50cm: 1) Miley Rouke, Cinnamon; 2) Tiernan’s McLaughlin, Greenans Pharaoh; 3) Katie Surgenor, Tommy.
60cm: 1) Rhianna Wylie, Sam; =2) Caleb Mitchell, Pebbles; Miley Rouke, Cinnamon; =3) Faith Lyndsey, Rex; Katie Kilpatrick, Dixie.
70cm: =1) Leah Wylie, Shadow; Megan Rouke, Rainbow; 2) Caleb Mitchell, Pebbles; =3) Lacy McLaughlin, Spirit; Katie McDonald, Molly; Amelia Cordy, Alaskin Kizzy.
80cm: =1) Megan Rouke, Rainbow; Lacey McLaughlin, Spirit; Kayla O’Donnell, My Mucker Man; Lacey McLaughlin, Flash; Ameilia Cordy, Alaskin Kizzy; 2) Katie McDonald, Molly; 3) Caitlin McCullough, Barney.
90cm: =1) Lacey McLaughlin, Flash; Josie Doherty, Charlie; Rebecca Coulter, Sam; 2) Victoria Greaves, Twister; =3) Kayla O’Donnell, My Mucker Man; Caitlin McCullough, Barney.
1m: 1) Rebecca Coulter, Sam; 2) Josie Doherty, Charlie.
Current placings for horse classes
60cm: 1) Melanie Moorhead, Little Miss Elle; 2) Lucy Donaghy, Lilah; 3) Erin Armstrong, Rosie.
70cm: 1) Marie O’Kane, Dixie; =2) Melanie Moorhead, Little Miss Elle; Erin Armstrong, Rosie; 3) Lucy Donaghy, Lilah.
80cm: 1) Helen Forgrave, Chance; =2) Marie O’Kane, Dixie; Kenzie Watt, Cruising On Finn; Ghislane Deaney, Ottie; Eilish McBride, Bonnie; Patricia Keenan, Charlie; Aaron Hamilton, Gusty; Shea Kearney, Lady; 3) Ella Louie Shaw, Tiernan Og.
90cm: 1) Helen Forgrave, Chance; 2) Stuart McCullough, Flash; 3) Kenzie Watt, Cruising On Finn.
1m: 1) Geoffrey Glass, Ollie; 2) Stuart McCullough, Flash; =3) Bethany Gordon, Hazel; Aaron Hamilton, Gusty.
1.10m: 1) Geoffrey Glass, Ollie; =2) Alana Lavery, Poppy; Joe Harding, Maisie; Hannah Patterson, Silver.
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