West Waterford Hunt Branch of the Irish Pony Club

Our club trophy was awarded to Gavin S. - well done Gavin!

This West Waterford Hunt Branch Trophy was awarded to Claire McA. - congratulations Claire!

Congratulations to Kirsty C., Lorna D., Aine O'B., Jill O'G., Daniel M., Cormac M., James N., Shane R. and Gavin S. who recently passed their C+ test.

As usual the Tetrathlon weekend was great fun but also quite exhausting. All our members did very well at the Tetrathlon Championships. Cormac M. who was our only Junior boy and thus on a multi club team came 8th with his team of only three riders. He had a perfect xc ride and a very good run. Likewise, Claire McA. being our only Senior girl was on a multi club team of three who came 11th. She had a very good xc ride only picking up a few time faults on Fudge who was possibly the smallest pony in the competition. Our Junior girls team consisting of Eimear O'B., Tabitha A., Katie G., and Beverly M. came a very good 12th. Beverly excelled at the shooting coming 9th in the individual shooting. She also had a good run and went clear xc only picking up a few time faults. She also swam very well. Eimear, as usual, had an excellent run and also an excellent xc round with no faults at all. She also shot very well on the day. Katie also had a very good shooting result. Tabitha was very unlucky with her horse pulling a shoe xc at the third fence but had a very good swimming result. Well done everybody!

Gavin S. was the overall winning individual in his arena having won the dressage in his arena and gone clear show jumping as well as cross-country. This is an exceptional achievement - great job Gavin!

Shay O'G. won the U12B competition at the Bunclody U12 ODE. Well done Shay!

Kirsty C. WON the Silver Spurs Finals in Marlton Stud on 22/08/09. This is an exceptional achievement especially for someone so young. Great job Kirsty!

Kirsty C. scored incredible 8.5's in the riding section of the Silver Spurs recently. No one else nationwide has come near this. She was the runaway winner in the Junior section. Maébh H. finished 2nd in her qualifier, to Rebecca Dunlea, who was the winner of the Pure dressage at the PC championships the following day in Mullingar. Maébh had a good weekend also, winning a novice competition, and coming 2nd in two prelims with very good quality competitors at the South Munster Dressage festival in Maryville. She was also on an U25's interprovincial team, and they won.

A particular "Well done!" goes to our John Ledingham team consisting of Aisling O'B., Damien F., Daniel M. and Gavin S. Despite having problems with one of the ponies they still managed to qualify for the IPC finals, where they represented us extremely well. In fact they were so professional that crowds gathered just to see them warm up - we're proud of you!

Congratulations also to all our Robbie Bailey teams who represented our club very well at the Area 3 Qualifiers, and only barely missed the finals.

Congratulations to all our members who have been doing very well at ODEs this year. It is very hard to place in a One Day Event since you have to excel at all three riding disciplines and doing well at Horse Trials is a great achievement!

Junior B - 2nd Kirsty C.

Junior A - 1st Gavin S.

Junior B - 4th Gavin S.
Junior C - 2nd Kirsty C.
U12 A - Jt. 3rd Shay O'G., Jt. 5th Sarah Cnl.
U12 B - 1st Mary S.

Intermediate B - 6th Colum McC.
Junior A - 3rd Jill O'G.
U12 A - Jt. 1st Lucy O'G., 3rd Sarah Cnl., 4th Eimear O'B.
U12 B - 3rd Shay O'G.

Junior A - 3rd Gavin S.
Junior B - 3rd Kirsty C., 5th Eimear O'B.
Junior C - 4th Tabitha A.
U12 A - 4th Aine F.
U12 B - 1st Sinéad F., Jt 3rd Sarah Cnl. and Shay O'G.

Emily G. won the 90cm registered pony class. Colm O'D. won the 70cm and 80cm registered pony finals. Well done both!

Congratulations to all our Minimus participants - you were great! Our boys team consisting of Shay O'G., Colm O'D., Anthony McA. and Nicholas C. placed 10th - well done - getting rosettes and our girls also did really well. Eimear O'B. couldn't make it after all the hard training because her school team played GAA that day. Mary S. unfortunately broke a bone in her foot after the xc on Saturday evening and couldn't run or swim on the Sunday. Tough luck - get well soon Mary! Sinéad F. won the individual girls' running, Jennifer H. came 5th in this and Sarah Cnl. 16th - their team placed 13th overall. Everyone else also did very well the other girls teams placing 30th, 38th (team of 3) and 51st (team of 3 with one down for swimming and running) out of 59 teams and everyone had lots of fun was a great credit to our club. We're proud of you!

At the IPC Hunter Trial Championships our members did really well. Claire McA., Colum McC., and James N. participated in the Senior Teams of 3 on a pony and two substitute horses since their own were still lame. Considering this, they did amazingly well catching only 10 penalty points, and finishing the tricky course in just over 6 minutes. Claire also started in the Senior Consolation Pairs for which she paired up with a member of the Golden Vales. The two of them placed 9th in this competition. In the Junior pairs we had two teams competing: Gavin S. & Colm G. did the course in 5.25 catching 10 penalty points, and Jonathan B. & Cormac M. managed to come home with only 5 penalty points but took 5.49. In the Junior Consolation Pairs Katie G. paired up with her friend from the Carberry branch to finish 7th in this competition. Well done all!

At Ballyrafter on 1st Feb 09, Kirsty C. & Aisling O'B. were on the winning team for Blackwater Community School. Aisling won the individual prize as well. Kirsty was 4th in the individuals, and Sarah Cnr. 7th. Brilliant lads!

At Ballyrafter on 25 Jan 09 Glenbeg NS, Dungarvan came 4th, with Nicholas C., Charlotte C. on the team, Scoil Mhuire Tallow placed 6th with Jack O'D., Eimear O'B., and Sarah Cnl. on the team. Colm G. won the indvidual, and Eimear O.B. was 6th. These are really great achievements. Excellent!

Alison & Sarah B. came 1st in the U12 pairs, Eimear O B. was 2nd in pony singles, and Claire McA. & Beverly M. won the teams of 3 horses. Well done all!

James N. came 2nd in the 90cm Horse class. Not many of our members compete in the horse classes. Well done James!

Nearly all the Unregistered Pony Classes were won by our members. Claire McA. won the 90cm league. Well done!

Colm O'D. came 4th in the 80cm finals in Thurles. His brother Jack O'D. came 4th in the 1m finals. Colm G. came 3rd in the Junior competition at the Kilmeaden Hunter Trials. Well done boys!

Congratulations to Sinead F. who won the national U11 girls XC running championships, and to Jennifer H. who came 3rd in the same competition! We're proud of you girls!!!