Summer Pony Camps at Dunbyrne Equestrian

We are delighted to have our Summer Pony Camps up and running for Summer 2024. We will be running pony camps every week starting the 2nd July.

Camps will run Tuesdays to Fridays from 9am to 5pm making them ideal fort busy parents, working parents and avid pony fans aged 6-17!

Camps will include 2 riding sessions each day, arts and crafts, stable management and games. We will have a camp riding display on the Friday that parents are of course welcome to come and watch.

Camps cost 250 euros which works out at just under 8 euro per hour giving great value for anyone wanting to learn about horses and ponies.

For our existing customers, camp can be booked using the links and information that the office will have sent you.

For anyone who hasnt ridden with us before we would ask you to come for a try it session (for beginners ) or an assessment session (for those who can ride). These last 30 minutes and cost 20 but if you proceed to book a camp afterwards, we will take the 20 euro paid off your camp balance for you. This means that you will essentially get your try it or assessment session free of charge,

For beginners, try it sessions allow parents to ensure their child enjoys horse riding before committing to a pony camp. For those who have ridden before, an assessment session allows riders to become familiar in a new place and allows our instructors to gauge their riding ability to ensure we place them in the right group.

You can learn more at this link - https://dunbyrneequestrian.ie/pony-camp

We are based at the Hill of Allen just between Milltown and Kilmeague in Kildare.

Please pop us an email dunbyrnestud@gmail.com with any enquiries

Winter Livery Available!

We have full livery available at our family run yard Located at the Hill of Allen five minutes from Coilog.

Perfect for those Autumn and Winter months full livery includes -

Your own stable in our beautiful courtyard. Stables have deep shavings beds, thick comfortable banks and proper ventilation

Daily muck out with shavings topped up twice a week

Hard feed twice a day and top quality haylage is included. Your own supplements added at your request.

Evening checks

Your horse turned out daily into individual paddocks and legs and feet hosed afterwards

Access to all of our facilities including the huge floodlit outdoor arena, the wooded hacking trails and the all weather gallops

Storage space in our heated rug room, access and space in our secure tack room and use of covered washbays

Owners and managers live on site to 24/7 someone is here with your horse

Flexible access hours

Additional services such as lessons with our onsite coaches and grooming and clipping treatments by our professional groom are available at reduced prices for our liveries

We believe horses thrive on routine and aim to create a happy and comfortable environment with the horse at the centre.

Our current livery client base are a fantastic positive bunch of people who enjoy a wealth of activities from competing at Dressage Ireland / Pony Club / Interschools / SJI to enjoying days out cross country schooling. They believe in enjoying their horses and are always keen to welcome new members to their equestrian adventures.

If you would like to enquire please email us dunbyrnestud@gmail.com

Cadogan family champions

Lynn Cadogan and her daughter Georgia have been proving that equestrian talent runs in the family!

Georgia and her Connemara pony Sapphire recently won the trailblazers preliminary championships at the Dressage Ireland national championships in Barnadown Co. Wexford. Georgia, who took to dressage over the past two years has trained her pony from scratch and also took fourth place in the novice championships. Coached by Lorna O’Hare, Georgia looks forwards now to transitioning to junior classes and aiming for qualification for the 2023 Winter Finals.

Lynn is a keen showjumper with her gelding Joe. A self confessed nervous rider when she first joined Dunbyrne Stud Lynn found her wings and has enjoyed showjumping at 70 and 80cm for the past two years. Lynn’s goal for years has been to jump 90cm. This weekend at a riding club competiton in Coilog in some very challenging weather Lynn achieved this goal. After placing fourth in the 80cm class, Lynn had a fabulous clear round in the 90cm class too. Lynn is looking forwards now to enjoying Joe through the rest of the West Leinster league.

We love helping clients to set and achieve SMART goals. We are delighted to see the progress and achievements that Lynn and Georgia have achieved

Holiday Livery

We recently had the lovely Kilian here for his holidays. Killian comes to us on holiday livery whenever his owner is on holidays. This allows her peace of mind that he is being looked after while she is away. He enjoyed his most recent stay and we look forward to seeing him again soon.

We offer short term and holiday livery all year round. Horses can either simply relax and enjoy time off in a daily routine while you are away or you can upgrade to our exercise option where they can be ridden on the flat, lunged or hacked so that they maintain fitness and are ready to go when you return.

If your horse enjoys a spa experience extra top up treatments (Trimming / clipping / pulling / bathing) are also available from our onsite professional groom while you are away.

Advance booking is essential. Email us - dunbyrnestud@gmail.com if you are heading on holidays and want to relax knowing your horse is in safe hands

Summer Livery available!

Summer has finally arrived! Our livery is perfect for enabling you to enjoy your horse in the Summer weather.

• Owners live onsite here at Dunbyrne so we have no strict opening or closing hours. This makes it ideal for you to enjoy those long bright evenings without any time constraints

• Our huge stables are well ventilated and airy.

• We have our onsite all weather sand gallops and our hacking trails with cross country elements. Perfect for unwinding with a hack after work or preparing for eventing.

• Coilog is just five minutes drive away and we are less than 30 minutes from Redhills / JAG. Why not get out and enjoy those summer competitions?

• Heading on holiday? No problem. If your horse is also having a break they can relax in our capable hands or you can upgrade to exercise livery (hacking / lunging / flatwork) to keep them ticking over so that they are ready to go again when you are.

• Working towards a goal? Our onsite coaches can help you to achieve your goals through systematic training.

http://dunbyrneequestrian.ie/livery

Dunbyrne Dressage Dynamos!

This Spring has seen a hive of activity at Dunbyrne Equestrian livery yard and Dunbyrne Riding Club.

Our liveries and riding club members have been busy taking part in Dressage Ireland and AIRC competitions across all levels.

We love seeing our riders progressing through the levels from their first tests to riding at National Championships. We would like to share a celebrate some of our dressage milestones this year.

Myriam & Beau - from showjumpers to dressage super stars.

Myriam and Beau joined our yard as showjumpers. This is hard to believe now that they are known as our resident dressage unicorns! Myriams transition to dressage is a lovely example of how an ex racehorse can go on to thrive in a new role. From starting dressage last year at riding club this pair have gone from strength to strength through dedication and training. They were second in the Dressage Ireland National Winter finals and have just had a great weekend where they won their Dressage Ireland novice class and just found out that they have won the West Leinster Riding Club regions spring dressage league!

Georgia and Sapphire

Georgia and Sapphire attempted their first dressage test last year for an online competition. Sapphire had never done a test in her life and the goal was to stay in the arena! There were emotions and hard work to finish the test which scored sub 60% but which started them on their way.

Through sheer hard work, practice and systematic training Georgia has trained her pony to be a national champion. At the National Winter finals Georgia and Sapphire won their prelim trailblazer championship and took second in the novice. This is a huge achievement in just a year with much more to come. Most recently Georgia’s sister Grace rode in her first ever show at Dressage Ireland winning her intro class on an incredible 79% talent must run in the family!

Blanaid & Flame

Recently taken to the Dressage sphere Blanaid and Flame had enjoyed competing but struggles with moments of tension and a lack of accuracy affecting scores. Before their last show they under went a series of training sessions with one of our onsite coaches which included coaching on and offsite and competition warm up. They managed a much higher personal best score of over 71% and took third place their highest placing to date.

Lorna & Sammy

It’s hard to believe that Sammy was once a tearaway cob bought from a dealer and unsuitable for several roles! Over the years he has proven himself as a true all rounder. Sammy recently won the elementary and medium leagues at Leinster Dressage and placed in the medium championships at the Dressage Ireland WInter Finals. Yet another example of how horses can successfully change career.

We believe in a basic and consistent routine that horses thrive on.

We believe in systematic training using the FEI scales of training.

We are Dunbyrne Equestrian.

Would you like to join us? We have livery available. http://dunbyrneequestrian.ie/livery

Dunbyrne Riding Club success At AIRC Autumn Leagues

The West Leinster region of riding clubs awarded prizes last week to combinations placed in the Autumn showjumping and dressage leagues.

We would like to say a huge congratulations to Dunbyrne Riding C|ub member Lynn Cadogan. Lynn and her black gelding Shooting Star Joe won the primary showjumping and dressage leagues. This was an incredible achievement especially given it was the first league Lynn has ever done.

Lynn a absolutely defines everything we aim to train at Dunbyrne - constant learning and development, hard work, dedication and a healthy attitude to competition.

Suzanne Conroy also did well in the riding club dressage league. Suzanne and her mare Tilly only joined Dunbyrne riding club this year and have come on so much in terms of confidence and ability. They took second place in the primary dressage league.

Anna Marie Curry and her mare Ely Pixie placed third in the intermediate league. This is always such a big and competitive class but their consistent performances earned them a podium finish.

In the showjumping Ciara Geraghty took third place in the sportsmans with her mare Flo. This was a brilliant result in what was their first ever league together. This is a new partnership and Ciara and Flo are proving to be a wonderful match.

Congratulations also to Myriam Bunter one of our liveries who placed second in the advanced intermediate dressage league with Star of Rubykan (aka Beau). Myriam joined us initially as a showjumper / eventer but she has absolutely caught the dressage bug since joining Dunbyrne and we are delighted to see her progressing in both riding club and Dressage Ireland.

Dunbyrne Riding Club is based at Dunbyrne Equestrian in Co. Kildare. We welcome like minded new members who like to enjoy their horses. To enquire, email dunbyrnestud@gmail.com

Full Livery Available

We have full livery available in our courtyard stables.

Our liveries are housed in our beautiful courtyard where horses enjoy spacious stables with deep, warm shavings beds and great ventilation.

Horses are fed top quality haylage and feed twice a day.

Horses are mucked out daily and fresh bedding is provided twice a week.

Liveries have access to all facilities including our 50*70m outdoor livery arena, our 4.5 furlong sand gallops and our wooded hacking trail.

Our yard is family run and the owners live onsite so there is always someone here with your horse and this arrangement allows us to be completely flexible on opening hours.

We have BHS and HSI qualified coaches onsite who can give qualified advise and support and coaching at competitive rates.

We are located just ten minutes from Coilog and within a half hours drive of competition venues such as Greenogue, Redhills and JAG.

As a yard we believe in good old fashioned horse care - horses thrive on routine and our professional team provide this daily. We believe in stables where horses have a view of what’s going on and are not bored, where stable beds are deep and warm and stables have good ventilation. We believe in good quality feeding and in providing qualified advice. We believe in putting the horse first in everything we do. We embrace the training scale and love seeing our clients learn and progress.

To arrange to view the yard please whats app 0858059529 or email dunbyrnestud@gmail.com

BHS Ridden Exams - What does it take to pass?

In May this year our two British Horse Society Accredited Coaches, Ross and Lorna attended the two day BHS Conference in Cavan. One of the many talks presented was by Alex Copeland and Tim Downes and centred around how candidates are assessed for ridden examinations and what is required to pass.

The pair explained that the pass criteria varies through the exam structure.

• At Stage 1 level, all marks (100%) are available for the riding and 70% is required for a pass to be achieved.

• At Stage 2 level, 80% of the marks are available for the riding and 20% for the oral section. 70% overall is required to pass

• At Stage 3 level 70% of the marks are available for riding and 30% for the oral section. 70% overall is required to pass.

• At Stage 4 level, 60% of marks are available for the riding section and 40% for the oral section. 70% overall is required to pass. This means that a candidate cannot pass on their riding alone - they must be able to evaluate and talk.

• At Stage 5 50% of marks are available for riding and 50% for the oral section. This underlines that the qualification is not just about being able to ride - candidates must be able to evaluate an animals way of going, to explain what they are feeling and have done and to understand how to progress

Alex and Tim also explained that assessors will assess whether a candidate is lacking in skills or if they have skills which are developed in the wrong way. It is more of a concern to see incorrect training and habits (for example a rider thinking they should pull the head in and giving incorrect aids) than to see embryonic skills needing development.

The differences between Stage 1 and Stage 2 riding exams were clarified by the team:

• The team clarified that at Stage one candidates are required to walk and trot without stirrups where as at Stage two they must also canter.

• In stage one the light seat is introduced where as in Stage 2 candidates must jump

• In Stage 2 assessors must gauge how well balanced is the rider and are they effective enough to ride a horse forward to a fence. Sabrina Jones explained that the new skills record which must be signed off by a professional accredited coach before a candidate can attempt their Stage 2 exam has meant that far less candidates are being stopped before the jumping phase.

The team explained that at all levels people make mistakes but assessors are not looking to fail anyone on a small mistake. In fact the team will question to identify if the candidate understands the background of why something should be done a certain way - for example where a candidate has their stirrup twisted the wrong way the assessor will question to ascertain if the candidate understands the correct way and why.

The exam structures are designed to future proof riders because following process and technique means riders will go on to ride at a higher level.

Information provided around Stage 3 and 4 riding exams gave the following insights:

• At Stage 4 level it was clarified that the assessors will have sat up on the horses that candidates will ride beforehand and that at this level candidates may ride horses “long and low”. in fact at Stage 3 and 4 assessors don’t want to see people candidates riding immediately in a dressage test outline and do not wish to see riders riding movements without understanding why a movement is or is not beneficial to the horse.

• At stage 3 and 4 level the candidates need to be able to influence the horse so balance is key as is a basic understanding that the horse out of balance users their head and neck to balance. Riders with bad balance pulling a horse on the bit is an issue as the horse cannot work correctly. Assessors see too many riders riding backwards thinking they must ride a horse in a frame - they want to see that the rider is balanced and can ride forward into an outline.

• At Stage 4 the horse should lift frame and go into the elementary balance with the withers up.

• A lot of riders at Stage 3 and 4 level say ‘I am going to use transitions to improve the horse’ but it is important to remember that only good transitions improve the horse, bad ones don’t!

• Riders at Stage 3 and 4 level should read the horse they are riding and should be surprised and comment if a thoroughbred is lazy rather than or a cob is sharp off the aids. Candidates should understand the makeup of the horse, what it typically goes like and should comment if it is not true to type. As Tim said ‘if a 30 year old Land Rover drives like a Ferrari - you would be surprised and would comment on it’

• At Stage 3 and 4 correct candidates are starting to influence the horse. At Stage 3 the odd support aid in the rein is understood. At Stage 3 the intention should be to ride forward with independent aids - at Stage 4 candidates should be doing this. The biggest issue seen by assessors is candidates intentionally riding the horse backwards. Intention is key - the rider must show that they intend to ride a horse forwards into the contact in balance even if they have not yet achieved it.

• At Stage 3 a candidate can be unsuccessful in their flatwork exam but if they are workmanlike and sufficiently balanced they can go on to pass their jumping exam as they have been seen jumping at Stage 2 and have been signed off for Stage 3 jumping.

• At Stage 4 under the new format there will be a specific dressage assessment -candidates will ride one horse that is at elementary level, one that is not yet there yet and one that they ride over trot and canter poles. In showjumping candidates will ride three horses - one to do with riding over a course, one to ride related distances and one to show how they develop flatwork into jumping using poles.

• At Stage 4 the rider needs to be training the horse and candidates need to take responsibility for the how the horse is going when solving problems. When discussing fixing issues self reflection is important and candidates need to say not just what they will do to the horse but also what they will change in their riding

• A sign off for Stage 4 wont be mandatory until next year.

• At Stage 5 there wont be a sign off book instead candidates will complete a training and cpd log which they will bring with them and discuss.

At Dunbyrne Equestrian we have our own onsite BHS Assessor and BHSI Ross O’Hare. If you are working towards your BHS riding exams and need some training, sign off for exams or a mock assessment please get in touch - dunbyrnestud@gmail.com

Dunbyrne Summer Camp 2019

Summer Pony Camp 2019!

Welcome to Summer 2019. Many of you have been very proactive and have contacted us to enquire about Pony Camps. Thank you for your patience while we created our Summer time table. This blog post aims to tell you everything you need to know about summer pony camps at Dunbyrne Equestrian. 

Dates:

We aim to run camps on the dates listed below subject to a minimum number of bookings per camp. Camps run from Tuesdays through to Fridays from 10am to 4pm. 

• Tuesday 2nd July - All levels, beginners welcome

• Tuesday 9th July - All levels, beginners welcome

• Tuesday 16th July - All levels, beginners welcome

• Tuesday 23rd July - All levels, beginners welcome

• Tuesday 30th July - Advanced camp, approval required pre booking.

• Tuesday 6th August - All levels, beginners welcome

• Tuesday 13th August - All levels, beginners welcome

• Tuesday 20th August - All levels, beginners welcome

Times:

Pony camp runs from 10am to 4pm. On the first day campers should arrive by 9.45am for registration. Campers should aim to be on time each day. Campers must be collected before 4.15pm each day. 

What to wear:

We can and will provide a hat of approved standard and a back protector free of charge for use during riding lessons. We have a limited number available. We also have riding boots in a limited number of sizes that can be borrowed. We ask that you wear boots with a heel, a long sleeved top (without a hood) and jodphurs / breeches / thick tracksuit bottoms. Long hair must be tied up at all times and jewellery aside from small stud earrings may not be worn

What to Bring:

Campers should bring a change of clothes, waterproofs and a packed lunch. 

What happens at pony camp?

Tuesday to Thursday - campers will ride under instruction from BHS instructors, take stable management lessons where they will learn how to look after their pony and will enjoy games and activities. Riding lessons will comprise of flat work and jumping and where appropriate, cross country and hacking . 

On the Friday we will have a show where campers will get their ponies ready before show casing their skills over a course of fences / obstacles in the afternoon followed by a prize giving. We would encourage parents and guardians to come and watch the show if possible as the children really enjoy it. 

Costs:

Pony camp costs €130 per child per week for one child or €120 per child per week for two or more children from the same family or for agency bookings. We believe that our prices are fair and competitive given the quality of instruction provided. All of our instructors are 18 and over and BHS (British Horse Society) qualified with first aid training, Safeguarding and Garda Vetting. Please do not ask for discounts as refusal may offend.

Levels:

We welcome all levels for pony camp aside from our advanced camp which takes place the week of July 30th. Advanced camp is restricted to our more advanced riders. If you are a regular client and unsure if advanced camp will suit you please ask your instructor for advice.

Where we have a mixture of levels in pony camp we will cater to those levels and will split classes where we have quantities to do so. While we welcome advanced riders our ponies are riding school ponies and therefore any jumping will take place over an appropriate height. 

Booking:

To book a place on Pony Camp please email us - dunbyrnestud@gmail.com. the team are unable to take booking in the riding school - please email to book so that we can ensure that we have everything in order and your child can enjoy camp.

Children must be aged six years or over to attend camp.

When booking, please advise us of the following information

• Campers name

• campers age / height / weight,

• Name and number of emergency contact / next of kin

• campers level of riding experience,

• Which camp you would like to do.

• Any allergies or illnesses.

  A €30 non refundable booking deposit per child will be required in advance to secure your booking. Places are limited so please book soon as only bookings with a deposit paid will be confirmed. You can pay your deposit by bank transfer (putting your name as reference, by paypal or by cash / cheque. Cash / cheque payments will only be accepted by the riding school when in an envelope labelled with your name, childs name and the camp that you are paying a deposit for.

  Your balance will be due before camp commences. This can be paid on the first day of camp at 9.45am by cash or cheque or you can pay us in advance by bank transfer or paypal.

Jumping into 2019

It was the first show of 2019 yesterday for a number of our riders and some of the DBS horses. We are located just ten minutes from Coilog which gives us easy access to a great competition venue. Coilog are currently running an unregistered combined training league which is a brilliant opportunity to get horses back into competition mode with a choice of levels.

Rory competed in the dressage with our beautiful bay home bred mare Chanel. This was this mare’s first competition and also her first ever offsite outing but she has a very sensible and mature attitude and took it all in her stride scoring over 68%. She is definitely one to watch.

Rory also competed with bay gelding Oisin in the 90cm combined training. They led from the dressage phase and delivered a smooth clear round to take the overall win.

Lorna and Sammy (DBS Second Chance) had their first outing of the year in the metre combined training. They had a solid dressage test and a clear round in the showjumping phase earned them second place.

Sisters Niamh and Sinead Davitt made their debut outing with their bay mare Star. Both girls were delighted with their double clears in the 80cm showjumping class. Star (Killelton Starlight) was a surprise Christmas present and she definitely lives up to her name!

Our team and clients have a busy schedule ahead of them in the coming weeks as they get into the 2019 season and make the most of the longer evenings. We love coaching our clients and helping them to set and achieve goals. We also take pride in producing and showcasing our own DBS horses. We look forward to doing plenty more of both this Spring.

Dunbyrne Christmas Show

Our Christmas Show took place on Saturday 22nd December. We had a Christmas festival feel with a tea, coffee and hot chocolate van, a stand with local plastic free soap supplier Janni Bars and the Holmestead Saddlery mobile tack shop.

We were really overwhelmed by the fantastic turnout on the day and would like to thank all of our clients for taking part. We were really proud to see how much riders have improved and especially to see some of our riding school clients placing in the maxi showjumping class. Congratulations to all of our prize winners and clear rounds.

Our riding school is currently closed for Christmas and lessons for our regular clients will resume on Saturday 5th January.

Results:

Dressage:

Under 10:

1) Caoimhe Logan (Lone Ranger)

Under 12:

1) Zara Logan (Dustmister)

2) Ella Callan (Millie)

3) Caitlin Harrington (Cosmic)

4) Kayla Brown (Betty Blue)

Preliminary:

1) Orla Harrington (Othello)

2) The Alders Bobby Dazzler (Laura Kavanagh)

3) Millionaire Monty (Aoife Harrington)

4) Miia Pekkala (Chanel)

5) Suzanne Walsh (Yukon Don)

Novice:

1) The Alders Bobby Dazzler (Laura Kavanagh)

2) Rebecca Hoary (Honey)

3) Tabitha Walsh (Yukon Don)

Show Jumping:

Mini:

Shared between: Caoimhe Logan, Kayla Brown, Grace St. John, Rachael Gordon, Isabelle Smith, Emily Smith, James Smith, Emily Keegan, Simon Keane, Bradley Kavanagh, Joey Gordon, Ella Brown, Maeve McGrath, Charlotte kelly, John O’Connor, Robin Byrne Healy, Sophie Evans, Robyn keogh, Alannah Hilliard Duff, Sally Grogan, Alannah Balfe, Laura Tierney, Emer Markey, Aoibhe Murphy, Zaren Zammit, Nicolena Zammit

Midi:

1) Niamh Davitt (Star)

2) Zara Logan (Dustmister)

3) Sophie Flood (Monty)

4) Jessica McBride 9merrylegs)

5) Jessica Dunne 9Shadow)

6) Faith Wilson (Domino)

Clear rounds: Aoibhe Murphy, Saoire Byrne, Emma O’Carroll, Lila Traynor, Ciaran Carty, Anna Mooney, Gemma Carter, Kate Dooley, Fergus Dunne. Lucy Byrne, Sophia Manning

Maxi:

1) Caitlin Harrington (Cosmic)

2) Niamh Davitt (Star)

3) Ellie O’Keefe (Ludo)

3) Molly Dunne (Phoenix)

4) Tabitha Walsh (Vee)

5) Ella Callan (Millie)

5) Chloe Wyeth (Dan)

6) Thomas Cruise (Dan)

Super Maxi:

1) Aoife Harrington (Cosmic)

2) Tabitha Walsh (Yukon Don)

3) Sinead Davitt (Star)

4) Ella Callan (Millie)

5) Molly Dunne (Phoenix)

6) Emma Keogh (Shadow)

Best Costume - Caitlin Harrington & Cosmic

Best SJ Round - Tabitha Walsh

No Slacking November

Forget no stirrups November - what we have got here is no slacking November! The weather has turned, leaves are falling, the evenings are dark and yet we have been so impressed by the dedication of our clients to continue to work hard with their horses and improve.

Halloween Pony Camp

We had our Halloween Camp from the 30th October to the 2nd November. This was our biggest camp ever with over 30 attendees! Thank you to our instructors - Tara, Rebecca, Samantha, Mary and our team for making it the success that it was.

Pony Club Halloween Show

On Friday the 2nd November a group of DBS Tail Blazers went to Coilog with Lorna for the Newcastle Lyons Pony Club Halloween Show. This group of riders really excelled on the day and did Dunbyrne Proud! Zara, Caoimhe, Sive, Sinead and Ella gave it socks in the jump off against the clock earning well deserved rosettes. it was Caoimhe’s first ever pony club show and her pony Judy was on flying form. Zara and Ella were on new mounts and are on the way to growing successful partnerships with them. Laura and Bobby took on the fences in the biggest class with great confidence. Thank you to Newcastle Lyons for a great show.

Riding Club Autumn league success

Our riding club members have been knocking it out of the park in terms of results lately and have turned into a real group of show jumpers and dressage divas. We were delighted to see how well our club was represented in the final results of both the Dressage and Showjumping West Leinster Autumn leagues.

• Michelle Davitt, second place in the primary showjumping league

• Cailey bergin sixth place in the primary showjumping league

• Tori Cummins Kennedy sixth place in the advanced primary league

• Susanne Walsh second place in the primary dressage league

• Deirdre Doyle sixth in the primary dressage league

• Mary Wade winner of the intermediate dressage league

• Miia Pekkala fifth place advanced intermediate dressage league

• Lorna O’Hare winner open dressage league.

Well done everyone! Great to see the hard work paying off. Well done also to Emma Downey second in the open league, Emma trains with Ross O’Hare and has put huge efforts into her training this year.

We look forward to seeing their riders collect their prizes at the Regional awards night later on in the month. We have sponsored a lesson with Ross and lesson with Lorna at Dunbyrne as prizes for the raffle on the night and Lorna (Equestrian Reality) will present an prize sponsored by Clippers Ireland to the best dressed human on the night

Dressage Ireland success

Orla Harrington and her four year old Othello set out to compete this Autumn with the goal of qualifying for the Dressage Ireland Winter Finals at Cavan in April. In just two shows, one of which was in some pretty horrific weather conditions this pair nailed it and have achieved their qualifying scores to earn them a place in the preliminary finals. They will work now towards Novice over the winter training with Ross - what a brilliant start to Othellos dressage career.

Grid Work Sessions

Ross our BHSI has started running grid work sessions at 2pm on a Saturday. These sessions use grids to help riders to gain confidence in their show jumping and progress over height. Starting at 80cm and working upwards during the hour these grid work sessions are open to our liveries, our riding club members and also to anyone who wishes to travel to us to take part. Just contact us at dunbyrnestud@gmail.com to get involved!

Pony Club Championships Success

The Irish Pony Club championships took place last week at Barndown and we had a number of excited DBS Tail Blazers heading down to compete in the event for the first time. Sive Murphy and Molly Dunne travelled down on Thursday to compete in the combined training. Sive and her pony Cooper had an amazing dressage score followed by a clear round show jumping to take fourth place in the Under ten combined training! 

Laura Kavanagh competed on the Newcastle Lyons pure dressage team with her pony The Alders Bobby Dazzler. The team took sixth place in a hotly contested competition. Laura and Bobby also competed in the open novice combined training where they placed fourth over all and also received a special award for getting the highest score awarded in the dressage phase. This was a fantastic achievement for Laura who was also recently awarded camper of the year at the pony club summer pony camp. 

On Friday Niamh Davitt, Sinead Davitt, Molly Dunne and Sive Murphy formed part of a team of fourteen riders who competed in the musical ride. They rode their world cup display to music by Lorna and movements Choreographed by Anne O'Connor. The team only started practicing last month and were delighted to take fifth place in the competition. With the coaches, parents and children all feeling enthralled and inspired by the various routines in the competition its safe to say this will be on the radar again next year! 

Livery Available!

Summer livery!

We are delighted to be able to offer some spaces in our stable court yard for livery this Summer. We have the following services available from the first of June. Whether you and your horse need a change of scene, some schooling or a makeover - we can cover it. 

Full livery:

Full livery allows your horse to live in one of our spacious stables in the courtyard with a deep shavings bed. High quality feed twice a day, haylage three times a day, daily mucking out and fresh shavings twice a week are included. We do daily turnout into individual paddocks where horses can enjoy the summer weather and grass. 

Liveries can enjoy facilities such as our 70 * 50m all weather arena, sand gallops and wooded hacking trail, cross country field, secure tack room, free horsebox parking and heated rug room. We have an onsite riding school but this is housed in a separate tack room, arena and stable barn. 

We live onsite so the stable yard has no restriction on opening hours for livery clients. We also have a BHSI and two HSI coaches onsite for all of your training needs. Our riding club Dunbyrne Riding Club is based around the yard and is ideal for the amateur competitor. 

Schooling, exercise and Holiday livery:

Going on holidays? Tied up with work commitments? Need a break?

If you need someone to look after your horse while you are away or when you are busy, book in for holiday, schooling or exercise livery. Your horse will enjoy all of the benefits of full livery plus you can select to have them exercised by the team, schooled by our BHSI or groomed, trimmed and pampered by our BHS qualified groom. Come back to a well mannered horse who looks fabulous. *prices vary based on options selected

Coaching Livery:

Are you working towards a specific competition or championships? Our BHSI has trained clients to championship level in Dressage Ireland, Eventing Ireland, Showing, Pony Club and Riding Livery. Coaching livery allows you to train with our BHSI several times a week while on livery to maximise your performance. 

To talk to us about any of these livery options please call 0858059529 / 0862222440 or email dunbyrnestud@gmail.com

Making A Show Of Ourselves

It's mid April and it has been another busy week at Dunbyrne. On Friday the 13th our team took part in a local table quiz held in aid of My Lovely Horse Rescue. Our team, the DBS Bar Flies (Stine, Tori, Miia and Lorna) came second. We had sponsored some prizes for the raffle in aid of this good cause so two lucky raffle winners won a voucher for a private lesson with Ross and Lorna. 

On Saturday a group of our DBS Tail Blazers enjoyed pony club cross country training at The Field Equestrian in Ballyadams. Zara, Hannah, Mia, Sinead and Molly took part with Lorna instructing and had great fun tackling the water fences, steps and combinations. 

On Sunday Dunbyrne Riding Club held our leg of the West Leinster Region Linda Moore Showjumping League. Our own members did us proud on home turf. Michelle Davitt and Zono won the primary class - their second win in a row in the league. Tori Cummins Kennedy then won the advanced primary class. Lorna and Sammy competed in the advanced intermediate class with just four faults. Well done to all the winners on the day - Michelle Davitt (Primary), Tori Cummins Kennedy (advanced primary), Gay Parkinson (Sportsmans) , Audrey O'Dwyer (Intermediate), Grainne Alexander (Advanced Intermediate), Caoimhe Delaney (Open). We ran a coffee shop on the day to raise money for the Irish Horse Welfare Trust

Laura Kavanagh headed off hunter trialling with Bobby yesterday while Hannah Groves travelled to the Interschools at Mullingar with Brogan competing on a team who earned sixth place in the final. 

Orla and Aoife Harrington were at Killossery yesterday for the Dressage ireland league final in the Leinster region. Aoife and Cosmic placed second in both classes to take second overall in the league in both the Preliminary and Novice categories. Orla placed third in the league on the elementary class. 

Supporting Spring Success

With the beast from the east and the son of the beast finally moving on it has been a relief for us and our clients that we can all come out of hiding from riding, get back in the saddle and make up for lost time over the past few weeks.

The first week of April saw a hectic schedule with some very promising results. We have a dynamic group of riders here at the moment performing across a variety of disciplines under different governing bodies.  

Stine Anderson has been working hard through the Winter to prepare Alva Gunne's show horse Dutchess for the Northern Ireland Festival. The pair competed this weekend winning the 90cm Working Hunter which was a great result and ideal preparation for heading to Cavan for this festival next week. 

Mia Browne and Hannah Groves headed to Annaharvery for their first ever hunter trials at the weekend. These two DBS Tail Blazers are keen Pony Club members and wanted some hunter trial experience to compliment their minimus training. They flew around the pre-novice pairs with their ponies Belle and Brogan. 

Sisters Orla and Aoife Harrington were at Cavan this weekend for the Dressage Ireland Winter Finals. Aoife and Cosmic took fourth place in the Junior Trailblazers preliminary championship while Orla and Semperit were 9th in the Elementary Category 2 championship.

With private lessons, DBS Tail Blazers and Pony Club coaching scheduled for this week we are delighted to see so much enthusiasm for training and learning from our riders here at Dunbyrne and look forward to seeing what the Spring and Summer competition season will bring.  

Riding Club will be the main focus for Dunbyrne Equestrian next weekend when we host our leg of the West Leinster Region Linda Moore league on Sunday the 15th April. 

Blazing a trail at Dressage Ireland

We have a number of talented young riders at Dunbyrne Equestrian and recently two of our coaches Ross O'Hare BHSI and Lorna Keogh (BHS/HSI) formed what we now call the Dunbyrne Tailblazers. The tailblazers team allows these riders access to quality competition coaching to encourage them to improve their riding and to compete with a positive mindset.

The first tailblazers sessions focused on dressage with riders learning the dressage arena and letters and how to ride the movements within a test. After three weeks of training the team travelled to JAG in November with the Dunbyrne lorry to compete at Dressage Ireland in the trailblazers competitions for young riders. This day out, the first ever dressage competition for the team was a great success with everyone scoring above 60% and lots of positive and developmental feedback from the judges to work on. Zara Logan, Sive Murphy and Hannah Groves competed in the mini trailblazers while Niamh Davitt, Laura Kavanagh, Blaithnaid Sharpe and Molly Dunne all competed in the junior trailblazers. 

Aoife Harrington, a young rider who has been competing for over a year at Dressage Ireland Trailblazers acted as a guide for the tailblazers team members, riding test demonstrations to help them to learn their tests while her sister Orla a successful competitor at Dressage Ireland and riding club was at JAG on the day to help the riders on their first day out. Aoife travelled to Marlton last weekend to compete at Trailblazers. She scored an impressive 73% in her prelim test to take second place. Aoife also rode her first ever novice test on the day earning third place and a good score with plenty to work on for 2018 to progress at this level. 

As the tailblazers team has evolved at Dunbyrne Equestrian we have started to include showjumping coaching into the schedule. Our team have been learning how to ride lines, jump combinations and count strides. We have a showjumping session planned for Saturday as well as a talk for the team on competing with a healthy, positive and balanced approach to competition.  Our riders will compete on Sunday at dressage and showjumping at our Christmas Show - we cant wait to see them in action 

Interschooling Around

We are always delighted to see the variety of activities that our clients take part in across different disciplines. A group of our young riders have been taking part in the Equestrian Interschools showjumping league which runs throughout Ireland from Autumn to May.

Aoife Harrington, Lola Gabor Sweeney and Laura Kavanagh are three talented teenage riders who are stabled at Dunbyrne Equestrian and who attend Newbridge college and  compete for the school in team and individual competitions. The girls and their parents have travelled far and wide to compete at various venues throughout the country. 

Laura competes with her bay gelding Bobby who she became the owner of last year. The pair have gone from strength to strength and have become a really consistent team. Lola Gabor Sweeney competed up to recently with her pony Miss Gort who she unfortunately outgrew. Lola's new mount is a bigger horse, a bay gelding called Murphy. Lola has been getting to grips with her new horse and has made a quick and smooth transition already competing successfully with him just a few weeks into ownership. Aoife Harrington, a keen dressage rider is enjoying her first season at Interschools with her grey pony Milkyway (Cosmic). The pair had a very successful outing recently where they completed four clear rounds in one day. 

The girls have been consistent performers so far in the season achieving several team and individual placings. This weekend Lola and Aoife competed together on a team of just three instead of four riders at Wexford equestrian centre. This was also Lola's first competition on board Murphy. With a new partnership and a small team the group performed really well taking sixth place. 

We wish Laura, Lola and Aoife the very best of luck as they continue to represent their schools and Dunbyrne Equestrian in the Interschools League.