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

XC Success for Keelin

We had another successful and busy weekend here at #teamdunbyrnestud

Laura headed off on Saturday to SJI in Coilog with Lady for some showjumping. laura and her mare Lady are true all rounders competing at dressage, eventing and showjumping.

Lorna and Emma headed to Marlton for Dressage Ireland. Emma gained her final qualifying score for the National Championships. Lorna and Oisin did their first elementary together and earned a qualifying score in the novice. Both riders are looking forwards to the National championships now at Barnadown at the end of September.

Keelin and lass headed to Punchestown for the Pony Club Novice Tetrathlon,. She and lass put in an amazing round XC finishing clear around a challenging track. Even better - her running and swimming phases were good enough for second place overall. Keelin has put huge work into preparing for this competiton and is looking forward to the next one in two weeks time.

We are delighted to see our liveries setting and achieving goals. We have livery available, please email us to arrange a yard visit

Dunbyrne Dressage Divas

Our liveries had another busy weekend working between the dressage boards.

Myriam and Beau headed to Coilog to take part in the Killcarrick riding club show. They took part in the novice class and earned 3rd place - we think they may have caught the dressage bug now.

Laura and Lady headed to Redhills for the Dressage Ireland show and had brilliant results taking first and second in the prelim classes. This has also qualified them for the national championships!

Emma and Lorna also headed to Dressage Ireland. Lorna and Sammy won their novice classes with Emma and Ruben taking fourth place in the novice class.

Sive travelled to Ballindennisk for her pony club event taking fifth place with Ollie and achieving her goal of qualifying for the Irish Pony Club national championships.

We have full livery available. Our yard is home to several BHS qualified coaches who work with clients to achieve their goals in all disciplines. Email dunbyrnestud@gmail.com to arrange a yard visit.

COVID- 19 Riding School Update

COVID-19 Update.

Riding School:

• Please note that we do not allow any drop in visitors to our yard. Access is restricted to liveries and riding school clients who are attending a pre booked lesson.

• Our governing bodies have given the go ahead for under 18 group lessons from 26th April.

• We will be giving preference for group classes to our existing client base and will be in touch with all existing clients later on this week regarding lessons – please bear with us and thank you for your patience.

• We will initially be offering lessons for off-lead and above level as for safety reasons our team cannot provide hands on assistance to beginners. New aged 6-18 riders who are at off-lead to novice or advanced level who wish to be added to our waiting list should email dunbyrnestud@gmail.com .

• We have an existing waiting list for beginners. We will be in touch with riders on our waiting list when we have a suitable class available in the future. To be added to the beginner waiting list for aged 6-18 please email us.

• Please note that we do not offer private lessons for adult beginners.

Camps:

• We do not know yet if we will have Summer pony camps available. This will depend on government restrictions.

• If permitted we will aim to run half day camps for children aged six upwards Tuesday – Fri during the school holidays.

• Preference will be given to existing clients and to those already on our waiting list.

• To be added to the waiting list please email us. Please note that beginner riders will need to be accompanied by a parent or a guardian over the age of 16 years old for their riding sessions.

🦄Thank you very much to our clients who have supported us throughout the last four months and for your lovely messages. 🦄

Prices

Aged 6-18

• 1 hour group lesson : €27.00 per hour.

• Block of 6 group lessons €140.

• Block of 10 group lessons €225

Adults

• 1 hour group lesson €30

• 30 Minute private lesson (only available during off peak times) : €30.00

• 50 Minute private lesson (only available during off peak times) : €50.00

  Peak times - weekends and 3pm onwards Tuesday to Friday. off peak 12-3 Tuesday to Friday

Looking for Livery? Ten reasons to join #teamdunbyrnestud

Are you looking for livery? Here are ten reasons to join #teamdunbyrnestud on livery today :

1. We offer huge courtyard stables with deep warm shavings beds providing the ultimate comfort for your horse

2. We supply top quality haylage and feed twice a day as part of our full stabled livery package

3. Horses are turned out daily in individual paddocks with secure fencing. Horses are still relaxed as they can see other horses beside them and this turnout is much safer than group turnout especially when horses and ponies are wearing a full set of shoes.

4. Our yard owners live onsite so our opening hours are flexible. We never restrict our liveries with set hours so if you need to head off early morning somewhere or are running late from work there is no need to worry.

5. We have a huge livery arena (this is dedicated to liveries and is entirely separate from the onsite riding school). The size of our arena allows liveries to ride when our coaches are running lessons so there is no need to plan your riding around someone else’s lessons or arena bookings.

6. BHS and HSI qualified coaches onsite providing training at competitive rates

7. We are less than thirty minutes from JAG / Redhills / Greenogue / Emerald and just ten minutes from Coilog so Leinster competition venues are close by.

8. We have a heated rug room with storage for liveries. This is ideal on cold or damp days as you can hang up your rug while you ride so its nice and warm when it goes back on your horse.

9. We have a 4.5 furlong all weather sand gallops which is exclusively for our liveries to use. This leads on to our onsite wooded hacking trails and is ideal for hacking, fittening work, eventing preparation or even just a break from the arena.

10. We are lucky to have a lovely bunch of existing clients who are positive and enthusiastic. We enjoy taking part as a group in competing on and offsite and in social activities. Our liveries take part in a wealth of disciplines from eventing to dressage.

To arrange a yard visit and enquire about joining our team - please 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

Everything you need to know about our forthcoming riding club dressage show

We are delighted that our club, Dunbyrne Riding Club will hold a leg of the Kavanaghs of Newbridge dressage league on Sunday the 14th of April.

Entries:

You need to be a registered riding member of a riding club in order to enter. Entries must be made online by visiting www.itsplainsailing.com/club/drc1

Entries close on Tuesday the 9th April. €20 entry for graded classes, €12 to compete in the Sportsmans class, the walk and trot class or to compete H/C in a class

Classes & Tests:

We will be running the following classes:

• Primary (AIRC Intro A 2011)

• Advanced Primary (DI P5 2012)

• Sportsman (DI P5 2012)

• Intermediate (AIRC 15 2013)

• Advanced Intermediate (AIRC 26 2010)

• Open (DI E46 2013)

• Advanced Open (DI M62 2015)

• Walk / Trot test (DI Intro B 2017)

All tests can be downloaded for free.

Dressage Ireland tests are prefixed DI and are available here:

https://www.dressageireland.ie/members/dressage-ireland-tests/

Association of Irish Riding Club tests, prefixed AIRC are available here:

https://www.airc.ie/downloads/

Photographer:

We are delighted to say that Brian from Saggitarian Photography will be here taking photos on the day - smile for the camera

Tea / Coffee:

We will have tea / coffee onsite and home baked treats the proceeds for the sale will go to charity

Safety:

Safety officer on the day: Rory O’Hare

First Aid Responders: Lorna & Ross O’Hare

Where to find us:

Our eircode is W91 YT62

Preparation and Training:

if you would like to ride through your test and get some practice onsite before the show our onsite BHSI Ross O’hare is available for dressage test training, please email us at dunbyrnestud@gmail.com to arrange a private or group session for you or your club

Joining a riding club:

Dunbyrne Riding Club is open for new members, to enquire or join please email dunbyrne@airc.ie

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!

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

Dunbyrne Dressage Divas!

It was a very sparkling white affair on Sunday as several of our riders competed at Dressage Ireland at Redhills. The competition season is in full swing at the moment and we were delighted to see our riders heading off looking well. 

Sisters Aoife and Caitlin Harrington had a very early start with Aoife entering at A at 8.18am! Aoife took on the challenge of riding four tests - two each on Cosmic and Killelton Starlight. It was a very very tight turnaround of horses in the novice class with just six minutes between times but Aoife kept her cool under pressure. Aoife won both her preliminary and novice Trailblazer classes on board Killelton Starlight, a fantastic result for their first outing as a partnership. She also took sixth in the prelim and second in the novice trailblazers with Cosmic. Aoife is delighted to have achieved qualification for the preliminary trailblazers at the National Championships in September nice and early in the season.

Caitlin Harrington competed with her chestnut pony Nightlight taking first place in the unregistered preliminary. Big sister Orla Harrington was due a very big thank you having taken on the role of groom for both her sisters as well as for Lorna on the day. 

Keen eventer Ellen Merrins traded studs for sparkles on Sunday to compete her gelding Sillan Ludene in the preliminary classes. The pair had a fantastic Dressage Ireland Debut taking second and third place in their classes with impressive scores. 

Lorna competed with DBS Second Chance at what was their first Dressage Ireland competition of the season. They took third place in their novice class and second place at Elementary level in their second class. Most importantly the pair earned their first two qualifiying scores towards the National Championships. 

Michelle Davitt meanwhile competed in the penultimate leg of the Linda Moore Riding Club Showjumping league at Coilog on board Zono. They placed third in the primary class giving them the lead in the league to date, which they are keen to hold on to heading into the final this weekend. 

We are delighted to see all the training paying off for these riders. Our riders are on livery and train at Dunbyrne Stud with our BHS / HSI coaches Ross, Lorna and Rory O'Hare. If you are working towards competing at pony club, riding club or Dressage Ireland please get in touch to find out how we can help you to achieve your goals. 

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.