Annual St. Patrick’s Coast Endurance Ride is a resounding success
Excellent weather conditions add to an enjoyable day for all
The highly-anticipated annual St. Patrick’s Coast Endurance Ride returned for 2023 on Saturday, September 2, a ‘must-do’ event on so many horse rider’s calendars. With a day of excellent weather conditions, there was much enjoyment for the riders, organisers, stewards, volunteers and crew members involved.
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The event was abuzz with riders and horses of all ages, breeds and disciplines enjoying the fabulous riding offered across the scenic Lecale area. There was a wide range of distances and classes on offer, from 10 miles (16km) up to 40 miles (64km), as either pleasure rides (PRs), vetted pleasure rides (VPRs) or competitive trail rides (CTRs), with many riders choosing to try their hand at endurance and take part in a VPR.
Beginning at the excellent venue of Downpatrick Racecourse, which has played host to St Patrick’s Coast for several years and offers ample parking, on-site stabling, camping and the ever-popular food van, the keen riders headed out to explore the several ride options on offer throughout the scenic County Down landscape. Don’t forget to check out the images captured by the official photographer, SDS Photo. If you missed out on purchasing your photographs at the event, check out the dedicated St. Patrick’s Coast album at; www.sdsphoto.pro/ildra. All official photographs included in this article are courtesy of SDS Photo.
The St. Patrick’s Coast Endurance Ride runs over countryside, which is both varied and beautiful. This ride has a taste of everything. All riders firstly head out towards the East Down gallops, which gives many horses a chance to stretch their legs at a galloping pace. For riders choosing to head for the 20 mile (32km) option, they begin to descend towards the endless beaches of Tyrella to Ballykinler, which are shadowed by the impressive Mourne Mountains before riding back up towards the historic Old Railway line of County Down.
Riders then pass by the peaceful Ballydugan Lake (spot the medieval village!) to join the grassy fields of Ballydugan and the ancient Windmill Hill, which are the hidden gems of the County Down countryside often unseen. Good ground conditions on the day allowed riders and their horses to enjoy all four paces of their mounts if they wished.
For the riders who opted for the 10 mile (16km) option, following on the East Down gallops, they meander back towards the racecourse following a different route across stubble and grassland fields before returning to the racecourse and crossing over towards the Ballydugan Estate and head to the woodland area of Hollymount Forest Park and its shaded forest tracks. Riders then cross the County Down railway line through grassy fields perfect for a warm-up canter before the riders return onto the racecourse itself for a final gallop (and a perfect photo finish past the post!).
For the competitive endurance riders, CTR (competitive trail rides) were on offer for various distances. All CTR riders and their horses had a 100% pass rate through all their distances and vettings, which is a testament to the fitness and dedication to the training of their horses by the riders.
Joining St. Patrick’s Coast was the ever-welcome RDA. Several riders and RDA volunteers enjoyed riding along the racecourse, enjoying the rural views of the surrounding countryside. Congratulations go to all of the RDA riders taking part in the St. Patrick’s Coast Endurance Ride.
For the pleasure riders, there was the option to receive an introduction to the sport of endurance riding by taking part in vetting to be eligible to win the Pleasure Ride trophy at St. Patrick’s Coast.
There was plenty of help and guidance available on the day with the experienced vets and stewards able to provide advice and encouragement to those taking part for the first time. Prizes were on offer for both non-member pleasure riders and member pleasure riders of ILDRA (Irish Long Distance Riding Association), as well as a pleasure ride award for British Horse Society (BHS) members.
Several riders chose to try endurance and test their horse’s fitness. Pleasure riders also had the option to compete for a Team Award, with groups of riders of three or four joining up to attempt to win prizes and rosettes. Riders simply had to invent a creative team name and declare their interest to take part and then present themselves and their horse to the vets for a simple guided vetting procedure before and after the rides. Hopefully, many have caught the endurance bug and will try out some further endurance rides.
Why not come along to this ride next year? Whether you and your horse are dressage divas or keen show jumpers, this ride is perfect for fitness training and, you never know, you might walk away with some fabulous prizes and a trophy!
Thanks must go to the attending veterinary surgeons on the day, Dr Katie O’Connor, DrMedVet MRCVS and Julie Dauncy, MRCVS, who checked all of the riders choosing to vet their horses throughout the day. The vets were kept busy by the number of riders keen to give endurance riding a go! Thanks go to the stewards in the vetting area, who helped guide newcomers through the vetting process and the attentive vet writers, who assisted the vets. Thanks also go to Maggie Pattinson for making the trip over to St Patrick’s Coast and for managing the vet gate area and ensuring that everything ran smoothly. Thanks also go to Lorraine Sloan and Brian Sloan for timekeeping riders on their starts and finishes.
Without the help of several stewards and volunteers both on-site for parking and managing the venue and on many of the road crossings and checkpoints, this ride would simply not exist. The organising committee of St. Patrick’s Coast is extremely thankful for their help upon the day, ensuring riders could cross safely and with care across what are busy main roads. The committee would also like to extend its thanks to the many volunteers, who have helped organise the ride in the days and weeks beforehand.
If you know anyone who would kindly support this ride on the day in future by helping at road crossings, please contact the organising committee. You will be well fed throughout the day and you will be well thanked for your support and time.
St. Patrick’s Coast Endurance Ride doesn’t just end with the ride. Several riders, crew, stewards, volunteers and over 40 landowners enjoyed an evening buffet of a delicious hog roast at the racecourse, provided by Brian and Sara Clingan. Excellent food and good company made for a wonderful evening. This meal is not only an opportunity to thank all of the wonderful landowners and volunteers involved with the ride, but it is also the much-anticipated awards presentation, where riders eagerly await to hear if they have won any of the much sought-after prizes displayed in the ride office!
Riders were eagerly awaiting the much-anticipated awards announced after the St. Patrick’s Coast dinner with a range of awards on offer including spot prizes, the BHS also kindly provided prizes for classes for BHS members taking part in vetted pleasure rides (VPRs) and CTRs. Jessica House on ‘Khalasar’ won both the Top CTR Rider award and the BHS CTR member award for completing a 32km CTR.
For the ILDRA members taking part in VPRs, Emma Hayes won the 16km class, with Amanda Speers winning the 32km class, and also winning the overall category of the Helena Connolly ILDRA Member Pleasure Trophy. For the non-members, Marissa Elliott won the 16km class and Rachel Martin Gray won the 32km class, with Marissa Elliott winning the overall category of the Kilgarry Breeze ILDRA Non-Member Pleasure Ride Trophy.
Teams of VPR riders were keen to hear the results of the team competition, with the Celtic Canterers taking first place and a variety of prizes. Several spot prizes were also presented; Michelle McCallum achieved a first at St. Patrick’s Coast by riding two horses around the 32km route, with her horse being in foal! A special award of a stunning photograph of John Anderson on his horse ‘Area Access’ in full gallop along Tyrella Beach was presented to John for his continued dedication and support to both ILDRA and St. Patrick’s Coast.
Congratulations go to all of the prize winners, who received a range of goodies from the sponsors, some of which included Bailey’s horse feeds, BHS, Blue Frog Wood shavings, Kingsfield Haylage, On the Hoof dt, Performance Equestrian and Botanica.
A huge thank you must go to the sponsors of St. Patrick’s Coast, who have kindly supported this ride.
Many thanks to Pat Turley of Kingsfield Haylage, a long-standing sponsor of St. Patrick’s Coast, for supplying several bales of haylage as prizes. Judy Maxwell of Bailey’s Horse Feed also kindly supplied several bags of Bailey’s Endurance Mix as prizes, along with samples of feed for all of the riders at St. Patrick’s Coast. Many thanks to Judy and the team at Bailey’s Horse Feed for their ongoing support. Thanks must go to Downpatrick Racecourse and to Richard Lyttle and the management team for allowing the usage of the racecourse’s excellent facilities and for kindly providing free entry tickets for the next race day at Downpatrick. Thanks also go to the specialist endurance tack manufacturer Performance Equestrian, who kindly provided a voucher for a new endurance bridle as a prize for the top CTR rider. Thanks also go to Blue Frog shavings for supplying several bales of their heat-sterilised wood shavings as prizes for the riders. A big thank you also goes to Botanica, who generously provided lots of product goodie bags. Sincere thanks go to these sponsors and organisers sincerely hope you continue to support this wonderful event in future years.
Thanks also go to the organising committee of St. Patrick’s Coast, and particularly to the ride organiser, child protection officer, David Cunningham and his able assistant, John Anderson, who dedicates a lot of time and effort to both ILDRA and St. Patrick’s Coast Events. Thanks also go to Neil Anderson for managing logistics and Health and Safety and Kirsten Conly for running the ride office and her ‘office junior’ Ros Morcombe; Maggie Pattinson as Official Vet Steward and Lorraine and Brian Sloan as Timekeepers. Thanks also go to Robyn Catterall for her scoring for the all-important awards and to the ILDRA Treasurer for organising finances. Thanks also go to the official Ground Jury. Without the work of this committee, this ride would simply not exist. The success of this ride is a testament to the dedication of the organisers, volunteers, stewards, sponsors and landowners who ensure that this ride continues to go from strength to strength each year.
There is simply no other ride in Ireland, North or South, which comes close to the spectacular scenery and off-route riding offered by the prestigious St. Patrick’s Coast Endurance Ride. It is the emerald jewel of endurance riding in Ireland. Be sure to watch the official website at www.stpatrickscoastenduranceride.com for the date of next year’s ride, you’d be mad to miss out!
ILDRA’s next ride takes place at Cam Forest on Sunday, September 24, all entries must be made online and in advance, check out ILDRA’s website or Facebook page for further details.
RESULTS
Saturday, September 2
St. Patrick’s Coast Endurance Ride 2023
Top CTR Rider:
1) Jessica House, Khalasar; 2) Bree Rutledge, Clovermount Rhinestone; 3) Helen McFarland, Chalima de Gueyte.
Top Pleasure Rider member
16km: Emma Hayes.
32km: Amanda Speers.
Overall Top Member: Amanda Speers.
Top Pleasure Rider Non-Member
16km: Marissa Elliott.
32km: Rachel Martin Gray.
Overall Top Non-Member: Marissa Elliott.
Top BHS CTR rider:
Jessica House.
Top BHS Pleasure rider:
Tessa Curry.
Top Vetted Pleasure Rider Teams:
1) Celtic Canterers: Joanne Cairns, Christine Hagan, Michelle McCallum, Hannah Wilding; 2) Horsey Gals: Wendy Findlay, Tara Findlay, Caroline Millar; 3) The Plodding Paddies: Jocelyn Willis, Emma Hayes, Karina McVeigh, Jane Bruce.
Special Awards:
Fergal McGrady - Lovely combination
Tessa Curry - Very keen
Michael Carlin - Very keen to learn and great smile
Michelle McCallum - For riding two horses round the course-her horse who is in foal!
Rachel Martin Gray - Best trot up
Jessica House - Overall wow factor
John Anderson - For everything he does for St. Patrick’s Coast Endurance Ride
Read more about the RDA at this year’s St Patrick’s Coast Ride: