Donegal Gaeltacht Riding Club do Lawrence proud
The dressage arena saw a number of first time competitors enjoy a very welcoming and successful day out at riding club.
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The members of the Donegal Gaeltacht Riding Club truly pulled out all the stops on Sunday, July 2 in the running of their Lawrence Smyth Memorial Show. With a far from clement weather forecast for the weekend, it took no small amount of dogged determination, not to mention optimism, to go ahead with the renowned Beach Show on Ballyness Bay.
Careful studying of the tide tables, combined with a good dose of local knowledge regarding the shifting sands of the bay, determined the date for the show and, as soon as the local club announced the date, the neighbouring clubs firmly penned it into their own calendars. Preparation of the showground was started on the Saturday afternoon, with the jumping arenas getting roped off, harrowed and cleared of all stones, ready for the course building on Sunday morning.
Seamus McCaffrey designed a tricky course, aimed at sorting the cream of the competitors from chancier operators and, with the aid of numerous sandbags, the team of helpers soon had the jumps in place. Cormac McCormac gave his day to the judging of the highly competitive classes and, with some great jump-offs against the clock, the spectators were well entertained at every level.
Letterkenny Riding Club’s Regina Toland took home the Lawrence Smyth Memorial Cup from the show jumping arena, having won the RC80 class in a style the man himself would have been delighted with. It was a particularly sweet victory for Regina, as her four-legged partner, 'Grand Redelis', had been out of action for eight months due to hoof trouble.
In the RC100 class, the win went to Tynagh Riding Club’s Thomas Daniels, who had made the long journey up from his Galway base to share the day.
Yvonne Chisholm was tasked with the job of judging the dressage, where Inishowen Riding Club’s Lynne Thompson claimed the Cup, with the highest dressage score of the day on her lovely 'Blackstown Masterclass'.
The dressage arena saw a number of first time competitors enjoy a very welcoming and successful day out at riding club, as well as the more regular attendees, and the talk on the street was definitely in favour of a return visit next year. Two riders who made an excellent impression were the day's Best Turned Out winners, Rachel Burke and Kate Graham. Scribing for Yvonne Chisholm for the full day was none other than Rosaleen Smyth, who had her usual cheerful smile for all and sundry.
The organising club had gone to great lengths to secure generous sponsorship for the show and the list of sponsors included Duggan Veterinary, Emily Schneider Athletic Therapy Injury Clinic, Niamh McDaid Equestrian Coach, McGees Hardware Falcarragh, Expert Hardware Gortahork, Manus Kelly of DNG Kelly Estate Agents and Errigal Equestrian Centre Dunlewey.
The Exchange Restaurant in Derry sponsored the novelty sock competition (you had to be there!). It was great craic and completely in keeping with the heart of the club, as well as being just the kind of fun that Lawrence truly enjoyed.
With the tide making its rapid way in over the flat sands of the bay, it was a case of all hands on deck to get the show packed away and the beach back to the way nature intended. I can wholeheartedly agree with the general consensus of ‘Roll on next year, so we can do it all again’.