St Patrick’s Coast 2024 Ride: a resounding success
Nearly 100 horses and riders took to the route across the scenic County Down landscape
The annual St Patrick’s Coast Endurance Ride 2024, as ILDRA’s (Irish Long Distance Riding Association) flagship event and the premier endurance ride on the island of Ireland, was a resounding success for all involved. Nearly 100 horses and riders took to the route across the scenic County Down landscape on Saturday, September 7, with summer weather making a welcome return for the day.
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Riders from the Riding for the Disabled Association also enjoyed a day out at St. Patrick’s Coast, riding along the racecourse and receiving medals.
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. There was also the hotly anticipated Team Vetted Pleasure Riding competition, with riders entering in groups of three or four for a chance to win some excellent prizes.
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, this year supplied by Rosemount Cottage Meats, 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 with this article are courtesy of SDS Photo.
This ride has a taste of everything. All riders firstly head out from the racecourse towards the East Down gallops, with sweeping views across the Lecale landscape, 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 through the 12-acre laneway and along several fields.
The vast sandy beaches of Tyrella are shadowed by the impressive Mourne Mountains, with riders heading into Ballykinler village before beginning their ascent back through fields towards the historic Old Railway line of County Down, crossing some wooden bridges on their way.
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.
For the riders who opted for the 10-mile (16 km) 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, another hidden gem of the County Down area 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!).
Thanks must go to the three attending veterinary surgeons on the day, Georgina Doran MRCVS, Daisy Abernethy MRCVS and Julie Dauncy MRCVS, who checked over the numerous horses taking part in vetted rides.
It was excellent to see the wide variety of horse breeds, ages and different disciplines choosing to take part in endurance. 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 St. Patrick’s Coast Endurance Ride doesn’t just end with the ride, there is the all-important meal and awards ceremony. Several riders, crew, stewards, volunteers and over 40 landowners and farmers 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, along with some night-time entertainment. 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!
Several awards were handed out on the night, including those for pleasure riders and competitive endurance riders, some of these prizes were for specific classes and others for on the day special spot prizes. Every rider received beautiful rosettes and a selection of fabulous prizes, generously donated by the sponsors of St Patrick’s Coast.
Congratulations go to all riders choosing to take part in a vetted pleasure or competitive ride and particularly to any riders winning prizes! Congratulations go to Keri Black on her horse ‘Pascal’ for winning the 25-mile CTR category, as well as gaining her Bronze Shamrock Award, with the ILDRA Shamrock Grades a safe and well-tested way for riders to move up through the grades. Congratulations also go to Roseanna Andrews on her horse ‘Puzzle Piece’ for winning the 40-mile CTR category, as well as gaining her Silver Shamrock Award and winning the BHS Competitive Trail Rider category.
Congratulations also go to riders from Endurance Ireland, who came up to take part in St Patrick’s Coast Endurance Ride, with Caroline Hamilton coming second in the 20-mile category and for Terri Moore coming first in the 30-mile category.
A special spot prize was awarded to Grainne Embleton from Endurance Ireland for winning a special award for riding a “Different Equine” - a mule called ‘Percy’!
Congratulations go to the winners of the Vetted Pleasure Ride team competition, the Life’s a Beach team of Jocelyn Willis, Susan Hunter and Emma Hayes, as well as the winners of the Best Team name of Chicks and Kicks.
Congratulations go to Karina McVeigh for winning the best turned out award at the vetting area, winning a beautiful handmade teddy bear by KCD Krafts.
Congratulations also go to Emma Hayes for winning a spot prize for riding two horses on the day, namely ‘Almaz’ Asham’ and ‘Yasser Arafat’, with ‘Almaz’ Asham’ winning the 20-mile VPR and ‘Yasser Arafat’ winning the 10-mile VPR.
A Special Award was also presented to John Anderson for his ongoing dedication and work at St Patrick’s Coast Endurance Ride for route clearance and preparation in the run up to the event.
A huge thank you must go to the sponsors of St Patrick’s Coast, who have kindly supported this ride, particularly the longstanding sponsors, including Pat Turley of Kingsfield Haylage, 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 within their rider packs. Many thanks to Judy and the team at Bailey’s Horse Feed for their ongoing support. Thanks must go to Downpatrick Racecourse 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 for riders and the stewards.
Thanks also go to Botanica for providing various products as prizes; to specialist endurance tack manufacturer Performance Equestrian, who kindly provided a voucher towards new endurance tack as a prize for the top CTR rider; to KCD Krafts for producing a beautiful handmade teddy bear; to Horslyx for supplying prizes for riders, as well as licks for each rider pack; to TRI Equestrian for supplying baseball caps as prizes for riders; to the British Horse Society for sponsoring a prize category for the best pleasure and competitive BHS riders; to On the Hoof for supplying a voucher for training information; to Doagh Equestrian for supplying a voucher; to Brookhill Horse Holiday Livery for supplying a voucher for a Horse Holiday as a prize; to Holmestead Saddlery for supplying buckets as prizes for CTR riders and these proved useful on route for stewards providing water to horses at various check points; to Annaghmore Saddlery for supplying a voucher as a prize; to Chris Ewing Trailer Repairs for supplying a voucher as a prize; to Premier Saddlery for providing a voucher as a prize; to Equi Now for supplying vouchers for horse massage as prizes.
Thanks go to all the sponsors and organisers sincerely hope they continue to support this wonderful event in future years!
A lot of hard work goes into this ride every year, both by the ride organisers, stewards and volunteers who are involved, the work begins many weeks before the actual event and includes endless route clearing, beach cleaning, sponsor prize organising and ride administration work! 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 and with the demarking and clear-up of the venue.
If you are able to help support the running of ILDRA’s events, it is greatly appreciated - you don’t even need to be horsey - non-horsey family members and friends are more than welcome.
A big thank you must go to David Cunningham and his able assistant, John Anderson (“Mr Strimmer!”), who dedicate a lot of time and effort to both ILDRA and St Patrick’s Coast Events and will tackle any obstacle on the St Patrick’s Coast Endurance route, which needs clearing. Thanks also go to Neil Anderson for managing logistics and website administration, Kirsten Conly and Ros Morcombe for managing the ride office and handling out the eagerly awaited rider packs full of goodies, 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 (remotely this year!) and to the ILDRA Treasurer for organising finances. Thanks also go to the official Ground Jury.
Keep a look out on ILDRA’s Facebook page for details of their upcoming rides and, if you fancy having a try at endurance riding, simply get in contact - it is a sport for everyone and every horse!
RESULTS
Saturday, September 7
St Patrick’s Coast Endurance Ride
Vetted Pleasure Ride
16km (10 miles) ILDRA Member Top Vetted Pleasure Rider:
Emma Hayes
32km (20 miles) ILDRA Member Top Vetted Pleasure Rider:
Emma Hayes
16km (10 miles) Non-Member Top Vetted Pleasure Rider:
Lucy Dickson
32km (20 miles) Non-Member Top Vetted Pleasure Rider:
Sharon Madine
Competitive Trail Ride
32km (20 miles):
1) Helen McFarland; 2) Caroline Hamilton.
40km (25 miles):
1) Keri Black (awarded Off the Hoof Voucher for CTR rider).
48km (30 miles):
1) Terri Moore.
64km (40 miles):
1) Roseanna Andrews; 2) Bree Rutledge.
British Horse Society
British Horse Society Top Pleasure Rider:
Emma Hayes
British Horse Society Top Competitive Trail Rider:
Roseanna Andrews
Vetted Pleasure Ride Team Competition:
1) Life’s a Beach: Jocelyn Willis, Susan Hunter, Emma Hayes; 2) Buck Off: Karina McVeigh, Jane Bruce, Valerie McKie, Gail McKie; 3) Miles and Smiles: Patrick McCready, Christine Hagan, Hannah Wilding, Joanne Cairns.
Best Vetted Pleasure Ride Team Name:
Chicks and Kicks: Pam Fox, Stephanie Wilding, Lucy Dickson, Beth Taylor.
Best Turned Out Award:
Karina McVeigh
Spot Prizes on the Day
Furthest travelled to St. Patrick’s Coast Endurance Ride:
Caroline Hamilton
Rider who rode two horses at St. Patrick’s Coast Endurance Ride:
Emma Hayes
Horse with two riders at St. Patrick’s Coast Endurance Ride:
William and Sarah Morcombe
A Different Equine at St Patrick’s Coast Endurance Ride:
Grainne Embleton
St Patrick’s Coast Endurance Ride Helper Award:
John Anderson
Sponsor Vouchers Awarded to Riders
Off the Hoof Voucher:
Keri Black
Annaghmore Saddlery Voucher:
Keri Black
Premier Saddlery Voucher:
Keri Black
Brookhill Horse Holiday Voucher:
Roseanna Andrews
Performance Equestrian Voucher:
Bree Rutledge
Chris Ewing Voucher:
Terri Moore
Doagh Equestrian Voucher:
Helen McFarland