Water, water everywhere... Heavy rain impacting on equines around the country

Some activities may be curtailed due to flooding or road closures

Hi folks,

The rain has been causing some serious issues this week, with fields flooded, roads flooded and even equestrian centres flooded! Access has been an issue for some people with equines, whether trying to get to horses and ponies in fields or trying to go out with a horsebox on and coming upon road closures due to flooding… As I found out myself, doing a u-turn with a horsebox on isn’t that easy!

Isaac McCarthy and ‘Hollywood Pippin’ were part of the winning Novice Team from Dromore High School at the Inter-Schools’ Show jumping at The Meadows. PICTURE: courtesy of Tori O’Connor

My thoughts go out to all those who have been in difficulties this week due to this extreme run of wet weather - we can only hope that it dries up significantly in the days ahead and that normality can resume.

This Horse&Field newsletter brings you an update on last weekend’s activities, with results and photos from local competitions, as well as details of forthcoming activities and the calendar of events.

The Inter-Schools’ show jumping league continued at The Meadows on Saturday, with the usual high levels of entries - in terms of both numbers and talent!

Sunday saw the North Down Hallowe’en Hack being held at Florida Manor, with participants enjoying a great afternoon out, despite a torrential downpour - the barbecue and cups of tea more than made up for getting a bit wet.

ILDRA concluded their 2023 endurance season at the weekend, finishing with a charity ride at Clandeboye Estate.

Internationally, Niamh McEvoy was on the Nations’ Cup team at Vejer de la Frontera in Spain, where she jumped incredibly well to help Ireland finish in fifth place.

Nationally, the winner of the NEF photography competition has been announced, with a Fell pony being the pin up chosen unanimously by the committee.

This coming weekend, please be aware that the Festival of Racing due to be held at Down Royal Racecourse has had to be postponed due to the prolonged heavy rain and has been rescheduled for the following weekend.

The Horse&Field calendar lists local equine activities and is updated on a daily basis. We are trying to make the calendar as comprehensive as possible, so if you know of any events that aren’t yet listed, please let us know!

To new subscribers, welcome! You will receive this newsletter twice each week, as well as occasional emails in between - we want to keep you informed, but do not want to overload your inbox!

Please remember that Horse&Field will be updated on a regular basis and you can visit it at any time to find out what is happening. If you wish, you can download the Substack app; you can search online for: horseandfield.substack.com or, if you are subscribed, just click on the email.

If you have any articles or photos to contribute, queries or suggestions, or if there is someone you think deserves to be featured in Horse&Field, please do send an email to horseandfield@gmail.com

Happy reading!

---

In the news

Here are some of the latest articles on Horse&Field…

Please click on each story to read the article and see more photos:

Please visit Horse&Field to read more on each of these stories and others!