The People in Need concept is a great one as it helps the smaller charities in the various communities throughout Ireland - and money raised in each County is used in that County so people who are kindly donating are donating to their own communities - the telethon which will be televised on Friday, May 21st , 2004 will include coverage of todays events.
Equestrian Direct Sales proudly sponsored this event beingheld at Broadmeadows Equestrian Centre in Ashbourne, County Meath and the day included displays and competitions ranging from side saddle, dressage to carriage driving and of course showjumping which includes a "head to head" Puissance jump between Young Rider, Dan Walsh and Ministry of Defence's Lt. Shane Carey which is definitely a highlight but not the only one!
To those who came as competitors, supporters and spectators don't forget to tune into RTE on Friday, May 21st, 2004 to perhaps "see yourself on the tele" as RTE are here today covering the event for the telethon!
Course Builder, Declan Moran (pictured left) is more than a Course Builder and Designer - he is passionate about showjumping and a wealth of information about all to do with showjumping, the people, the courses and the places!
Thanks also to Equestrian Direct for their sponsorship of this day - Equestrian Direct supply everything the discerning rider - and without Chris Grogan (pictured below left) today's event wouldn't have happened as it was his idea to host this Equestrian Festival and no doubt the People in Need Telethon will be most grateful to all who have participated and donated to this very worthy cause.
Now the day started off with a bright blue sky and a wonderfully warm sun but sadly this was not to be the order of the day - and around 1pm the rain came down, so for the showjumpers it was lucky that they were scheduled for the Indoor arena but the Western riders, Dressage riders, Connemara Pony folk, Polo Players, Carriage Drivers and Dog Agility people are to be congratulated as they went ahead regardless of the rain - but then again I suppose if you live in Ireland you are well used to performing your chosen sports in the sometimes less than favourable weather!
The first class of the showjumping day was the Top Score, a fun event where riders get to decide their own course based on the value of the fence! Each fence has a value from 10points to 100 points for the Joker and every fence may be jumped twice and can be jumped both ways - if however you knock the Joker down the points are deducted - the eventual winner is the combination with the highest score! The riders in this event represent the various Riding Clubs around Ireland. The organisers decided that there
would be only one winner for the classes today with all riders receiving rosettes of appreciation from RTE and the People in Need Telethon so you will only hear of the first placings in the classes. Top Score was won by Donal Kavanagh and his horse Millport and they were representing Slaine and County Riding Club and won with a massive score of 890 points. (pictured below left)
Great to see one of jumpingaround.com's readers, Shane Mulligan (pictured above right) and he is sporting the latest in jumpingaround.com's clothing range, the "all important peaked cap"! There were plenty of people coming in as the day progressed which was great to see as the riders were all putting on great displays in both the indoor arena and also the outdoor arenas and following the links below will take you to more photos from this great day at Broadmeadows on this Bank Holiday Monday.
