Benny O’Kane tackling the imaginative course designed by Davy McLaughlin and his team 

On the weekend of 7th and 8th June the Mid Antrim Hunt hosted a two day Inter Hunt Chase with a Barbeque on the Saturday night and, as a Dublin Qualifier for the finals at the RDS Show in August, it attracted a good entry of teams from the Southern packs. Davy McLaughlin and his team had built a very imaginative course with all sorts of obstacles along the way, even including a pair of ghostly dummies at the end of the track. The Saturday kicked off with the pony teams competing in the most difficult of conditions and much to the annoyance of Davy McLaughlin, who had been the chief course builder, the ground which had been perfect the day before, became saturated. This did not deter the teams and the winning pony team, Rosie’s Rockets, consisted of Joe and Bob Hamilton, with Joe riding two different mounts, and Laura Gordon. The Belgium Belles, named because of their very successful recent visit there for pony club games, were second with an all female team of Orla O’Kane, Erin Dunseath, Brigid Delargy and Courtney Hamilton. The Dingles with James and Sarah McNabney, Josh Marks and William Hamilton, were third.

Brigid Delargy of the ‘Belgium Belle’s’

The adults came next with the weather improving marginally but the ground was more like winter hunting than mid summer. The Killinick teams had come all the way from Wexford and were unbelievably professional with their speed and slick change-overs. The Killinicks proved victorious with their “White” team of Johnnie Roche, Benny & Keira Walsh, and James Rath beating their “Wine” team of Jass Codd, Conor Scallon and Katy Stafford into second. The Ward Union and the Kildare Black teams were joint third. The home team of the Mid Antrims were not so lucky this time with their team consisting of Beverley Caves, Richard Cowan, Fiona Magill and Orla McLaughlin, but Fiona Magill definitely gets the prize for stickability staying on her horse when it seemed impossible. The one person who did not enjoy the day as much as he should, was Jamie Sloan, normally part of the team but grounded with a broken ankle, but he did manage to help out all he could and presented the rosettes on both days, with the aid of his crutches.

Orla O’Kane & Erin Dunseath of the ‘Belgium Belle’s’

The next day was a very different story with the weather, and with sunshine and a good drying wind, the rearranged course set up by the river had much better going than the previous day. This time the Killinick White were victorious again with the Taras in second, the Kildare Black and Killinick Wine teams were joint third. The Killultagh, Mid Antrim, Kildare Green, and Ward Unions were also competing with the Mids having Benny O’Kane in their team on the Sunday. The two Best Turned Out Prizes were awarded on the Sunday as the conditions had been so bad the day before, and they were won by the Taras and the Kildare Blacks. After this came the pony pairs competition and the girls Orla O’Kane and Erin Dunseath on their grey ponies rode brilliant rounds to beat Joe Hamilton and Laura Gordon into second place, with the Hooligans team of Bob Hamilton and William Hamilton third, and The Boss’s team of Courtney Hamilton & Brigid Delargy fourth.

Killinicks v Killultaghs in hot competition

They would also like to thank Ian Wilson of Wilson’s Auctions who very kindly provided the commentary van, Noel Fitzpatrick who was as helpful as ever bringing many of the jumps, Doherty and Gray for sponsoring much of the meat for the barbeque, Ballymena Rugby Club for providing such a perfect venue for all the hunt chasing as well as the evening’s entertainment, the hard-working ladies who beavered away with the food preparation, and last but not least all Davy McLaughlin and his band of helpers who put so much work into the preparation, re-arrangement, and dismantling of the course.

Taylor Hunter on Ballybollen Blue 2nd in the 50cm class

On Saturday 5th October a Mid Antrim Hunt Jump Cross was held at Castlehill Equestrian Centre and it proved to be an extremely successful event with very respectable entries considering how many other things were happening on the same day. A great deal of work was involved in setting up the course which was designed by Fiona Magill and Jamie Sloan with Andy Hamilton and Beverly Caves directing operations. Andy Hamilton has been a very busy man over these past weeks with the recent point-to-point, the Jump Cross and his own Hunter Trials next Saturday 12th October at Knockan Road, Broughshane. After the heavy rain on Thursday the ground was somewhat wet but thankfully a glorious day on Saturday dried up the ground in no time.
The Castlehill event consisted of a round of show jumps in the arena followed immediately by a cross country round, with jumps for the

A delighted Lucy Gillespie winner of the 50cm class

very young up to the most testing Open course. It was not a speed contest but the clear rounds were decided by those who were closest to the optimum time. In fact all day no-one was inside the optimum time as the cleverly designed course was not one for flat-out galloping but required skill to negotiate the twists and turns. There was a great variety of cross-country fences with coffins, banks, open ditches and every sort of fence including a few knockable ones including Hickstead rails which are guaranteed to catch out the less experienced. There were a few spills and tears in the 50cm class but with plenty of help and encouragement from parents for those that really needed it, all ended in smiles and it was a major education for the children and their ponies. The biggest smile was on the face of Lucy Gillespie who, on her smashing pony aptly named Lucy’s Boy, had lovely rounds in both show jumping and cross country sections and won the 50cm class. Taylor Hunter on Ballybollen Blue was 2nd, Zoe Dickey on Silver 3rd, and Jessica Mark on Mr Sparkles 4th.
The next competition was the 70cm and James McNabney looked like he might be in the red ribbons for the Under 14’s section, but from when Bob Hamilton came into the ring it was clear he was out to win and steamed round both courses on Stan the Man with a blistering time that put James McNabney into second place. At a slightly more ladylike pace came Erin Dunseath in 3rd on Malibu and Orla O’Kane on Floyd in 4th place. In the 70cm for Over 14’s, Joe Hamilton who whips in for the Mid Antrims and is a few days short of 15 years old, rode beautiful clears in both parts of the course to win 1st place, followed by seasoned hunter Walter Irvine on his daughter Ruth’s Glittering Captain in 2nd. Dawn Reeve was delighted with her ultra reliable cob Jack who sailed round steadily with his ears pricked all the way in a lovely couple of rounds to come 3rd. Joe Hamilton was only caught out by the Hickstead rails to have 4 faults and come 4th on the young horse, Colonel Mustard. Before the Open Class started there was some fairly extensive fence rebuilding after a competitor did a good demolition effort on the Open point-to-point fence, deciding it was an easier option than the little log.

James McNabney 2nd in the 70cm class on Pedro

The Open 90cm course had quite a few extra fences with competitors jumping a wall with a telegraph pole on top to go out into another field where there were two portable fences in the open before they turned to jump back down into the main field again. There were three faultless rounds in both courses but quite a few four-faulters who either had a pole down in the show jumping or were caught out by the two knockable fences on the cross country. Others were unluckier, but all riders stayed aboard and all got round after a few trials and tribulations. Fiona Magill, who with Jamie Sloan, Beverley Caves and Orla McLaughlin, had such success in the Dublin Horse Show Inter Hunt Chase this year, toned down her Hunt Chasing speed just enough to ride a steady winning clear and almost nail the time, just two seconds over the optimum time of 2 and a half minutes. She was riding her hunt-chasing mare Merrin who has turned into such a great all-rounder. Second was Paul Caves on his wife Beverley’s young horse Leo, clear but just 3 seconds slower than Fiona. Beverley was too busy to ride as she was occupied sprinting with her stopwatch from the

Fiona Magill winner of the Open 90cm class being congratulated by Tommy Caves

finishing points of the cross country to start the next competitor in the showjumping arena and back again, so she must have been exhausted by the end of the day. Third was Joe Hamilton on the stunning and talented mare Sally who was only a second behind Paul. 4th was Ruth O’Brien on the veteran Mr Spooks who has given Ruth and her father Walter such pleasure over the years in competitions and on the hunting field.
The success of the day was due in a huge way to Mid Antrim Hunt Master Andy Hamilton’s drive and determination to work so hard for the hunt, providing the impetus for these events, ably assisted by all his family, and to Fiona Magill and Jamie Sloan who have been working so hard building fences for both the Saturday events. Thanks must go to Beverley and Paul Caves for the use of Castlehill and all their hard work and to all the teams of people who have been turning out to help. It has been a very busy period for the Hunt but they are all looking forward to next Saturday’s Hunter Trials and then the start of the hunting season.

Mid Antrim Inter Hunt Chase team

After an intensive campaign to get to to the finals in Dublin, the Mid Antrim Hunt Inter Hunt Chase team competed very successfully at the Dublin Horse Show recently.

They came third equal and were only knocked out by the eventual winners, the Killinicks in the semi finals. Congratulations must go to the efforts of this tireless hunt chasing team and support network, with riders making no mistakes in their competitive rounds.

The team consisted of  Beverley Caves, Orlaith McLaughlin, Fiona Magill and Jamie Sloan who should be congratulated on the great effort needed to get to Dublin Show, and to do so well there.

They are very grateful to Andy Hamilton who provided the first impetus for the team and has driven so many miles for them, encouraging them all the way. Orlaith’s father Davy McLaughlin has been a stalwart Chef D’Equipe, also putting the miles in and helping at every turn.

On a few occasions Paul Caves and Benny O’Kane have stood in as substitutes but in general it has been the same four which has enabled them to get their performance honed to the high level and speed required.

The team won the Best Turned Out prize for the league, which shows the attention to detail put into the presentation of each rider and their horse. Fiona Sloan won the most entertaining rider, a role that had previously gone to George Devlin and Ian Wilson in the past at Balmoral. During the occasions when a junior event has been held at the Inter Hunt Chase League events, Joe and Bob Hamilton, Saoirse McLaughlin and Jamie Boyd have had the opportunity to compete.

While some teams use their hunt chasing horses only for this purpose, the truly great horses of Mid Antrim team will have a short rest in recognition of their hard work, then enjoy the season with their owners. Hopefully after the thrill of the main arena at the RDS in front of a huge noisy crowd, the hunting won’t seem too tame!

Mid Antrim Inter Hunt Chase Team at Loughanmore

The Mid Antrim Hunt are delighted to confirm that their team has gained a place to compete at the Dublin Horse Show Inter Hunt Chase competition this year. This is no mean achievement as there are very few places available and it is many years since the Mid Antrims or indeed any Northern teams have been represented there.

The Mid Antrim team has clocked up a huge number of miles and spent a fortune on diesel, travelling all over Ireland even as far as Wexford (twice) and Laois to compete in the Dublin Qualifying league, as there are so very few Inter Hunt Chase Dublin Qualifier competitions in the North. In spite of the sterling efforts of course builder and Inter Hunt Chase enthusiast, Noel Fitzpatrick, there were only two of these events in the North this year, at Balmoral Show and a Mid Antrim Hunt event run at Loughanmore by kind permission of Wilson Dennison. Both these events were sponsored and supported by Wilsons Auctions. This has meant that the Mid Antrim team has had to go South almost every weekend to stand a chance of qualifying against the Southern teams who are extremely professional and keep strings of horses for the sole purpose of Inter Hunt Chasing.

Fiona Magill

The team came 6th in the league which qualified them for the ballot and they should be congratulated on winning the most consistently Best Turned Out team award. Fiona Magill also won a crystal rose bowl awarded to the most entertaining rider. The top 3 teams in the league, The Kildares, Killinicks and Westmeaths automatically gained a place in the final and the next 4 places were balloted for, with one place kept for a visiting team from G.B. The Meaths, the Scar and the Wexford Hunts’ names came out of the ballot and when the popular Mid Antrim team’s name was also announced it raised a huge cheer from the other teams who are aware of the great efforts the Northern team has made to get to Dublin. The team are very grateful for the kindness and hospitality shown by their hosts and the league organiser John Rowley on their Southern visits.

Orla McLaughlin on Flynn

In addition to the experience gained at the competitions the Mid Antrim team has also been constantly practising at Andy Hamilton’s farm, in particular trying to polish up their handovers of the hunting crop which has to be done at a flat out gallop full tilt, head on at each other, in order to stand any chance of competing with the brilliant Southern teams. Andy Hamilton and David McLaughlin have given up a great deal of their time coaching, encouraging and generally providing the impetus to the team and must be delighted that all their work has helped the team to gain a place in Dublin.

Jamie Sloan

The team includes Beverley Caves on Richard Cowan’s lovely big chestnut horse Inspire Me which has been very successfully evented by Beverley and is also a first class hunter. Also in the team is Orla McLaughlin who has a lot of inter-hunt chasing experience under her belt with her great little thoroughbred hunter, Flynn. Fiona Magill on Merrin has been going extremely well as has Jamie Sloan on Callie, a very nippy chestnut which looks tailor-made for this game. Andy Hamilton and David McLaughlin have given up a great deal of their time coaching, encouraging and generally providing the impetus to the team and must be absolutely delighted that all their work has helped the team to gain a place in Dublin.

As at Balmoral the Inter Hunt Chase is run as a thrilling finale to the Dublin Horse Show and all best wishes go to the team and congratulations on their efforts in qualifying for a place. The draw has already been done and the Mid Antrims will compete in the first round against the Meath Hunt.

The Mid Antrim Hunt also ran a fun Beach Mounted Relay on Carnlough Beach recently as part of the Dalriada Festival, sponsored by Larne Borough Council. This course was also built by Noel Fitzpatrick and the commentary box provided by Wilsons Auctions but unlike the Inter Hunt Chases which are only open to hunts registered with the Irish Masters of Foxhounds Association and the Irish Masters of Harriers Association, this is an light-hearted event that is open to all, including ponies, and always attracts a large crowd. As far as we know it is the only event of its kind to be held on the beach. This year there were a few spills as usual but much to the disappointment of the crowd, none in the water. The event was covered widely by the media with pictures even in the New York based Huffington Post and the London based Guardian newspaper.

Brigid Delargy on Strawberry

The competition has now been run for three years and is extremely popular with all ages. The “Benny’s Angels” team included Benny O’Kane and three children, Orla O’Kane, Erin Dunseath, and Brigid Delargy who had rushed back from competing and coming a brilliant 5th at the European Under 12 Games, in order to compete at Carnlough. It may be only a “fun” event but it was contested very fiercely by ten teams of all varieties, notably the photogenic Coloured Chase team with their co-ordinating horses to the smart Killultagh team of Guy Brady, Patrick Grinter, Mark Casserley and Sinead Boyd with their red hunting coats which mercifully stayed relatively dry. This team was runner up to the eventual winners, The Dare Devils, consisting of Shane O’Grady, Seamus Dillon, Diane Gibson and Colin Marshall, who all really went for it in the finals and received the big prize.

We wish the Mid Antrim Hunt Team the very best of luck in Dublin on 11th August, when they will be competing at 6pm in the main arena, and hope there will be plenty of Northerners there to support and cheer them on.
Photos of the Dalriada Beach Relay are by Audrey Hunter.