Mid Antrim Show Well Supported

The Mid Antrim Horse Show was held on Saturday 22nd June at the Ballee Playing Fields, Ballymena on a day when the weather threw everything at the competitors, from glorious sunshine to sudden downpours and even hail, but luckily the ground was still excellent throughout the day in spite of the deluges.

There was a great turnout for the registered classes with the Amateurs kicking off the day in Ring 1. This competition was hotly contested with Ruth Irvine on Shantara’s Girl beating Philip White by 4 seconds, with Alistair Barr in third. In Ring 2 the registered 90cm started the day producing 7 double clears then the Ulster Region League metre class followed the Amateurs in Ring 1 leaving Ring 2 free for the non-registered jumping. There were 4 clears in the metre class with Catherine Morrow being the fastest, followed by Carla Overend, Philip White, and David Gibson.

The 1.10 league was a very big class and incredibly close with little separating the top contestants, but S. Ramsay just pipped Harry Marshall to come in first. Harry Marshall on Barcelona was victorious in the 1.20 out of a class of 26 and half these horses went clear which is an impressive achievement. Finally it was time for the big event of the day and to ensure conditions were perfect for the new 1.30m Volvo Trucks Grand Prix, the ever efficient Jess team moved the fences to fresh ground for this final competition. It was dominated by Harry Marshall who had three horses in 1st, 8th & 10th places out of the 21 competitors. In the jump off, with raised fences, Paul Caves on his beautiful horse Quinten made a valiant attempt to beat Harry, but in spite of a few incredibly tight turns, Harry Marshall on his ten year old bay stallion Kingdom could not be beaten. Several of the competitors had not only the fences to contend with but also driving rain when the skies opened on occasions.

We are very grateful to the judges Hilary McClelland and Shirley Jess for their unflappable efficiency, and to the whole Jess operation who have got the art of setting up, running and dismantling these courses down to such a fine art and somehow manage to stay helpful and cheerful throughout. 

The Non-Registered classes catered for every level from about 40cm to the Open Metre class with the 70 and 80cm classes proving the most popular. Some very small competitors started with the Junior Jumping and there were 3 clear rounds followed by a mixed horse and pony class at the 50cm level. A young lady whose name cropped up in the majority of classes from 70cm up and including the Open Metre class, was Beth Boone, who with her ponies Saphy and Jackie’s Princess, went away with a good haul of prizes although just missing out on the silverware. Angie O’Neill set a great pace with Shandy to win both the Horse 90cm and the Open Metre competitions and the Pony victories in both competitions went to Amy Thompson on Hugh. Both these competitors went away with two trophies each. We are very grateful to the Judges, Graham and Helen Maybin for their sterling efforts in these classes.

Starting at 10am in Ring 3 was the first Working Hunter competition for the Under 12’s. The course must have got the prize for the most imaginative design with the competitors having to face spooky sand bags decorating the first fence followed by a huge variety of obstacles including a hen coop containing incredibly lifelike chickens facing a fox than had invaded their run and was about to pounce. The masterpiece of the course was a representation of the Seven Towers of Ballymena with walls of all levels to jump and it rivalled a Game of Thrones stage set! Andy Hamilton should be extremely proud of having created such an impressive course which involved a massive amount of work. There were also the more traditional working hunter obstacles with rustic poles, stiles, logs, brushes etc to test the skills of the competitors. The winner of the pony Working Hunter Championship was Susannah Graham with her versatile pony which has hunted regularly with the Mid Antrims with Ally Wilson on Call me Calli as Reserve. Many thanks go to Mr John Stewart who did the honours as Judge and I am sure he was glad of his large brimmed hat during some of the showers. Darius Graham and Judith Hamilton along with their helpers were organising the Working Hunter side of the Show and deepest sympathy must go to Darius Graham’s wife Maureen and all the family on the death of Maureen’s mother recently.

Without our sponsors these Shows could not happen and we are deeply grateful to them and everyone who so generously gave up their time to help on the day. Many thanks to the Ballymena Borough Council for all their assistance.

Mid Antrim Horse Show Results:
Registered Jumping:
Amateurs- Dingo’s Qualifier:
1st Ruth Irvine, Shantaras Girl; 2nd Philip White, Fabregas; 3rd Alistair Barr, MacPorsch; 4th Lisa Boyle, Bannside Boy; 5th Shirley Smyth, Jaqui McKinney’s Jail House Rock; 6th Jo-Anna Robinson, Coolda Casablanca.
90cm:
Equal First: C. Spillane Pattison on 2 horses, Little Task, and Cor de La; S.Gibson, A. Gibson’s Cavalier Task; P.Caves, Quinica; L. Ervine, White Hawk Shakara; U. Bamford, Ludovick; D. Gibson, Ashfield Red Ginger.
1m Ulster Region League:
Equal First: C. Morrow, Abilli Flyz; C.Overend, CJO Max a Million; F. Thompson, P. White’s Fabregas; D. Gibson, Ashfield Red Ginger.
1.10m Ulster Region League:
1st S.Ramsay, K.Ramsay’s Brown Boleybawn King; 2nd H.Marshall, K.Marshall’s Chirokko M; 3rd F.Mellett, Unknown Territory; 4th J.Kealey, Crossmaglen Bandit; 5th E.Little, L.Allen’s Diamond Dollie; 6th C.Megahey, B.Megahey’s Rickamore Royal; 7th B.Caves, P.Caves’ Harlequin De Suzie; 8th N.Townley, The Clover Pledge.
1.20m P & O Ferry Competition.
1st H. Marshall, Barcelona; 2nd E. Little, S. Agnew’s Galway Bay Hummer; 3rd C.Megahey, B.Megahey’s Rickamore Royale; 4th J.Kealey, Crossmaglen Bandit; 5th L. McKee, H. Ditty’s Shanemullagh Lady; 6th L. Reid, Nonavic Tamara; 7th L. Campbell, N. McCluskey’s Lougherne Build to Last; 8th P. Devlin, LCC Casey’s Cruise; D. Bell, Glinn Bay; A. Desmond, J. Desmond’s Rollover; D. Conlon, Ballyrath; T. Doherty, Vangelis; S. Mackenzie, H. Marshall’s Ciscos Chateau.

1.30m GRAND PRIX Ulster Region League sponsored by Volvo Trucks:
1st Harry Marshall, Kingdom; 2nd Paul Caves, Quinten; 3rd Barry McCormack, Armani Velvet; 4th Philip Gaw, Derek Gaw’s Rocky Bond; 5th Anita Doherty, Fitz; 6th Michael Cave, Allan Davidson’s Vupardie; 7th Tom Doherty, Julie McLelland’s Liezel Lux; 8th Harry Marshall, Gennarro Z; 9th Paul Devlin, Courageous; 10th Kristopher Marshall, Harry Marshall’s Zeven.

Non-Registered Jumping:
Junior jumping Clear Rounds: Amy Fleming, Lady; Lucy Gillespie, Silver; Luke Cunningham, Whizzy.
50cm :
Ponies: 1st Amy Fleming, Lady; 2nd Zoe Dickey, Silver: 3rd Luke Cunningham, Whizzy.
Horses: Double Clears: Ciara Mackenzie, Leo; Bertha Rea, Fair Exchange.
70cm Novice: Double Clears:
Ponies: Andrew McAuley (drew for Blair Cup), Flamin Nora; Beth Boone, Saphy; Lydia McLeister, Moorfields Magic; Luke Cunningham, Whizzy; Lucy Gillespie, Tom Thumb; Josh Mark, Henry.
Horses: Rhonda Carson, Ems Miska; Rhonda Carson, Ted; Walter Irvine, Glittering Captain; Nicola Ritchie, Bailey; Nicholas Moffett, Jack; Rosemary Moffett, Chip; David Cross, Ellie May; Bertha Rea, Fair Exchange; Ciara Mackenzie, Leo.
80cm Novice: Double Clears:
Ponies: Lindsay Cameron (drew for Kens Burger Bar cup), Indie; Beth Boone, Jackie’s Princess; Abbie Patton, Ryan; Connie Patton, Prince; Andrew McAuley, Flamin Nora.
Horses: Marion Rea, Ballyconnolly Cracker; Elaine Simpson, Evergreen; Whitney Ross, Razz.
90cm Open:
Ponies: 1st (Norwood Shield) Amy Thompson, Hugh; 2nd Beth Boone, Jackie’s Princess; 3rd Keavy Molloy, Diamond Seeker; 4th Connie Patton, Prince; 5th Lyndsay Cameron, Indie .
Horses: 1st (Galgorm Manor Cup) Angie O’Neill, Shandy; 2nd Karen Fleck, Uptown Lady; 3rd Ricky Ross, Razz.
1m Open:
Ponies: 1st (Stephens Catering Cup) Amy Thompson, Hugh; 2nd Beth Boone, Jackie’s Princess.
Horses: 1st (Castlehill Cup) Angie O’Neill, Shandy; 2nd Karen Fleck, Uptown Lady; 3rd Lauren Park, Bing.

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