Mid Antrim Hunt Host Two Day Inter Hunt Chase

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.

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.

Thankfully the weather cleared to provide a beautiful evening for the barbeque on the Saturday night and people were able to enjoy the lovely setting of the Ballymena Rugby Club by the river and enjoy their food both outside and in. There was a great crowd at the barbeque and everyone had a brilliant time with excellent music and company.

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.

The organisers are very grateful to Clarke McCartney for giving up his whole weekend to man the microphone and as ever he provided a very entertaining commentary throughout the two days. He has kindly agreed to help out again for the Dalriada Festival Beach Mounted Relay on 15th July and always provides plenty of humour to add to the day. Many thanks to all the Southern teams for coming so far in spite of the rain and for the local teams of horses and ponies for competing.

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.

The next events for the diary are the Mid Antrim Horse Show at Ballee, Ballymena on 28th June which will have a large range of classes for all from 50cms to 1.30metre jumping plus Working Hunter for horses and ponies. Also the Dalriada Beach event on 15th July.