HSI National Reining and Western Championships 2012

The Horse Sport Ireland Reining and Western National Show took place on Saturday 6th October 2012 in Drumcoura Equestrian Centre, Co Leitrim. Riders travelled from all over the country to compete. Thanks to generous sponsorship there was €1000 in prize money on offer at the show.

Pictured on left is Magda Halada National Prelim Champion and on the right is Alessia Stocca National Novice champion. Picture thanks to D Mulryan www.rusheenbay.com

Chairman of the HSI Reining and Western section Declan Mc Ardle commented that ‘this was the second annual National Reining and Western show and has been a huge success. I was delighted to see the level of participation in all the classes and wish to congratulate all those who took part. There was a great atmosphere throughout the whole day and it was fantastic to see a large number of spectators turning up to support and find out more about western riding. It was great to see an increase in the number of youth competitors since last year and there was also a notable improvement in the standard of riding since last year throughout all the classes’

The day started with the in-hand classes – showmanship & halter, which had a good turnout, followed by the ridden classes including the exciting reining class. Barrel racing was the final class to finish the day and it was very close with only 0.74 of a second separating first and second place, which went to Niall Bradley (Smoky) and Nicole Devine (Ted) respectively.

The HSI High Point Novice Champion went to last year’s winner Alessia Stocca riding American Paint Horse Arwen D Black Inside. Originally from Italy, Alessia is currently living in Galway.
The HSI High Point Prelim Champion went to Magda Halada riding her cob Juggsy. Magda is based in Co Wicklow.
HSI Walk/Jog champion went to Laura Crowe and her full Connemara mare Arabella.
The HSI Leading Youth Rider of the show went to Nicole Devine. Nicole was riding Ron Weisz’s Ted. Nicole is from Carrick on Shannon, Co Roscommon.

Huge thanks to all the sponsors: Bog River Ranch, Drumcoura Saloon, Ferranview Farm, Fox River Ranch, Horse Sport Ireland, Irish Reining, Kilnamanagh Stables, Stablehands Equine Chiropractors, White Mountain Ranch, PD Western Saddlery