Photo courtesy of Derek O'Byrne White, (left to right) Derek O’Byrne White, Tom Foan, Severine Luchinger, and Jessica Seinkamp
It has been a long time coming, but I think the date of April 16, 2010 truly was a day to remember when Horse Sport Ireland held its first informational evening and demonstration to launch its new Western Riding and Reining division at Coilog Equestrian Centre in County Kildare.
The numbers for the evening exceeded pre-registration two-fold, with around 400 plus attendees, and the large crowd was certainly well entertained by NRHA and World Champion Tom Foran from California, whose parentage does stem from the Emerald Isle. Also in attendance was Anne Marie Dunphy, who with Tom, displayed a duet of both Western and dressage movements side-by-side, showing the common ground both disciplines share, but from two completely different cultures.
The Information Evening was then followed by a formal full day clinic by Tom Foran, who took prospective riders, trainers and horses through their paces on April 17th. This experience was mind blowing to see Tom Foran working with individual horses and riders and seeing massive steps of improvement.
At first, my own mare could only do a 180 degree turn or a roll-back, but by the time Tom was finished, she was doing 360 degree spins not one time, but four in a row. Also, I could finally get her headset in the right place. We came out of that clinic tired, but totally motivated. Now the trick is to apply that to the other 20 plus horses.
All participants at the clinic came away feeling the wow factor, not just with Tom, but also with what they had achieved individually with their horses. At 9:00 a.m. we went in not knowing what to expect, but by 6:00 p.m. that evening we had some good reining prospects with the basics installed. Not bad for just one day.
To paraphrase and amend Neil Armstrong’s lunar landing quote, “one small step for Horse Sport Ireland, one giant leap for Reining in Ireland.”
As usual, our good luck continued, with the volcano dust shutting down all airports. Tom was stranded, so when the sun shined we made hay by pulling a second impromptu clinic in County Leitrim. This went equally well with the participants all new to reining, but now with a hunger to learn more and do better for themselves and their horses.
Ireland has had North American breeds as far back as the eighties, but up until Horse Sport Ireland’s participation and support, nothing has truly been achieved. Ireland enjoyed a series of clinics from NRHA Germany’s Bernie Hoeltzell, UK NRHA Judge Bob Mayhew and UK based trainer Shane Borland. To finish the year’s achievements, Horse Sport Ireland established and ran a successful Equestrian Skill-net course for Western Riding instructor and trainers. This course was fully booked with five participants achieving level 2. The course was presented and assessments carried out by Bob Mayhew.
Plans for 2011 have already been drawn up, and include Ireland’s first NRHA competition along with other western disciplines by the year’s end.
Also, the Irish Quarter Horse Association finally got the go-ahead from the Irish High Court to be re-entered on the Irish Companies Office register. The Original Association was struck off the company’s register in 2005 for failing to comply to submit annual returns.
It’s been a rough road for the American Quarter Horse in Ireland, despite being here since the 1980′s. Despite having over 100 horses here, not one has competed in any discipline. If anything, the world’s most popular horse was beginning to get the reputation as just a big cowboy’s pony. The infighting between various groups also didn’t help its reputation. But hopefully now with the reinstated Irish Quarter Horse Association, if it gets its affiliation suspension lifted by AQHA at the next convention, will work hard to reverse the negative view of the Quarter Horse here in Ireland.
For more information on Western Riding or Reining clinics or events please contact Horse Sport Ireland via their Web Page www.horsesportireland.ie
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