.Latest news first.Last updated Dec 28th 2007.
We have a "dedicated phone line".The Russellstown Riding Club Mobile Number is 087-3130162.
Ger Shiel would like to welcome all Riding Club members to STS Equestrian,Gorey Business Park , Gorey, Co. Wexford, for all their horsey needs.AIRC members can claim a 10% discount on production of their AIRC cards Phone 053/9422431.Congrats to Ger and Jim on the safe arrival of baby Alannah.
27th Dec.It has been a very romantic year for the secretaries of Russellstown. Joint secretary Sandra got engaged to Rob in March, ex-secretary Michelle Broderick married Don in November and not to be outdone, our other joint-secretary Emma O' Keeffe got engaged to Mick Kelly over Christmas. We wish them every happiness in the future.
Dec 18th. We are (mostly) recovered from our Christmas party, even those who didn't get to bed till 6.30 am!! Brave souls that we are, we faced sub-zero temperatures for the final night of our show-jumping league.As the league proved to be such a sucess it ran over 9 seperate legs. John Lidierth and Jason Coughlan managed to make ALL 9 nights!Thanks to Rosemary again for the lovely mulled wine, chips and dips
Results as follows. Maxi 1st Elaine Fennell. 2nd Emma O' Keeffe. 3rd Elaine Bolger . 4th Tony Gillespie. 5th Mark Fitzgibbon. 6th(Despite being on honeymoon in New Zealand!!)Michelle Crowley (Nee Broderick!!). The Midi Winners were as follows 1st Harry Doran. 2nd Jason Coughlan(dedication pays!!.) 3rd Mick Kelly 4th Collette Harper(exams and all!)Joint 5th Louise Hogan and John Lidierth(ditto dedication, John!) 6th Sandra Nolan.
Dec 6th. We are now getting ready for our annual Christmas hooley on Dec 14th.Should be another great night! "Happy new horse" to John Lidierth, who has just purchased a new Irish Draft , pet name Woody.Not to be out-done, Elaine Bolger has not one,but two new foals!!
27th Nov 2007.Congratulations to ex-secretary Michelle Broderick who married Don Crowley recently. A great (few) day)(s) had by all!!Our show-jumping league is in full swing,with competition hotting up in many of the grades!29 members are taking part.
17th Nov 2007.Thanks to everyone who braved the horrible weather to attend our AGM.Most improved rider went to Mick Kelly. Achievement of the year went to Rob Corrigan for all his success at local and national level. Rob was also the lucky winner of the Bucas rug on the AIRC website competition!!
Oct 22nd.Mullingar Equestrian Centre,recent base to Diarmuid's Pony kids ,was the venue this weekend. Tony and Setanta took 3rd in the Red Mills Master series Welcome stakes and 5th in the Power and Speed, he came tenth overall in the league. Rob and Four Arches also took part the same venue.Both riders and their mounts are pictured below. Sandra is now looking to extend their mantelpiece as Rob took first in the Inter show-jumping final, another national title!Jason and Arrow also made the long journey but were not in the ribbons this time.
18th October. Lots of our members took part in the Carne Riding Club beach ride for Telethon '07.
Oct 2nd. Our sole representatives at the National Dressage Championships were Tony Gillespie,Julianne Kelly and Sandra Nolan."Anthony " and Trádhearg Setanta tok 5th in the AI combined training. Rob went along to help, even though he had to miss out on the competition himself.Thanks to Rob and well done all three riders.
23rd Sept. Rob and Fuzzy and Tony and Setanta had another good day today. Rob took 3rd in the Ballyhale hunter trials while Tony made the long trip to the Red Mills Masters series in Claregalway when he took 5th in the A.I. grade.
Sept 15th. Our two representatives Rob and Tony travelled to the National One Day event, with Sandra as travelling head lass.Rob Corrigan, on Four Arches (AKA Fuzzy) took 3rd in the Inter. class. Tony, on Trádhearg Setanta,recorded a wonderful clear over a very technical XC course and was just 0.10 away from 6th place in a class of 54 in AI. Well done lads!! Sept 11th 2007.Our show-jumping league is hotting up. Over 25 riders once more took part tonight.Fans of the award-winning T.V. series " The Tudors" will soon be watching Russellstown member Olwyn Eivers, she appears as an extra in the programme.Well done to all members who travelled Belline, especially to Mick and Eileen on their first ever competitive day-out. Sept 4th 2007. It is with huge regret that we announce the cancellation of our annual oneday event.We'll be back bigger and better next year.Despite the bad weather, we have been keeping busy with cross country schooling in Ballyhale and Curracruit. Our hugely popular autumn s/j league is once more underway with over 20 members taking part on the first night-nothing like the sniff of a prize to encourage people to get moving! August 27th 2007 .The Viking League started with Waterford ODE down in Coolmeen. Ciara Larkin came 1st on Ringo and Louise Hogan came 2nd on Prinny.
Ballycanew ODE in Glandoran was next. The day started off well but was interrupted by a hailstorm which left conditions unsafe for X-country and they made the decision to finish on a combined training score. Emma was 1st on Kestrel. Ciara Larkin was 3rd on Ringo and Alan was 5th on Oisin.
Broomfield ODE went ahead despite very wet conditions. Some braved the conditions and completed the cross-country. Results are Ciara Ryan was 4th on Texas Diamond and Ciara Shannon was 2nd on Forever Susie.
Carne & Tinahely both had to cancel due to the adverse weather conditions.
Nuenna ODE went ahead on the 29th of July. Alan was 3rd on Oisin and Louise was 5th on Prinny . June 28th. Despite the wet weather,we travelled to Glandoran for the Ballycanew ODE.As it happened, the cross country could not take place and the s/j and d were run as combined training. Emma and Kestrel took first in I, while Ciara L and Ringo were 3rd. Alan Cope took 5th in AI. June 18th.Get well wishes to Tony who had a brief spell in hospital recently. Ciara(Larkin) took 1st in the I class at the Waterford RC ODE on Ringo, while Louise took 2nd in AP with Princess.Thanks to all our travelling helpers, as usual. Festival placings.Well done to all our members who took part over the very warm weekend.Our I s/j team came fouth, members of the team were Linda Shannon, Ciara Larkin, Catherine Rudenko and Annette Walshe."Rusty",Jason and Linda took 6th,7th,8th respectively in the coloured horse class. Ciara Larkin was 2nd in the I Prix Caprilli. Please let me know if I've ommitted any results. A special thank you to Rob and Sandra who hauled themselves over early on Sunday morning , following a very late night, to man the show-jumping. Bríd was on duty in the judges catering tent over the two days. May 29th.Juliannne Kelly was 2nd in the Introduction to Showing at Kill on the 26th Ciara Larkin, on Mottolino Ringo took 4th in the Dunamaise RC ODE recently(Inter), while Tony took part in both days over the weekend in the Redmills Masters at Barnadown and Kill.Thanks to Ger Shiel of STS for bringing her lorryload(literally!)of equestrian supplies to our clubnight in preparation for the Festival . May 13th.Tony Gillespie, on Trádhearg Setanta was one of just thirty six riders who competed in the opening round of the Red Mills Masters Series at Cheval Show grounds, Jordanstown, Co Dublin on Sunday last.Tony took time off from minding his two new colt foals to make the journey up the M50.
Welcome to our new member Ciara Ryan & congratulations to Angie on her new horse ‘Fern’. Congratulations to the two Russellstown representitives who made the trip to Belline last weekend. Both made it a worthwhile trip , with Julianne Kelly taking 2nd in Ap dressage and Catherine Rudenko taking fifth in the same grade.
22nd April. Hooray for Russellstown!Six members and helpers travelled to the national Hunter Trials in Flower Hill yesterday.Tony took part in AI, Rob (below), Emma and Annette in I and Rusty and Linda in AP. Mick Sandra, Cara and Bríd travelled as helpers and supporters. Linda and Rusty must surely have been amongst the best-turned-out on the day. Rob with "Four Arches" aka Fuzzie was fifth with Emma and Kestrel in the I pairs while Rob(in his snazzy new jods!!) took first in I singles.Everyone enjoyed their day and lots of photos were taken of fences that might yet appear on our own course-you have been warned!
April 19th.Results of our Easter s/j league as follows
Joint 1stMick Kelly,Tony Gillespie,Elaine Fennell, Annette Walshe. 2nd John Lidierth.Joint 3rd Michelle Broderick , Louise Hogan.Well done to everyone who took part.Linda Shannon won the Easter hamper. Thanks to STS Equestrian for travelling up on the night and to Emma and Sandra who organised the chips and dips. April 1st.The gang moved on to the show in Warrington today.Mick Kelly made his competitive debut in AP today, taking part in both dressage and showjumping on the bigger of the two Harveys. Josephine Larkin proved she's no April fool as she took first in AP dressage on the smaller Harvey. Catherine Rudenko took 5th in Inter. sj while Tony Gillespie was 4th in AI s/j with Trádhearg Setanta and 5th in dressage. March 25nd 2007.Well done to our THREE teams,named for the Carlow colours, heading to Woodstown on Sunday.Supporters/ground-staff(!) also welcome. The teams for Woodstown are:
'Amber' : Annette Walshe (Captain), Elaine Bolger, Louise Hogan
'Green' : Sandra Nolan (Captain), Linda Shannon, John Lidierth
'Red' : Emma O'Keeffe (Captain), Collette Harper, Patrick O'Neill
Both the Amber and red teams jumped off for placings.The red team (pictured above) were fifth thanks to a stylish clear against the clock by captain Emma O'Keeffe.Amber were just outside the placings following a speedy four faulter from captain Annette.
"C'mon mammy!" Cara O' Keeffe keeeping a close eye on her mammy Emma at the Woodstown team challenge! March 19th 2007.Club PRO Louise Hogan is just back from Cheltenham, where she spent the week reporting and writing feature articles for the "Irish Independent". (Nice work if you can get it!!)Another club member,Catherine Rudenko, nutritionist with Red Mills Feeds had an article published in the "Irish Field " recently March 14th 2007.22 members are taking part in the annnual Easter show-jumping league at present. Members for P/AP/I grades are using the league to help prepare for the Woodstown team challenge on March 25th. March 12th 2007.Congratulations to our joint secretary Sandra Nolan and fellow club member Rob Corrigan on their engagement. We wish them every happiness. March 2nd 2007.The Easter show-jumping league is now well underway,as wll as prizes for the winners of each section we will raffle an Easter egg for all those who take part. Feb 22nd 2007. Welcome to new members Ciara Shannon and Julianne Kelly. Niall McDonald would like to thank all the riding club members who supported the recent table quiz in aid of The Irish Cancer Society. Over €800 was raised for this very worthy cause.
Feb 14th 2007. Our new "state of the art " uprights have arrived(see picture below) we are having great fun trying out all the various ways to use them!We got these from "Sturdy products" in Blessington. Feb 4th 2007.Sean Doran, Emma O' Keeffe, Louise Hogan and Mark Fitzgibbon made the trip to Carrigbeg for the Dressage Ireland show. All four riders did well in their respective classes. Feb 1st 2007. Happy "new horse " to Mark Fitzgibbon, who has just acquired "Marley". 9th of Jan. Club resumed for 2007 with two lessons. Welcome to new members Mick Kelly, Paddy Troddyn(back from his Australian exploits ) and Joe Hughes.Looking forward to another successful year!
