On Thursday 2nd March, Enniskillen Royal Grammar took part in the Omagh Academy Charity Showjumping Competition. It was held in the outdoor arena at Necarne on a beautifully sunny day.
Our first two riders were competing for the school team for the first time. Emma McCaldin (Year 9) on Katman and Sophie McCann (Year 8) on Penny. The pair rode extremely well, taking the show in their stride despite the butterflies beforehand. In fact, Emma’s round was so good that she was placed 3rd overall in the 60cm Class. A superb achievement and one to be congratulated. So… very well done Emma.
Class 2 – the 75cm team comprised – Tess Wallace (Year 9), Erin Wallace (Year 10), Lily Moore (Year 9) and Ruby Moore (Year 10). These four have jumped well together a good number of times and are a great support to each other. Both Tess and Lily had double clear rounds with Erin and Ruby catching a few faults. It was a tricky course in some places, tripping up a few schools. After a long wait ( our team was first to jump), we heard that the team had placed 3rd overall in this class. A fantastic result for them all. Well-deserved congratulations to the team..
Finally, it was time for the 1m Class – the Balmoral Qualifer. Competing for the team were Rebecca-Jane Woods (Year 11), Matthew Conlon (Year 13) and Sarah Fleming (Year 10). The course was very tricky causing a number of refusals for many competitors, not to mention poles falling. Our team did get caught up in this too with Sarah and Sahara having a few problems with one fence. The pair were jumping strongly up until this point. Good prospects for the next event.
Rebecca-Jane and Matthew had super rounds, both jumping double clears.
Unfortunately, the Qualifier rules are very strict and if you don’t jump a fence by a certain time, you can incur time faults. This happened to Rebecca-Jane which then precluded her from the jump-off for all those who jumped a double clear. Matthew, however, did qualify. He was 2nd to jump out of 12 and set the bar high. In fact it was so high that he couldn’t be beaten – he won the Individual class, picking up the Perpetual Trophy for 1st place. A brilliant achievement.
Congratulations to all the riders on their competitiveness and achievements. Also, a massive thank-you to the parents and trainers for all the efforts before and on the day of competition. Without their support, none of this would be possible.
