The 2007 Irish Horse Board Young Breeders Competition

The 2007 Irish Horse Board Young Breeders Competition took place at Gurteen College on Tuesday the 31st of July. There was a great turnout of youngsters with an overall number of 38 participants competing in the senior and junior categories.

Each competitor had to complete each of the following five sections; i) a theory test, ii) judge the gaits of a loose horse, iii) judge a horse jumping loose, iv) assess the conformation of a mare and v) present a horse in hand. Judges Phillip Scott, Tiernan Gill and Tom Slattery were on hand to put the young breeders through their paces.

In the junior section Claudia Felstead claimed the top spot on a score of 360 points, with Kilkenny’s Dairine O’Connor lying close behind on 320 points and fellow Kilkenny comrade, Rachel Lawlor finishing in third place on 270 points.

Victorious for the second year running in the senior category was Janine Mulgrew from Co. Tyrone, finishing on a score of 305 points, whilst Amanda Fahy from Co. Galway, and Lorna O’Carroll from Co. Clare, finished in second and third on scores of 298 and 291 respectively.

The top six placed competitors in each category will receive further training before the final selection is made for the team to represent the Irish Sport Horse Studbook at the World Young Breeders Championship in Holland 2008.

The Irish Horse Board would like to thank Gurteen College for hosting the event and Teagasc for their assistance in organising the competition. The IHB are also indebted to Andrea Etter for providing the horses for the competition and judges Phillip Scott, Tiernan Gill and Tom Slattery.

Full results:

Senior Section

1st place Janine Mulgrew, Co. Tyrone
2nd place Amanda Fahy, Co. Galway
3rd place Lorna O’Carroll, Co. Clare
4th place Emma Finnegan, Co. Offaly
5th place James Woods, Co. Limerick
6th place Aubrey Chapman, Co. Wexford

Junior Section

1st place Claudia Felstead, Co. Galway
2nd place Dairine O’Connor, Co. Kilkenny
3rd place Rachel Lawlor, Co. Kilkenny
=4th place Katie O’Farrell, Co. Kilkenny
=4th place Charlotte Younghusband, Co. Tipperary
6th place Sarah Cleary, Co. Wexford
7th place David Bourke, Co. Wicklow