Pony riders reap rewards at inaugural Awards Ball

The inaugural Pony Show Jumper"s Awards ball took place in the Mullingar Park Hotel. Run as a fund raiser for the Pony Premier League which had such a successful induction in 2008, the ball was run to show appreciation to riders who made contributions to the sport throughout the year.From the 128cm riders to the 148cm International riders, all were praised at the Black tie occasion in front of a large attendance.At the finish of the dinner, Conan Rowan took centre stage as MC and began to award the well deserved prize-winners of 7 categories taking in all height bands. Bertram Allen was by far the biggest winner on the night taking home 4 awards along with his sister, Grace, who took three awards.The awards kicked off with the winners of the Pony Spring tour at the beginning of 2008 and set the tone for what followed as a wonderful year on the Pony circuit. Grace and Bertram Allen and Vincent Byrne collected trophies for their individual categories when taking the Spring Tour Championships.Following this, the winners of the inaugural Pony Premier League received their prizes. Run as the equivalent to the Premier Series, the pony riders are to be very much commended for their efforts in this new league. Tom Foley, Bertram Allen and Jessica Burke were awarded for making this league their own.Burke was later rewarded for her efforts internationally along with Shane Connell and Emily Turkington. Horse Sport Ireland representative Ian Fearon was on hand to provide these three riders with their just rewards for a spectacular season on the International circuit.All three made very valuable contributions, especially in the European Championships at Avenches where Connell took 6th in the individual. He also took the Grand Prix at Fontainbleau aboard the ever consistent Murphy"s Flight. Jessica Burke, who had an esteemed pony career, took the 148 division of the Premier Pony league by a wide margin along with numerous International victories including a win at Fontainbleau, a venue which she has made her own over the years. Both Connell and Burke now move on to Horses with the very best wishes from Ian Fearon, however Turkington remains in ponies in pursuit of an even better year in 2009 who did exceptionally well at the European Championships and also jumping double clear in the Nations Cup at Aach.RDS winners Pauric Kenny, Mark Murphy, Richard Howley and Jordan Coyle also took their prizes for their wonderful rounds at the centre point of the Irish National season. This was then followed by the pinnacle of the Northern season where Alex Buller and Grace and Bertram Allen reaped the rewards for a very successful Northern Ireland International Horse Show.Finally the various teams from 2008 had their successes recognised starting with the Home Countries 128 and 148 teams that took Team Gold at Cavan in July. The 138cm teams that took Team Gold at both Wales and West and the Scottish Home Pony International were also awarded for their superb results at both of these competitive shows.Following on from the awards, a raffle was held and then an auction which was done by Paddy Donegan, Chairman of Kilbeggan Race course, and Gerry Duffy. With many items going under the hammer, both did very well with many lots fetching some big figures including a trip for two to a Formula 1 race which reached €1,250. To finish the evening the local rockers, Gobsmacked entertained the masses into the early hours.Event organiser Katy Saunders said; "" I am so happy that this evening has been such a success, especially as there was so little time to do it in. I would like to thank all those people who supported the evening and to those who missed this year to make sure they put next year"s event in their diary as it will be even bigger and better for which some tickets ordered already.""With the Pony Spring Tour set to start on March 7th at Ravensdale, we are set for another wonderful year on the Pony circuit both at home and abroad.