Endurance Ireland

After a very successful 2023 where we are firmly back to normal running after the madness of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are coming to a close on the year.  We’d like to thank everyone who supported the club during the year riders, landowners, sponsors and of course the organisers and volunteers.  We are planning a training session early in 2024 and looking forward to confirming our calendar and issuing it in the New Year.

So all that’s left to say is congratulations to our trophy and rosette receipants from our enjoyable Awards Night, if you want to see who got what, check our our Trophy Page and we hope you have a wonderful Holiday season and an excellent start to 2024, see you next year!

We have been busy getting ready for the 2023 Season and have the calendar ready for issue.  More details will be available on the website and entries will open in advance of the rides and in the coming weeks to both members and non members on www.itsplainsailing.com/org/ei

26th February Baunreagh, Co. Laois Organiser Yvonne Croke

12th March Ballinesker Beach, Co. Wexford Organiser Marty Delaney/Anne Kinsella

26th March Galtee Ride, Organiser Teresa Moore – Exit 11 off the M8, proceed along the R639, take the first left and the venue is down the road

23rd April Stradbally IDHBA ODE Ride, Organisers Yvonne Croke & Anne Kinsella  This ride has all of our usual classes and is open to everyone.  We will also have a class for Irish Draughts only with prizes for 1st to 6th

30th April Wolfhill, Co. Laois, This is a Charity Ride to support our member and Para-Dressage Rider Heather in her quest to qualify for the 2024 Paralympics, if you can’t come but would like to support check out https://www.gofundme.com/f/donate-to-help-heathers-paradressage-journey Organiser Teresa Moore/Anne Kinsella

14th May Leinster Way Ride, Co. Carlow, Organiser Evelyn Moore

28th May Kinnitty, Co. Offaly, Organiser Yvonne Croke

11th June Timahoe Co. Laois, Organiser Anne Kinsella

25th June Mountshannon, Co. Clare, Organiser Eamon Conway

2nd July IMFHA Show Stradbally, Organisers Anne Kinsella/Yvonne Croke

23rd July, Kilsheelan Tipperary Ride – Organiser Aisling Doyle

13th August, Wofhill Ride, – Organiser Anne Kinsella

27th August, Endurance Ireland Nationals, Larkfield, Athy, Organisers Anne Kinsella/Yvonne Croke  This event will have classes for all members and non members.  All classes available will be up on www.itsplainsailing.com/org/ei and for those who are members of another club and wish to take part in a CR class please just contact Anne or Yvonne to make the booking.

10th September Kinnitty, Co. Offaly, Organiser Yvonne Croke

8th October Inistoige, Co. Kilkenny, Organiser Evelyn Moore

22nd October Fun Halloween Ride, Timahoe, Co. Laois, Organiser Anne Kinsella

Well after a fun night on the 26th of November in the Maldron Portlaoise, our 2022 season has come to an end.  Our Annual Meeting will be held online on the 12th December and an email with all of the details has gone out to the members.

If you want to check out the winners of the 2022 Awards, please see our trophy page.  Looking forward to seeing you all again next year!

So our riding season ended on the 24th of October with our fancy dress ride.  It was great to see so many out in costume on the day.

Next we have a training day and demonstration on the 14th of November.  This event is open to all, with tickets available on  https://www.itsplainsailing.com/org/ei.  The morning session will include fitness, crewing, shoeing, with a talk from veteran Master Farrier Tommy Fahey.  The afternoon session will be a demonstration given by Derek O’Byrne-White who is an IQHA Level 4 Instructor, the only one in Ireland who will do an introduction to horsemanship.

Our Annual Meeting and Awards night will be held on the 27th of November, while the meeting is open only to members the dinner and awards portion of the event is open to all.  This is our 10 year anniversary event and we are delighted to be able to gather together to celebrate.  The event will be held in the Abbeyleix Manor Hotel with tickets for the meal available on https://www.itsplainsailing.com/org/ei

All our last 3 events this year are as follows:

26th September Cullenagh Ride

10th October Kinnity Ride

24th October Timahoe Fun Ride

Entries on https://www.itsplainsailing.com/org/ei

Huge thank you to our supporters at this event on Sunday, Connolly’s Red Mills, TRI Equestrian, Nikki Tillett (Owner of Arab Stallion ARQ Santoni) and our anonymous benefactors.  Their generosity has made this our best year yet in Larkfield.

Our next event is our 10 year anniversary event in Larkfield, Athy and to celebrate we are hosting a marathon event.  The event and the marathon are sponsored by a number of businesses so cash prizes are on offer.  The event is open to both members and non members however you MUST pre-enter on www.itsplainsailing.com/club/ei.  There is a password so contact Yvonne on 087 9512896 after 5pm for calls or texts all day or Anne on 087 6552250.

We are running a full marathon with cash prizes for 1st to 6th place, we are also running a half marathon and an Irish Draught Class. Connolly Red Mills, TRI Equestrian, The Tilletts – owners of ARQ Santoni have all kindly agreed to be our supporters at this event.  All classes will be awarded rosettes from 1st to 6th with all those who complete receiving a medal.  All horses will go through a metabolic and gait check before and after the half marathon distance with a mid way required at the full distance.  Endurance Ireland rules, polices and procedures apply to the day, all of which can be found on this website or are available from the secretary at endurancesecretary@gmail.com.  All those who take part in the day will receive prizes so get entering!!

We will be announcing our venues for the following dates in the next few weeks also, the 26th September, 10 October and 24th October.

Thankfully now, with the current Government announcement and plans we are in a position to commence our 2021 season.  We are delighted to welcome back all of our members from last year and membership is open to new members who wish to join.  We are delighted to announce that we are now open to non-members again, however all attendees must comply with our COVID procedures as well as our rules and polices as normal.  In addition, please note our Stradbally event remains closed to non-members due to number restrictions.

While we have not published our calendar, be assured we do have plans for 2021, we are currently waiting to see when the restrictions will relax to allow us to recommence running our events.  We will, as always, be holding our events on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month, once we can start the season.  In the meantime we have decided to run equestrian Pilates classes for 5 weeks in order for us all to get ready to the return to the saddle!

We have been in contact with Victoria (Toria) Moore who is a chartered physiotherapist and Pilates instructor and also a keen equestrian.  She has developed a class geared towards those of us who ride.  The cost of the class will depend on the numbers, so if you are interested please contact Anne on endurancesecretary@gmail.com or through our facebook page before the 31st of Jan.

All we will be hosting our 2020 Annual Meeting online on the 13th of December, this is open to members only and we will be discussing plans for next season.  This event is open to all members and information has been sent out, if you have received any correspondence please contact the Secretary on endurancesecretary@gmail.com.  Looking forward to catching up with you all.