TREC IRELAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS, 2018.

THE FIELD EQUESTRIAN CENTRE, CO LAOIS, SUNDAY JULY 22ND

Sunday, 22nd July dawned bright and clear as riders prepared themselves and their mounts for the TREC Ireland National Championships. The venue was The Field Equestrian Centre at Ballyadams, in Co Laois, with the kind permission of Robert Owens and Kenna Chapman. The Field EC was the perfect setting for the Championships, with its fantastic all-weather cross country course and its surrounding forestry and scenic countryside. Leinster TREC were the hosts and organisers.

As a National Championships, all three phases of TREC were to be included in the competition and Chefs de Piste were Leinster TREC’s Paula Donohoe and Marie Gallagher and Traceurs for the POR were Sheila Fuller and Margaret Lynch. TD for the Championships was Bambi Carroll of Turas TREC.

The day started off with the MA (control of paces). This was laid out on part of the all-weather track, a lovely straight level stretch, but with the challenge of some jump obstacles and water feature alongside! This caused a few swerves and breaks in pace for some but many horses got decent scores here, giving them a good start to the day.

On then to the PTV (Obstacle) part of the competition, with its 16 Obstacles, planned by Paula Donohoe and Marie Gallagher This section started in the grassy paddocks and then continued onto and round the all-weather track. An excellent mixture of Style, Pace and Timed Obstacles meant that both rider and horse skills were challenged appropriately for a Championships. Obstacles included the Hedge, Gate, Shamrock, Water Crossing, S-bend, Mounting, Immobility (Ridden and In Hand), Footbridge and a final gallop to the Tree Trunk for those who wished! Several of the Obstacles also had a related difficulty, such as walking through water, and here riders and their mounts had an opportunity to show the partnership combination which is part of the original test for TREC.

After that test, riders presented their horses for a checkup, then had a welcome break before the afternoon’s challenge of the POR (Orienteering). Levels on the day were 2A, 2 and 1, both Individual and Pairs and there was also a non-Championships class.

So - Hi-Viz gear was put on horses and riders, fly masks, fly spray, fly fringes all attached and all prepared for the hot day and for the Equipment Check. Riders then entered the Maproom, copied their maps and set off on their routes. With the help of Robert Owens, owner of The Field EC with his local knowledge & contacts, the Traceurs Sheila Fuller and Margaret Lynch had managed to put together routes with lots of off-road for all Levels, with some wonderful views, old castle ruins and a walk around a lake. Also to help with the heat, checkpoints were supplied with water for the horses. And as a final surprise and to cool off horses’ legs, the last section of the route for all horses and riders was to enter and walk through a shallow forest stream for the last 250m back to the venue and final checkpoint.

Safely back at the venue, horses could be cooled off at the washbay before a rewarding haynet and rest. From then on, it was the Scorers, Brendan Gavin and Ros Lynch who were the busiest, as they compiled the rider’s results from the various sections, adding points and subtracting penalties to find the winning combinations.

In the meantime, several presentations were made. A raffle took place for all helpers on the day, to thank them for giving so generously of their time. And presentations were made of horse/rider gear to Kirsten and Kayleigh McCormack, who will be representing Ireland at the Young Rider FITE Euromondial Championships in Italy in August this year.

Finally, the Results were out, the Championships places decided and the prize giving could take place. Trophies, rosettes & prizes from TREC Ireland were awarded to all who were placed in each class and a special crystal presentation prize was generously given by sponsor Patricia Foley of Ballyglass Farms to the winners of each class.

All who helped to make the day such a success were gratefully thanked and applauded and finally, tired but happy riders and horses made their way home to all parts of Ireland.

Results:

Level 2A Individual – 1, Strandhill Batman (Kirsten McCormack); 2, Robert (Ailbhe Gavin); 3, Gallarus Boy (Rosemarie Bryson).

Level 2A Pairs – 1, Regal Ivy (Celia Taylor) and Boynehall Benny (Sheaffe Monteith); 2, Ballycumber Blue (Katie Elwood) and Carlanstown Kid (Kayleigh McCormack); 3, Piccolo Boy (Bobbie Ovington) and Polly (Siobhan Wolf); 4, Juno (Trish Young) and Ginger (Sonia Serramia Ruiz).

Level 2 Individual – 1, Ballyclough Nugget (Sheila Winters); 2, Amber Sky (Patrick Byrne).

Level 1 Individual – 1, Coolroe Gold (Diana O’Huid); 2, Kedra Hugo Boss (Liz Burbage); 3, West Joey (Louise Parkes); 4, Trigger (Ellie Horgan).

Level 1 Pairs – 1, Cedergardim Ocean (Siobhan Ovington) and Teddy (Phillippa Christie); 2, Kleiner Onkel (Ulrike Schweder) and Sherry (Maria Schweder); 3, Apache (Joanne Robb) and Ringo (Lauren Robb).

Non-Championship Pairs – 1, Ballyphilip Gold (Ann Little) and Molly (Elaine Dolan Crowley); 2, Townend Lionheart (Chloe Brophy) and Rizzo (Sophie Crow); 3, Crosskennan Jethro (Ali Shields) and Zuko (Kerry Neill); 4, Maggie (Marissa Elliott) and Riley (Neil Kearns).

 

The beginning of a new season can be daunting in any equestrian sport and equally so in TREC. It is particularly difficult for riders hoping to move up the ranks to the higher levels. There are four levels beginning with the entry Level 1 with a maximum of 15km orienteering and 60cm jump height. At this level riders get a taste of what TREC is all about, spending lots of quality time with their horse and enjoying different parts of the countryside, while challenging their own and their horse's orienteering skills. Then moving on to level 2 where the distances and heights increase somewhat with slightly more technically challenging orienteering routes and PTV obstacles. There is a big leap from Level 2 to Level 3 and a rider moving up to Level 3 needs to be adept at using their compass and measuring distances both on their map and while riding their route on the ground. No mean feat !

This season TREC Ireland and Leinster TREC came together with a series of training events aimed at building rider confidence and helping riders move up the levels especially that challenging leap from Level 2 to Level 3. It started with an on foot day back in March facilitated by Niamh OhUid and Ailbhe Gavin where riders began to become acquainted with their compass and measuring distances and finding themselves on the map if they were "lost" ! This was without the added difficulty of being on the horse. This challenge came at the second training session at Coolmine Equestrian Centre this time facilitated by Bambi Carroll and Sheila Fuller. Here the horse was added into the mix. This gave riders the opportunity to put into practice what they had learned at the first session and discover areas that needed a little more work.

The third training session with Niamh OhUid and Diana O'Huid in April was around the Maproom. This is a critical time for the orienteering competitor who has a very limited duration in the Maproom to copy down their route from a master map onto a map which they will carry with them to find their way. If they don't get the route copied correctly or if they don't have enough time to copy the whole route they are lost before they begin !! There was an excellent turnout for this evening session where alongside nurturing Level 2 to Level 3 riders, riders new to TREC were also introduced to orienteering. There was a fantastic turnout of aspiring TRECCIES that evening.

 

 

 

The fourth step was to set riders the challenge of a competition, something which would not scare them off but build on that confidence which was increasing with each session. This was held at Loughway Stud in Timahoe at the end of April and Sheila Fuller set the routes guided by Gwen Bastien as TD. It was a very successful event with most of the Level 3 riders riding at this level for the very first time and nearly all of the riders new to TREC who attended the Maproom Training taking on the challenge of their first orienteering competition. Confidence was definitely building as riders were talking about entering the Open Championships at a higher level than they would normally ride !

Now it's on to the FINALE, the TREC Ireland Open Championships at Slieve Aughty in Loughrea, hosted by Turas TREC. Championship competitions are by nature much more challenging than a local competition so the bar is well and truly raised. Despite this there was lots of enthusiasm from riders now armed with new skills and there were riders from the training entering at all levels up to level 3 individual. Bambi Carroll and The Turas TREC team, guided by Adrian Flynn as TD, had truly challenging routes planned which were a delight to ride and lots of fun. This was also a lovely opportunity for riders from all the regions of Ireland and beyond (England, Scotland Wales and the USA) to come together and mix and mingle, sharing experiences and helping each other discussing difficult areas on the routes and more. ALL of the riders who attended the training were placed with some winning their classes and one of our Newbees to POR Ulrike Schweder came away with the Orla O'Reilly Memorial Shield for best Newcomer. Keyleigh McCormack came away with the Grangeclare Cup for the highest scoring Irish rider at level 3.

 

A truly successful Training Series !!

 

Thanks to Anna McCarthy for sending in this:

Annas Trec adventures

story one

where do I start my family are never too sure whether it's good or bad when I go off to trec they see the great enjoyment I get from it but then they have to listen to my reminiscences and stories for days and days afterwards ,then for months and years afterwards I see them cringe when I start to tell the same story over again but always with the same enthusiasm I

I have been lucky enough to do trec pairing at different times with all three of my kids and I have to say these times have always been great very fun times being able to share the whole experience together never once has there been an upset .one can only laugh about mistakes especially in orienteering because afterwards they are so ridiculous ,when you look back later at the map ,and realise where you went and where are you should've gone !

the best story regarding this was at a trec orla organised at Rath Mullen Donegal it also taught me don't be like a sheep and follow the one in front !

my 15-year-old son and I came out of The map room very confident as always I said did you notice we go away from the start across the field not the beach? we were very smart cookies !so off we went feeling very smug and at the bottom of the field met the pair who had gone out in front and had a great laugh as they had gone the wrong way, down the beach ,and we so clever we went the right way ,so off they headed just in front, but we took time to check the map road crossing and small bridge, all good !,,following along behind the others happily ,then arriving 10 minutes later in Rath Mullen ,(which we had been told at the start was where we were... not.... to go )O dear must've gone wrong couldn't work out problem at all ...then there was another pair joined the confusion ...eventually... We got to a check point and caused more mayhem at eight of us there at once....the real laugh was when we got home I looked at the bigger picture on map route showed us to go away from the beach at right angle and here we were all running up and down the road lost and this road was perfectlly parallel to the beach ....so we learnt that day to always look at the bigger picture

story 2 to follow

Man training naughty dog in mountains

Kerry is our first guest blogger, and is with North West TREC. Take it away Kerry:

My 1st adventure was at Lissan House in Co Tyrone via a friends invite.

With a hastily borrowed horse (Lenny) and a lift from Ali we set of for the 3 phase competition (no easing in for me!!)

PTV was mmmm..... interesting. I hadnt a clue what to do at any of the obstacles so I watched Ali. Then it was my turn!!

I scored 94 which I was thrilled with. I loved all the comments on the score sheet. They were really helpful for a complete novice like me. I especially liked the one for Immobility *DID NOT STOP* I vaguely remember Lauren sitting on the ground with Trudi munching some grass, as I thundered pass!! *Watch out for those nerves*

Ali and I had loads of laughs on the orienteering phase with Kim and Denise (4 heads are better than 2, surley). We did NOT get lost, just didnt follow the exact route haha!

Then finally the MA (Control of pace) which wasnt as easy as I thought.

All in all it was a fabulous day and I was hooked. I have been to a few more Trec competitons and training days since then and can say no one is the same.

Treccies are a real helpful, funny bunch. Always quick to give support and advice. I've met some wonderful people through Trec that I'm lucky to call my friends.

TIPS: Dont miss any obstacles and dont get in your horses way.

Also remember your mobile phone can send your compass haywire.