The final of the Leinster Special Olympics Equestrian League took place on Wednesday, June 12 at Etta Hayes, Kylebrook Equestrian Centre, Portlaoise, Co Laois. The sun beamed down despite a differing forecast and Bosco Ramsbottom’s mobile BBQ drew the crowd away from the arenas as the breeze let everyone know when the burgers were ready to be served.

“This is the first league we have had in years,” explains LilyAnn Ho, regional development officer with the Special Olympics. “This is partly due to a lingering effect of COVID-19, and partly due to the niche nature of the sport.”

“Ideally, we should be hosting this league in the other provinces, but we simply don’t have enough clubs or teams, so this is the big one” she added. The largest team fielded on the day came from Scoil Aonghusa, Cashel, Co Tipperary. Other teams travelled from Kildare, Kilkenny and Laois. 

Classes included working trails, equitation and equitation jumping. Tara Bergin-Dwyer from Tullamore, Co Offaly completed the jumping with Rocket. Tara who turns 15 in June said of Rocket: “He’s really good; he’s fast. He mostly listens to me! It was a bit tough because the jumps were close to each other so they were tight for turns, but we got there in the end.”

Jim Fennelly from Abbeyleix got a call from Etta to take care of photography. Normally following the Laois Hunt on a Wednesday, Jim has a good eye for capturing the magic moments. “You can see the build up in the kids faces; the tension, everything is so dramatic – to do the course, to finish it – it’s a real achievement for the athletes.”

The summer break has now commenced for all involved. Qualifying to set to begin again for the next World Games (Chile 2027) in the autumn. – Caitriona Bolger