How long has the Enniskillen Horse and Pony Show been running, and what inspired its creation?
In the year 2000, the turn of the new millennium marked a milestone for Enniskillen Horse and Pony Show, when a new, standalone committee was formed under the Chairmanship of Ivan Keys, and with Mavis Rolston as Honorary Secretary. At this point it became clear that the show had outgrown the venue at the Ulster Famers Mart at Lackaboy, and the show was forced to temporarily move for the first time to a location outside of Fermanagh, with the show being hosted at Ecclesville. The following year in 2001, the show was back in Fermanagh, and was held at the newly redeveloped facilities at Necarne, which has remained as the show home ever since.

Desmond Rolston was elected as Chairman in 2002, and he continued in this role for 16 years when he handed over the reins to Rosemary Bothwell in 2018. The show has navigated many challenges over the years, including foot and mouth and the covid pandemic to name a few. The show has recently developed a strong working relationship with Derek Keys, the current leaseholder at Necarne, and the show is flourishing with increasing entries, classes and prize money year on year.

What makes the Enniskillen Horse and Pony Show unique compared to other similar events?
In short, our prize money and the prizes we have on offer! But also the venue – we have the most stunning facility in Castle Irvine with both sand and grass arenas to work with as well as the ability to stable horses overnight in one of the permanent stables that Necarne has on site. We are a team of committed volunteers and are all working towards the same goal – to improve the show to make it the best it can be.

Could you tell us about the different classes and competitions that take place during the show?
We have a full range of showing classes for ridden horses, Irish Draughts, Connemara ponies as well as pony showing classes, working Hunter classes for ponies and horses, dressage, a dog show and a full schedule of sji horse classes from 90-1.35m. Our sji pony show is held at a later date in mid July.

Describe the show in 3 words.
BEST SHOW EVER – No just joking – SCENIC – WELCOMING – FUN

It takes a Village to do something like this fantastic show. Tell us a little about the organising team and what they do.
We are a small committee of dedicated volunteers that work behind the scenes to bring the show to you every year. Our President is Desmond Roulston and our chairman is Rosemary Bothwell. Our vice chairman is Derek Keys. Patricia Kavanagh is our treasurer. Roseanna Bothwell is our committee secretary and Alison Dugan is our showing secretary. Emma Holden is our main showing correspondent. Our commentator is Corrie Maguire and Kyle Hayes looks after the social media for the show. Yvonne Chisholm is the chief organiser for the dressage section of the show.

Tell us about your key sponsors: Who are they?
We are so fortunate to have the continued support of our regular sponsors every year and love to welcome new sponsors every year. Some of our main sponsors include Willowwarm Irish Briquettes, Calor Gas, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council as well as Loaneden Caravan Park, Abbey Upholstery, Omagh Equestrian and Country Wear and Lough Melvin Stud.

The prize money is simply incredible. I suppose the simple question is Why and How? 😊😊
As we have said, we have the most amazing range of sponsors to help cover the cost of prize money to competitors, acquiring prizes and covering the other costs of the shows such as medics and rosettes but last year we took into fundraising to boost the prize money for the championships at this years show. We done this by running training shows and working Hunter qualifiers throughout the autumn and winter into the spring of this year to gather up the prize money we needed to cover the championships and with the amazing help and support of the local equestrians around us by entering the shows we achieved this!

How do you feel the Enniskillen Horse and Pony Show contribute to the local community and economy? It is an amazing show.
We have such a fantastic venue here in County Fermanagh so that really helps make the organisation much easier. Everyone is crazy to get to Castle Irvine due to the beautiful layout and facilities available on the venue. We love hosting our show here to show what amazing things we can offer here in County Fermanagh. We have entries and spectators from over Northern Ireland and ROI. Not only does this support local food and trade stands but it also encourages people to visit the area and make use of the local hotels and restaurants. We would love to see the show grow and develop year on year and our aim is to build the attractions side of the show and host more retailers and equine businesses over the next few years.

Tell us a little bit more about the event and who can compete in the different classes?
It is open to absolutely everyone and their horses, ponies and dogs. Every year we have such a range of riders from little tots, to grassroots, amateur and professional level riders attend the show. We quite literally have a class for everyone to do – we don’t have every showing class under the sun in our schedule but what we do have is a good range of classes that lets every rider, handler, horse and pony have their time to shine in the ring. We also host a leg of Ulster Region GP league at our event. We are delighted to be able to hold this year on year. To accommodate those who love show jumping but are not registered with SJI – we have started the unregistered show jumping event on the Sunday of the show, which is very popular. This is great to encourage kids of all ages to give show jumping a try but going down the registered route. Our unregistered jumping is one of the most popular sections of the show and is held in the walled garden of Castle Irvine. On the Saturday of our show we are running a dressage competition as well with Intro classes right up to an open class with elementary and medium level tests. This is all judged under the guise of well known as respected judge Ivor Harper.

Could you provide information about the facilities available for participants and spectators, such as parking, food vendors, and restrooms?
Caste Irvine is a 235 acre country estate with world class equine facilities. The walled garden is such a beautiful arena to jump and compete in and the grounds of the Castle are simply stunning. Everyone who comes to the venue for the first time is taken back with how beautiful it is! Necarne has 96 permanent stables on site and has 4 outdoor arenas and one indoor arena – which is where we hold our dog show on the Saturday!

We have a super range of caterers coming to the show – for example Mahons Hotel will be there with the bar and their famous Sunday lunches as well as Tyrone’s top chip shop and regular visitor to Necarne – A Taste of the Countryside, for Pizza lovers, we have Dough and Arrow pizzeria and for the coffee and cake lovers we have Pandora’s Box, Been There Drank That, Lydia’s Cakes and Cassie’s bakes who will be there on the grounds to cater for all food and drink needs! There will be portable toilets located close to the jumping, showing and working Hunter arenas and there are permanent bathrooms located in the main building of Castle Irvine.
 

Is there a specific theme or focus for this year’s show?
Our focus this year is the introduction of the Open Working Hunter Extravaganza! The Champion Working Hunter be it horse or pony from the Open 80cm to the Open 1.10m class will win £1,000. We have worked relentlessly since the last show to bring the prize money in so We are so excited for this class! Every year we are keen to focus on having a class for every horse and rider in the area – from the family pony to the traditional cobs right through to the Grand Prix class on the Saturday of the show in the SJI Ring.

We also have a focus on the Irish breeds – the Connemara and the Irish Draught – we have a good range of classes from young stock, ridden and the breeding classes. With this Irish focus in mind we welcomed a new sponsor this year in Willowwarm – a company based in Ireland selling the best briquettes you could find who have generously sponsored the whole Irish Draught schedule and championships.

How do you handle the logistics of managing a large number of horses and riders during the event?
A lot of planning, looking at maps and learning from each previous year! Thankfully we are not short of space for riders to warm up at the show with Necarne having so many green areas – our rings are huge and there is still room for our warm up arenas. This year we have enlisted the help from a local Scout Group to come in and help with parking as well as erecting designated horse and pedestrian areas. We have a brilliant sound system hired in for the event which covers the whole of the show and an excellent commentator. During the show all of the committee, helpers and stewards in the ring work and communicate together using walkie talkies – these are supplied from Castle Irvine and are an absolute lifesaver!

What kind of prizes and awards can participants expect to win at the Enniskillen Horse and Pony Show?
We have a huge amount of prizes for this years show – alongside the £15,000 of prize money we have approximately 250 more prizes to hand out to entrants in the classes as well. Example of these include bags of feed from Bluegrass, rugs from the Irish Equine and Rehabilitation Centre, a range of supplements and products from Plus Vital, vouchers from Copa Equestrian, Sharon Kelly Equine Physio and Moira Equestrian Centre. Some of the other amazing prizes we have on offer include clothing from Thyolo Equestrian and Equine Awards NI, a free covering to one of the Lough Melvin Stud Connemara Ponies and the winner of the Champion Working Hunter Pony Class will win a brand new Charles Owen Kyle riding hat, donated by Thyolo Equestrian.

What are you all most excited about for the show?
Going by what our online entries are like, we are welcoming lots and lots of new faces to the show. We’re most looking forward to seeing them come and enjoy the show with their horses and ponies.

Where can people learn more about the show?
We have a very active Facebook page and this year we have also created an Instagram account for the show as well.

How can interested individuals or groups purchase tickets for the Enniskillen Horse and Pony Show?
No purchases are necessary! Our show is open for everyone to come along and watch. Our entries are taken online via the JumpTime website.