A massive victory took place last Saturday 12th November when Our Lady’s Secondary School combined with Castleblayney College won the penultimate leg of the School Equestrian showjumping league in The Meadows Equestrian Centre, Lurgan. The team won the novice team class (85cm), beating over 50 horse/rider combinations.
This league is very competitive with the highest quality of horses and riders competing from all over Northern Ireland. The team consisted of Bronagh Traynor, Roisha Traynor, Sophie Moore and Orla Nesbitt. In this league each horse/rider jumps a course of 12 fences, with fences 7-12 against the clock. The girls stepped up with a “0 faults” result and a team score of 99 seconds, beating their rivals by 0.4 of a second.
The team have been taking part in this year’s league from the beginning and were successful in their previous outing, taking 3rd place. This is a phenomenal achievement for both schools to come together and work as a team, beating the odds.
The team trains on a Monday evening with instructor James Kernan who is an olympic rider. They know that they are lucky to get such an exceptional opportunity to get this training from world-class athlete.
The final of this league will take place on Saturday 26th November where the girls will yet again give it their all to strive for more success.
Best of luck to the team in the final!
Pictured left to right: Orla Nesbitt, Bronagh Traynor, Sophie Moore and Roisha Traynor