Competitors attending the Riding Clubs Festival next month will have to provide their own number bib to display their unique entry number. Each rider/horse combination will be issued with a unique entry number for their competitions and this must be displayed in a number bib (front and back) at the event. Competitors can purchase a bib, priced at €15, directly from National Office by completing the order form and enclosing the appropriate fee. Order form available under events on this website. Showing competitors may use their own competition number holder.

Maureen Hassett (Basic First Aid for Your Horse) – with more and more people now looking after their own animals, it is important they know what can be dealt with at home and when to call the vet. Cuts, bruises, punctures will be covered, together with detection of lameness and the more serious illness like colic and azoturia. VENUE: Brooke Lodge, Sandyford. AIRC Regional Lecture.

The times and list of XC fences for the one day event on Saturday (Springer Cup), are up under the events link.

Jim Donohoe Clinic on Grass Friday evening May 25th - doing one last session on grass - studs recommended. Please text Noni if you want to attend the clinic and let her know the earliest time you can come at. Thanks.

Any Club Member planning to do the RDS Team Show Jumping Qualifier, please let Noni know. Inter, Adv. Inter and Open riders. All riders taking part would need to be show jumping regularly at present.

Springer Cup ODE is on Saturday 19th May next at Bel-Air. This is for Bel-Air Riding Club Members only. Please let Noni know as soon as you can if you want to compete in this event. The tests on the day will be the same as they were for the Dressage League in February. Best of luck everyone!!

As our ODE has been cancelled due to the dreadful weather and ground conditions, we have decided to have a mini midi maxi on Saturday 5th at 1.30pm for our members. On 19th May we will have our club ODE (Bel-Air only). There will be a clinic on grass with Jim Donohoe (date to be decided). On 3rd June we will have our Team Challenge/social afternoon. We will have an inter-club Summer Show on the 1st of July. On 7th July for Bel-Air Club members only we will have derby jumping show jumping. Anyone planning to do the Ballycanew ODE on 13th May, please have entries in to Noni by Friday 4th at the latest. Many thanks.

Last year we had a fund-raiser at Bel-Air for Johnny Byrne who had a tumor in his heart. His only option was to go to London for treatment. At Christmas the surgeons removed the tumor. Last week Johnny was given the all clear and is now cancer free. Johnny sends his thanks and appreciation for all the help and support he has received over the last eighteen months.

Well done to everyone who took part in the Hunter Trials on Saturday. We had a great turnout and the results of the day can be viewed now under RESULTS on this website. If you didnt pick up your rosette on the day, please email us your address and placing belairequestrian@eircom.net and we will send it in the post to you. A huge thank you to everyone to helped get the course organised before the event, to the field stewards who helped out on the day and everyone who took time out of their busy schedules to make it a successful event. Thanks to the Order of Malta for being on hand over the weekend too. The Pony Club event was a great success too. Thanks to everyone involved, your help is much appreciated.

The Riding Clubs Festival, sponsored by TRI Equestrian and Horse Sport Ireland, is taking place on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th June at Stradbally Hall Estate, Stradbally, Co. Laois. If you have any queries regarding this event, please contact National Office on 045 854 555 or email info@airc.ie. Schedule of events available to view www.airc.ie

Well done to everyone who took part in the Dressage Leagues over the past few weeks. Congratulations to Dermot Folan for winning the Kizzy Cup.

As most of you are aware we have a LIKE page for the Equestrian Centre with over 3,500 likes. We now have a Riding Club profile page, Bel-Air R Club. Feel free to post riding club photos, stories or details of your experiences at the club!

Membership cards are available for collection at the hotel reception.

The tests we are using for the Kizzy Cup Dressage League are the same as for this years One Day Events.. Open - BE 112 (2010) Adv Int. - BE 102 (2010) Inter - BE 92 (2009) Adv Primary/YH - BE 91 (2009)

The membership renewals have been flooding in and the membership cards can be picked up at Reception in the Hotel. Anybody intending to attend any of the riding club riding activities must have current 2012 membership. Please do not leave it too last minute to update your membership. Please note that we have in our Spring Calender a number of dates for xc training in March more dates may be added. In April we will be having show jumping training with Jim Donohue. Dates to be decided, so keep an eye on the website.

The membership renewal form is available to download under events.

We have been sending regular text messages of upcoming events and various bits of news, if you have not been receiving texts or would like to receive updates via text, please contact Noni and she will take your number and add you to the list. Thanks

We can now choose whether we want to receive the AIRC Link-Up magazine through the post or through email. To receive it through email, you need to change your account settings on the AIRC website. Go to www.airc.ie and click the Login link. Then change your Link-Up preference to email.

We had Denise and Mark who renewed their marriage vows here last weekend. You can check out the video link below and see for yourself their views on the Bel-Air experience. http://www.thehoneymoontesters.com/2010/08/bel-air-riding.html

The Association of Irish Riding Establishments have just launched their new website. Check it out and see what you think. www.aire.ie

We have received some important information from AIRC. ABOUT ALL NATIONAL AIRC SHOWS: A. All HORSES PARTICIPATING AT NATIONAL EVENTS HAVE TO BE REGISTERED WITH AIRC. There is no fee for this, but it is mandatory. If you want to do the national show juming championships 19th July, you need to get your horse registered ASAP. (Postal entries close Fri 3rd July. Online entries close Fri 10th July.) It seems the horse has to be registered BEFORE you can make your entry. B. ONLINE ENTRIES - Starting with the Show Jumping Championships in July, entries to national events can be made online on the AIRC website. It is also possible to enter through the club secretary on a special form, available from the AIRC website. ALL RIDING CLUB SHOWS: A reminder that all riders must make their own entry at the show, and present their ridingclub card on the day. It is not ok for one person to bring several riders' cards and enter everybody.

There is a simple way to protect your Ifor Williams horse-box, and make life a bit more difficult for people who steal horse-boxes to sell them on. Ifor Williams keep a register of their boxes; who owns them and whether they are reported stolen. To keep this register up-to-date, you need to do the following: BEFORE YOU BUY A SECOND-HAND BOX – Take the serial number of the box. Phone Ifor Williams to check that it is not reported stolen. AFTER YOU BUY A NEW OR SECOND-HAND BOX – Register it in your own name. Keep the number safe, so you know it even if the box isn't there. IF YOUR BOX IS STOLEN – Report it stolen to Ifor Williams. PHONE NUMBER: Call Ifor Williams on 00441490412626. Ask for Customer Care.