A total of 31 young riders and 13 ponies represented Ballabeg-based Ballawhetstone Stables Pony Club at the recent Area 4 Mounted Games competition in Burnley.

Despite the torrential rain and challenging conditions, the seven teams produced a number of strong performances across the event’s pairs, senior, junior and novice sections.

The Senior ‘Squares’ team achieved one of the standout results of the weekend, finishing second overall and securing themselves a place in the next stage at Zones Finals this summer, while the Senior ‘Stripes’ team placed fifth.

The two teams also secured second and third places in the tack and turnout competitions.

In the junior classes, the Junior ’Squares’ narrowly missed out on a top-two placing to finish third overall, while the Junior ‘Stripes’ finished sixth overall.

The junior teams also secured a fifth-place finish in Tack and Turnout.

The pairs team also impressed, finishing third in the Mounted Games competition and coming first in tack and turnout.

Meanwhile, the novice riders narrowly missed out on a top-six placing in the mounted games themselves but achieved second and fourth places in tack and turnout.

Stella Hampton of Ballawhetstone Stables said: ‘The children rode their hearts out in extremely difficult conditions with smiles on their faces.

‘I am incredibly proud of all of our Pony Club children who competed this weekend, they epitomise what Pony Club is all about - having fun, supporting each other and making memories together as a team.

‘A huge thank you goes to all of the Ballawhetstone volunteers who make opportunities like this possible for the children.

‘Thank you also to the Steam Packet for its continued support, and to our hoodie sponsors Allan Beechinor and Niamh Parker of SIM IoM and HHFC and Amore du Plessis for the photography.’