Introduction to the Board of Dressage Ireland

Mark Ruddock Chairperson of Dressage Ireland
Live in Ferns county Wexford. Married to Sean Burgess international dressage rider. I’m a UKCC level 3 coach DI list one judge BD list one judge My full time job is as a trainer from Pony Club through to high performance Eventing and Dressage. I feel honoured and excited about my new role as chairperson of DI, i and the wonderful board are very keen to continue to develop the sport in Ireland and beyond, we will be looking into new initiatives to promote growth and participation at all levels and ages.

Lucinda Blakiston Houston Vice Chair
Lucinda Blakiston Houston Vice Chairperson of Dressage Ireland Lucinda has a long and successful riding career in Paradressage so she knows all the ins and outs. You may also recognise her from the very successful Paradressage camps held in the stunning Castle Irvine which she works tirelessly to organise. Lucinda also competes at high level dressage for the able-bodied, and has also been very generous by lending her highly schooled horse to another para rider. Lucinda regularly competes so you will definitely see her around at shows always ready to help!

Eilish Smith Board Member
Hi I’m Eilish Smith a Dressage Rider and Coach based on the North Coast. I am training to specialise in rider biomechanics with my new purchase of an Equestrian Simulator, one of only two in Ireland. I have been trained in England for about 7 years on a classical dressage yard learning on Grand Prix horses and compete up to PSG. I’m now back in Ireland and have set myself up as a coach and competitor over here and am now competing with my own horse.

Simone Hession Board Member
I live in Sligo where I own and run "Beezies Stud", I'm a qualified accountant technician as well as a HSI level 2 coach and BHSAI, coaching being my full time occupation. I also breed and produce Irish bred horses and ponies, which I have competed from preliminary up to Grand Prix and from time to time showjump. I'm the founder of the Wild Atlantic Dressage Festival which is held each year on the May Bank Holiday weekend in Sligo, it has grown from strength to strength each year, thanks to the riders, sponsors and volunteers' support. I have been a member of Dressage Ireland since 1999 and have competed at every National Championship since, I joined the Midlands and Western regional committee several years ago and was appointed onto the board of Dressage Ireland last year. I am passionate about home grown talent from the grassroot members to our International riders and am excited about the future of dressage at National level and on the International stage.

Aisling Deverell Board Member
Aisling Deverell holds a first-class honours BSc Equine Science from the University of Limerick, BHSII (now Senior Eventing Coach) and is a HSI Level 2 Coach. She has evented up to CCI** (now CCI3*) with some placings at international level. Aisling currently competes a homebred mare up to Advanced Medium level and has won multiple titles at DI National Championships and Winter Finals. She produced another homebred horse that her daughter Maeve competed at the FEI European Dressage Championships for Children on Horses last July and has travelled to several CDI’s with Maeve in the last two years. Aisling has been a Midland & Western Region committee member for several years and organises the shows at Annaharvey Farm. She also has decades of event organisation and administration experience including Eventing Ireland events with up to 300 competitors at Annaharvey Farm and Punchestown. Aisling was an Equine Lecturer at Athlone IT (now TUS) and Gurteen College for 14 years and has worked as a Team Lead for Weatherbys Scientific. Aisling is an IPPVA award-winning photographer specialising in Equine and Pet Photography with a studio at Annaharvey Farm large enough to accommodate a horse. Through her photography business Aisling has experience building and maintaining websites with ecommerce functionality and using various computer applications. Aisling also enjoys coaching private clients at all levels from those starting out at Trailblazers, up to Advanced Medium.