YET again the weather gods graced the two-day Botanica Leinster Dressage Summer Festival with dry and sunny conditions at CoilÓg Equestrian Centre in Co Kildare, the organisers having being very fortunate to avail of a rare sun-drenched weekend in the washout summer of 2023. “It is wonderful to be here, Chris and Gwen Byrne and their team are so helpful,” said Leinster Dressage vice-chairperson Clare Fitzsimons. “The lovely weather is a very welcome bonus for all those taking part. The facilities are great at CoilÓg, good arenas and wonderful catering. We have had excellent support from our fantastic title sponsors, Botanica and virtually every class has an individual sponsor.

“Following the unfortunate cancellation of the Dressage Ireland National Winter Finals, this is the biggest dressage festival of our year to date, with over 500 tests down for decision this weekend. We have list one judges over from Great Britain, along with our Irish judges.

“We have four candidates sitting their list five judges’ exam and two sitting their list six exams here at the show with visiting judge Sarah Leitch and recently appointed chair of the Dressage Ireland judges’ committee Vida Tansey the examining judges. We are so fortunate to have a very active regional committee, so ably chaired by Petra Larkin. Many thanks to them, our members and volunteers for all their hard work in organising this big dressage festival.”

Nearly a decade after their introduction, the Trailblazer classes, for those as young as seven beginning their competitive dressage experience, continue to prosper. They remain a nursery of talent for the underage international squads and, this year at CoilÓg, they were sponsored by best-selling author Elaine Healy from Co Tipperary.

In an era where IT devices capture the imagination of children, it was good to see each young competitor presented with a complimentary book by the sponsor.