AS it’s very nearly December, we can go with a Christmas analogy and state that there was no room at the inn last Saturday morning, when a packed lecture theatre greeted Germany’s Christoph Hess, presenter of this year’s Dressage Ireland Judges’ Gala at Kildalton Agricultural College.

Between the organisers and dressage enthusiasts, a record 150 people signed up in advance for the Gala, including Irish Olympian Anna Merveldt and British Dressage List 1 judge Richard Baldwin, who is now a regular visitor to these shores. The Board of Dressage Ireland was represented by Jane Whitaker.