IN the weather-related eventing circles, this spring has not been kind, so the staging of last week’s international at Ballindenisk was a welcome boost to this already disrupted season.

With the usual tenacity that has seen the Fell family run similar fixtures since 1977, Peter Fell and his team hosted a highly successful opener, which despite Friday’s downpour of biblical proportions, was given a resounding thumbs up.

A major consequence of so many cancellations has been the logistical difficulties of riders gaining qualifications, but despite that, there were just short of 200 horses entered across the eight international classes (including ponies) and the pony sector. These included a sizeable contingent from overseas, and while as usual, the British made up the largest number, it was very rewarding to see four wins go Ireland’s way, as well as historic victories to Hong Kong and Zimbabwe, and those to New Zealand and Great Britain.

Out on track, there was plenty of praise for Peter Fell’s feature four-star courses which according to riders were a true test of the level. The difficulty was accentuated by the after effects of Friday’s rainfall, and indeed definitely tested the riders’ ability to cross the country. This was especially evident on Sunday where, on a glorious sunny day, the ground began to dry and became extremely holding.

“It’s long time since I rode in such testing ground,” said Irish Olympian Sarah Ennis. “However, no one can control the weather, and it was a brilliant track with some really good questions. The combination towards the end of the CCI4*-S was the product of really good course design, and it was definitely not a walk in the park.”

This will have been pleasing to Fell, who summed up by saying. “This is eventing, and we’ve done everything we can. I’m always very conscious of having safe ground in front of the fences, so we put plenty of stone down on the take-offs and landings. We did omit the final water in the CCI3*-S but kept the four-star track in its entirety as it had a completely different approach.”

Upgraded

The upgrades made to the venue since last season really enhanced the competition, especially the new judges’ boxes, the toilet facilities and the ringside pavilion. The area around the main arena has now become a real hub, with catering facilities on hand and excellent viewing.

“We keep chipping away,” said Fell, before adding a statement which will hearten those whose stables were flooded on Friday. “The next plan – although I can’t say when it will happen, is to erect indoor stabling.”

Another positive was the increase in sponsorship across the board. Largely due to the input of event rider Melanie Young, this generous support covered all the classes and fences, as well as varying individual awards. It is impossible to mention them all, but special thanks go to Ronan Rothwell’s Equicustom, who in the form of vouchers for personalised equipment, presented the overall leading rider award to the Zimbabwean rider Julia Norman.

Also, to O’Regan Equine Services who generously gave prizes to the best turned out rider in each of the long format classes (Tom Bird (CCI4*), Laura Kelly (CCI3*) and CCI2*-L winner Ben Connors) and to long standing supporters Bucas who gave rugs and goodies to the top three in each class. In addition, TRI Equestrian presented vouchers to the highest placed Irish rider in every sector while finally, the proactive Treo Eile recognised the highest placed thoroughbred which went to the Sema Lease CCI2*- L winner Handsome Starr.