AS the 142nd Dublin Horse Show gets ready to open its gates, there is a lot more than usual riding on the skill of Ireland’s chef d’equipe, Robert Splaine, in selecting the best available team to contest next Friday’s Aga Khan Nations Cup.

For following hot on the heels of Dublin (August 5th-9th), is the FEI European Championships in Aachen and Splaine’s number one goal is, and has to be, to bring home Olympic qualification from the challenging German venue.