THE nation’s airwaves are abuzz with the thoroughly modern tune, self-titled:“A New Song for Ireland”.

Our little old Emerald Isle has embraced equality for all by an overwhelming majority and, in doing so, laid down the gauntlet for the rest of the world to follow suit. The vestiges of a monochrome past have been cast aside in favour of a thoroughly multicoloured future, with a resounding ‘Yes’ vote.

With one ‘Yes’ firmly in hand, we eventing riders are not quite finished with the voting process. Instead, we are in the warm-up phase of our particular campaigns for ‘YES’; the 2015 Young Eventhorse Series.

Here is an occasion when posters and public debate are replaced with grit determination, and the overwhelming desire that your horse departs the yard on a good-hair day.

Our trip to the YES polling station, while always equitable and fair, is a lot more complex than the mere ticking of a box on voting day.

Despite some re-branding, this competition for four and five-year-old potential event horses retains much of the original structure of the Future Event Horse League (FEHL).

The three phases comprise a dressage test, an in-hand show around a triangle, and finally a round of jumping on a derby track.

While it is a challenging test for young horses, I regard it as fundamental in establishing their career as older horses. Most horses thrive throughout the series, with riders and owners remarking upon a very tangible increase in their maturity levels from beginning to end.

Critics of young event horse classes often cite sensory overload as a grievance, but I am firmly on the other side of the debate. I see these classes as an invaluable opportunity to educate my youngsters and as a very sympathetic arena within which to develop their skills on the flat, and over fences.

Indeed, the difference in these horses as five and six-year-olds can be marked when compared to some horses who did not see the world as youngsters. Of course, they all eventually catch up with one another but, like all things in life, a good start can often be half the battle!

This year’s Young Eventhorse Series kicks off at Chris Ryan’s demesne, in beautiful Scarteen country, on Wednesday, June 3rd. All going to plan, I will be campaigning Westwinds Navigator, winner of the four-year-old Stepping Stones to Success league, Cooley Cosmopolitan Diamond, first runner-up in the same class, and Westwinds Mackenzie, who took the blue ribbon in the five-year-old Stepping Stones division.

As an event horse producer, I regard these young horse competitions as something akin to bread and butter. However, it is always nice to move up a gear (or several) and enjoy the adrenaline-fuelled three-star competitions.

Most recently, my ‘need for speed’ was sated at the three-star Chatsworth Horse Trials, to which I brought my top horse, Horseware Stellor Rebound (Rocket).

Like so many of England’s events, Chatsworth takes place in the majestic surroundings of a heritage home and parklands; the advantageous legacy of a royalist past and present.

I travelled to Chatsworth 2015 as the previous year’s victor and cradling the beloved trophy under my arm. Despite a valiant endeavour from both Rocket and his rider, the trophy is to remain on English soil for the next twelve months.

I must satisfy myself with a second-place finish, a mere one point behind the eventual winner Pippa Funnell.

My competitive disappointment aside, I am so pleased with Rocket’s present form. This is our third consecutive run resulting in a top-three finish, something that puts us in a healthy position for the European Championships at Blair Castle.

MATURED

Rocket has matured so much in the past year, with our previous ‘braking’ problems during cross-country a thing of the past.

Next on our agenda is Bramham International Horse Trials, starting on June 11th. Watch this space!

Much closer to home, indeed a mere stone’s throw from the Stellor yard, was last Saturday’s event in Killossery Lodge Stud. The Glynn family staged a super competition, and obviously held the weather gods to ransom as the sun shone throughout the day.

I was delighted to have four horses run in the novice class and an additional youngster in the pre-novice section. All five of my horses finished on their dressage scores, so it was a day well spent.

Elsewhere on our island, all roads will lead to Ballindenisk on the weekend of July 11-12th, where the ever-convivial Fell family will host the inaugural Eventing Ireland National Championships. This two-day event will cater to all levels of horse and rider, from EI 90 right through to three-star and result in a national champion being crowned for each division.

A national championship appeals on so many levels; it allows grass-roots experience the adrenaline of a full weekend event, while affording all combinations the chance to come together in celebration of our beloved sport. No doubt, sport and shenanigans will be present in equal measure.

In an interesting and rarely seen combination of circumstances, the Stellor yard this week has almost more staff than I know what to do with; short-term work experience students and longer term working pupils account for this seismic shift.

You will hear no complaints from me, this is something I could easily get used to. With a little more time than normal available, I herded my yearlings and two-year-olds into the sand arena to see what jump, if any, they had.

I was more than pleasantly surprised with the results. My yearling and two-year-old, both out of the same mare, look to have a right old leap in them! Their dam is called Daquiri Dancer (by Robertico and out of a Carlingford Castle mare), and she raced on the track in Ireland. My yearling is by Olympic Lux and my two-year old by Porsch. While they have a long way to go yet, a sprinkling of raw talent certainly helps.

Sarah Ennis is an international event rider based in Co Meath where she and her husband Niki run Stellor Sport Horses