THE Isle of Inishmore ferry carried six amateur riders and their horses across calm water to begin their three-day-event adventure at Aldon International.

Driving in convoy to Somerset were coach Jane O’Flynn, groom Charlene Fitzpatrick, Caroline O’Leary, Zoe Kavanagh, Georgie Magnier and mum Pam, Aisling Quinn, John Joe and Jane Grace.

Friday was dressage day and Caroline was drawn first of the three Irish riders in the 3BE 100 class, performing a fluent dressage test with Balcarrig to score 34.8. Zoe and Jane were next up but Castlekirk and Welwyn View were a little too exuberant to gain their best marks from the two dressage judges.

At the conclusion of the dressage phase of the 3BE 100 open class (for horses with eventing points), Aisling and Try Time Diva were in fifth spot (31.3), whilst John Joe (Push The Button) and Georgie Magnier (Really Rich) were tied for eighth on 31.8.

Saturday was cross-country and a traditional wet, autumnal day. The distances, the times to complete and the complexity of the course were not for the faint-hearted! Pre-walked under the guidance of Jane O’Flynn, the “team”, were all kitted out in top class attire, courtesy of Horse Sport Ireland and Colliers International. All six horse and riders completed without jumping penalties, and just Georgie, Zoe and Jane collected minor time penalties.

Numerous problems were encountered for many other competitors which changed the scoreboard dramatically. Caroline moved up to 10th and in contention. Jane and Zoe up to 24th and 25th. In the open, Aisling lay in second, John Joe in fourth and Georgie in fifth! The excitement and relief of all the riders, the family and friends who had travelled to support the group was immense.

The riders recounted their rounds to Jane, Charlene (and Dot who was helping out on the steeplechase section). The trepidation of fence 11 to 12 (a log roller to corner after a steep uphill climb) was overcome.

Balcarrig once again enjoyed himself so much that it took Caroline some time to pull him up!

The rest of that day was ensuring the horses were comfortable, riders showered and changed out of the wet clothes, stories were re-told and photographs examined.

Sunday morning was dry, bright and perfect for the compulsory trot-up. Balcarrig, Castlekirk, Welwyn View, Push The Button, Really Rich and Try Time Diva were all accepted and went forward for the final phase – the show-jumping, in reverse order of merit.

Zoe, in tipping a pole, still climbed two places to finish in 23rd. Jane jumped clear to finish in 19th place and was delighted to learn her home-bred six-year-old mare, in her first season at pre-novice, had collected two British Eventing foundation points for the double clear. Sadly, two fell for Caroline, who completed in 16th. John Joe and Georgie unfortunately added four penalties each but still finished seventh and eighth respectively. Second last to jump and carrying everyone’s hopes was Aisling and “Squiggle”.

As they jumped the last clear, the loudest cheer greeted them from the ringside, they had retained second place and earned 14 British Eventing foundation points. The overnight leader, Max Warburton held his nerve and jumped clear to win first prize and the sportsmanship was evident as all around applauded his achievement.

Too many people to name individually but thank you to everyone who helped us all on our way – spouses, friends, families, trainers, house and pet sitters, vehicle lenders and kit suppliers!

Our wonderful horses we treasure.