THE 2020 Eventing Ireland season is scheduled to commence tomorrow week, Sunday, March 15th, with the first of 44 one-day events throughout the country and the first of two new fixtures in Co Wexford.

Organiser Will Kearney, who owns Frankfort Stud outside Gorey in partnership with his father Norman, is looking forward to the venue’s inaugural event and was in upbeat form when speaking to the Irish Horse World on Tuesday evening.

“Things are flying down here! We’re just 500 metres off Junction 24 on the M11 and you’ll see the venue from the motorway. It’s unbelievable how the land has dried out in the past week and you’d hardly notice where the digger, which has been going non-stop, and other bits of machinery, have crossed over it.

“The cross-country track, which was designed by Dereck Hamilton and myself, runs over 2,200 metres at the moment and I’m putting the last of the cross-country fences out on the land tomorrow. I’ve built them all myself from pressure-treated timber that has been sourced from managed forests. Ger Crehan (society steward) is due to pay us another visit this week as is Gillian Kyle (technical advisor).

“The layout will have all three disciplines in separate areas, we could start cross-country early if needed, but they won’t be too far from one another as it’s a compact site. The way it has worked out, the dressage and show jumping are on one side of the motorway while the cross-country is on the other. We’ve put in a hard-core lane to get all the vehicles in and out of the farm.

“As well as the stud, we used to have a dairy herd here, but when the motorway split the farm in half, that no longer proved sustainable. As we diversified, we went into sucklers but we no longer stand stallions – the thoroughbreds Frankfort Boy and Billies Bank were the last. We set up a sport horse yard and have around 30 horses on-site between our own and liveries.”

Return to the west

The second of the new Co Wexford events is scheduled for the O’Connor family’s Blackstairs venue near Bunclody on Sunday, March 22nd, a day after the Northern Region season gets underway with the first of four Lightsource BP-supported one-days at Tyrella.

While much of the 2020 national calendar resembles that of last season, it’s great to see eventing return to the west with, after a lapse of 12 years, Oliver Walsh organising a one-day at Flowerhill near Ballinasloe for Sunday, April 26th. Having run twice in 2017 after a 10-year break, Punchestown is again set to host two Sunday one-days this season on July 26th and August 9th.

Following a public survey, the sixth renewal of the Eventing Ireland national championships are returning this year to Tattersalls and will run over the weekend of September 12th and 13th. Entry is restricted to paid-up members of EI and registered horses. All details regarding the qualification criteria can be found on the EI website.