THE 2020 Eventing Ireland season finally commenced last weekend when there were one-day events at Crecora and Lisgarvan on both Saturday and Sunday.

Landowners were asked to stage a second day when the original starting places quickly filled up and, although this diluted the competition and put a lot of pressure on the organisers, riders were much appreciative of their efforts.

So too was David O’Brien, chairman of Eventing Ireland, who travelled to Lisgarvan on Sunday to see for himself how the event was running under all the restrictions and to get as much feedback as he could from the various stakeholders as the sport emerged from lockdown.

“There was uproar from the membership when the starting places for the first two events, and beyond, began to fill up as we had to restrict the starting number to 150 per event. While 200 people can currently attend an outdoor event, our sport requires a lot of officials and volunteers who have to be included in the total,” explained O’Brien. “The most obvious thing to do was ask the organisers to put on a second day and thankfully they obliged.

“It has really been a matter of all hands on deck as the office staff of Alison (Packman), Pat (O’Connor) and Jane (Grace), who were working remotely and had to process a huge number of memberships and horse registrations, were backed up by Georgia Stubington, Perly Doyle and Dora Beacom.

“We had to ensure that events were going to be run within the Government guidelines and that officials and volunteers were aware of these. Some people were a bit slow to come back with contract tracing details but most were very co-operative and we thank them for that,” continued O’Brien.

“It’s an ever-changing scenario. Before the two venues put on a second day last weekend, riders were restricted to three mounts but that then changed to five while day tickets were allowed as places became available. If everyone plays their part, hopefully more restrictions will be lifted on July 20th.

“It’s important to reiterate that MERs and all ERQI ratings and safety procedures remain in place.”

Financial loss

As expected, Clive Corrigan (Lisgarvan) and Gerald Furnell (Crecora) confirmed that they had suffered financial losses by running over two days, with neither day filling at the Co Limerick venue. However, they both hope that they will be well-supported during the next few months.

At the Corrigan family’s Co Carlow farm, where the Brady brothers had designed a mainly new track incorporating much of the land where the point-to-point was once run, Clive said they had learned a lot regarding the Covid-19 protocols from the Try Eventing competition held last month.

“We knew what would work best at the weekend as regards layout, etc,” said Clive who acknowledged the assistance he received from Emma Redmond and Bridget Hearne and also from his daughters, Kate, Amy and Grace.

“We have a marvellous team of volunteers who were happy to work over the two days and I’d like to thank them for that.”

There was no catering on site at Lisgarvan but there was at Crecora although the Furnells were unable to offer their usual excellent home-produced fare in the marquee for officials, stewards and volunteers who instead were given a voucher for the mobile unit.

“My daughter Amelia worked wonders sorting out all the volunteers and I would like to take the opportunity of thanking Donal O’Byrne of Hoofprints Innovations, who tagged 55 hats over the two days, and David Moran from Askeaton, our new show jumping course builder.” Furnell also thanked sponsors Mags Kinsella, Orchard Equestrian, Crecora Mills and Liam Lynch Quarries for their input.

Among those to compete at the two venues was Co Down-based Ella Boyle who commented:

“Both events ran very well but things were definitely a lot quieter than usual! Crecora had masks and gloves for everyone riding or touching practice fences while Lisgarvan had just one guy to do the practice fences but, with only five in the warm-up, it all ran very smoothly.

“Both events were a success and I know all of us riders are delighted that we are back in action thanks to event hosts and volunteers.”