World Equestrian Games (WEG) excitement is potent at present. Teams have been named, sponsorship garnered and horses sweetly coerced into behaving impeccably until September 7th, the final day of the festival.

Since the inaugural event in Sweden in 1990, selection for the FEI World Equestrian Games has become a most sought-after position for all of the world’s leading equestrians. Riders, horses and trainers jostle for consideration, all the time mindful that selection is only the first step in a very long journey.

Ireland’s travelling teams have been named, with eventing to be represented by Clare Abbott and Euro Prince, Aoife Clarke and Fenya’s Elegance, Joseph Murphy and Electric Cruise, Austin O’Connor and Ringwood Mississippi, Sam Watson and Horseware Bushman, as well as yours truly, one very happy Sarah Ennis and Horseware Stellor Rebound.

Following a flurry of congratulatory calls and texts, we moved quickly on to more serious conversations with regard to our team’s preparations.

How best does a nation afford every possible opportunity to its elite athletes? Our rugby players answer Ireland’s call through a well-structured sequence of player development and medical, fitness and nutritional support. Our soccer players score highly with national sponsorship and training opportunities at both elite and grassroots level.

In a bid to achieve parity for Ireland’s equestrians, Horse Sport Ireland and the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine launched a sport horse industry strategic planning process earlier this year. At the heart of this process is the commercial development of the horse industry.

While it is a great love of the horse that sees all professionals make them a career, it is the ability to pay our bills that decides whether we win or lose with them. Thus, our feelings of jubilation and pride at being named as part of Ireland’s WEG team were anxiously peppered with worries about the ‘commercial how’ of getting there.

Naturally, as a platform for elite equestrianism, WEG asks many questions of competitors. These are questions that can only be answered through preparation, in particular horse and rider training. Horse Sport Ireland has provided its representatives with a training budget and for this I thank them.

However disappointment followed a squad query about the possibility of a pre-WEG training session at the National Sports Campus. We were informed that while of course the facility could be made available, alas, it would be at our own personal expense.

Readers, you can imagine the extent of our frustration at this. Years of toiling to improve our own and our horses’ performance and immense pride at being selected as a nation’s representatives paled into insignificance as we truly felt at the receiving end of a dearth of regard for our efforts. However, as elite athletes, we will do everything in our power to ensure that Ireland can be proud of us, and look forward to your support in France this August.

Closer to home is my continued assault on the Future Event Horse League (FEHL). To date, I have qualified six horses for the RDS four and five-year-old class. With some of these talented youngsters already for sale, I may not contest the six in Dublin but either way, I envisage chocolate and energy drinks as being vital ingredients in my RDS grooming kit.

The weekend past saw a double whammy of one-day events. The Stellor team travelled locally to Killossery on Saturday, and further afield to Ballindenisk on Sunday. In Killossery Lizzie Lou Who, Forthmoy Tipoki and Westwinds Knightrider all achieved top-five placings in the one-star class after a short trip from home.

Memories of Saturday’s lie-in quickly disappeared as the alarm screeched me into consciousness at some unearthly hour on Sunday morning. A trip to the Rebel county lay in front of me.

Sugar Brown Babe shone throughout her dressage and show jumping rounds and we started the final phase of Ballindenisk’s three-star class with a comfortable lead. An enviable run across country ensured we jumped clear, but as this was Babe’s first run since Badminton in April, she did pick up a few time penalties to finish in third place. This super mare is a firm favourite with her can-do attitude, and I owe her a lot.

Horseware Stellor Rebound (stable name Rocket) was Babe’s travelling companion to Cork. My plan to complete the dressage and jumping phase was enacted with style, as we started cross-country in second place.

However, I wanted only to jump the first few cross-country fences as a test of my new horse braking system. Anyone who has ever seen Rocket in action will attest to his comfort with the high gears and following a conversation with Yogi Breisner at Tattersalls, he steered me in the direction of a polo gag and combination noseband.

Several successful outings to the gallops have led me to think that Yogi was spot on with his recommendation but the excitement and adrenaline of a three-star course was still needed to cement the decision. I am really pleased with the new bitting configuration on Rocket and look forward to its next big test in Aachen.

Meanwhile, fashion is a rare topic of conversation in the world of eventing but last week’s WEG eventing team fitting in Dubarry’s Dublin flagship store was a game-changer. Male and female team members performed an impressive trot-up, festooned head-to-toe in tailored Dubarry clothing. As always, we remain indebted to our generous sponsors. This novel occasion also brought our WEG team together for the first time since its announcement. Sharing joys, sometimes tribulations, and heartfelt advice with team members is always a rewarding experience and I look forward to many more.

As always, Team Ireland Equestrian remains indebted to its generous sponsors and the supporters of our endeavours. Most recently, Chris Byrne of the well-known and beautifully appointed Coilog Equestrian Centre has kindly offered members of Team Ireland hourly schooling for €30. This magnanimous gesture includes any riders on our dressage, eventing or showjumping teams, from pony and young riders to senior team members.

“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much” - Helen Keller

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