CONFUSION surrounding closing dates for the Dublin Horse Show pony, young rider and children on horses’ qualifiers led to a number of combinations who missed the closing date being allowed to enter for last weekend's third qualifier at Ard Chuain Equestrian Centre in Sligo.

Entries for the qualifier closed on Thursday at 3pm, as per the conditions set out by the RDS. However, Showjumping Ireland’s Ronan Corrigan explained that due to entries being left open for an extra day at the first qualifier in The Meadows at the beginning of May, some competitors were “confused” that they had missed the Thursday deadline for Ard Chuain.

“The venues get notification from the RDS telling them the conditions and they set their show up in line with that. The venues manage their own entries, via SJI Live, and the SJI office check the eligibility,” Corrigan explained. “There was an error in The Meadows when entries were left open until Friday.

“Ard Chuain closed their entries as per the rules at 3pm on Thursday, but there were a small number who missed it.

“Following a lot of debating between SJI committees and consultation between SJI and the RDS, a solution was found and so any members who had made contact with either SJI, the RDS or the venue are being contacted by the SJI office and offered the option of being allowed to make an entry. This will be at a fee of €150 per entry with the funds going to the Jack de Bromhead Foundation.

“This is only being done on the basis that people are confused about two different closing dates.”

Asked if this changing of the rules would lead to disquiet, Corrigan said: “Yes. We will sit down with RDS and do a thorough review of how schedules will be managed and they will likely have to be managed from head office going forward.”

It is understood that some committee members resigned as a result of the decision.

Corrigan said there was “annoyance from both sides of the house from those who feel a rule is a rule and it’s up to members to read the rules”.