THE 2025 Eventing Ireland season, which had a very disrupted spring campaign, concluded last Sunday at a new venue for the sport, Barnadown, Maurice and Felicity Cousins’s well-established equestrian centre outside Gorey.

The event was run by Equus Trials Management, a company recently established by Dereck Hamilton and Will Kearney whose plans for the future include other new one-day events. The former designed and built the cross-country course, while Kearney looked after logistics.

For this inaugural event, which ended up running over two days as the Eventing Ireland national championships, incorporating the grassroots championships, the pair brought on board event horse owner and breeder, Sharon O’Connor, while other well-known names featured on the list of officials.

“It all went well,” said Hamilton, “but we wouldn’t have managed without Sharon as she’s local and organised all the judges and fence stewards. When we first approached Maurice about running an event at Barnadown, we never thought we would end up holding the national championships. However, early in the summer, when it looked as if no one else was prepared to run them, we said we would and Eventing Ireland, who were very supportive of the new venue, organised the sponsors.

“It was probably a bit late coming after Ballindenisk, and the 120 and the 115 champions had already been announced, but the members competing at the lower levels were delighted that the championships went ahead and I think everyone enjoyed the weekend. Everything you need to run a championships is at Barnadown - plenty of hard-standing for parking, stabling, all-weather surfaces for dressage and show jumping, because you can’t rely on the weather, showers and the clubhouse for those staying on site to meet up in the evenings.

“The land we built the cross-country course on is free-draining - it’s where Maurice keeps his mares and foals and where he cuts haylage - and we were able to work on it whenever we wanted. All the fences we used were portable, many of them newly-built, but future plans would include a second water fence and, being in Wexford, we have to include a bank or two.

“I couldn’t do that this year as you really need to see how the land rides, especially undulating land like this, before putting in that type of work and investment. Going forward, the plan would be to hold a spring and autumn event but, working with Maurice, and the other event organisers, we have to sit down and discuss the calendar.”

In this writer’s view, the whole concept of a national championships needs a radical review. When first mooted, I envisaged the championships taking place each year at Tattersalls Ireland, being built up into both a social and educational get-together for members and, with its proximity to Dublin airport and seaport, being marketed to potential purchasers worldwide by Horse Sport Ireland and/or the Irish Horse Board.

The championships needs a dedicated team to run it, new sponsors have to be sourced as the sport can’t expect those loyal supporters to get on board at every turn, and, having found a suitable date, it needs a committed buy-in from senior riders. For full coverage of the championships, see pages 96-98.