IT was good to see Dayna Curtis back eventing for the first time since breaking her ankle in a fall show jumping at Kedrah Castle last June.

Riding her 12-year-old Crosstown Dancer mare Cillnabradden Cuig, Dayna finished third in the EI100 Amateur class at Rosanna on Sunday and hopes that, after two or three more runs at that level, she will be back up to one-star company before too long.

From Skerries in north Co Dublin, Dayna has a law degree and qualified in February with a Masters in criminology. Jobs are hard to come by however and, while trying to save up to go to King’s Inn to train as a barrister, she is working part-time for Equipet.

Payment for her horse’s keep and eventing costs comes from another source however as she is lead singer with Equipped, a cover band.

“I’ve been doing that since I was 16,” revealed Dayna.

“I sing everything from Tina Turner to Adele to ACDC. The singing pays for the eventing.

“When I got home from Rosanna on Sunday I had to clean up and head straight out to a gig.”

Sound check

BECAUSE of the hills and all the lovely trees, deciding where to put loudspeakers at Rosanna is a bit of a logistical nightmare.

Things didn’t work so well on Sunday when nothing of what was going on around the course could be heard at the new start and finish area but the commentary drowned out the announcements of show jumping judges!

One group of people not at all concerned with the information being given out by Tadhg Ryan were the 20 or so members of three camera clubs in the Greystones area who congregated around the Cooley Splash water fence. At one stage the roping which covered the entire track had to be moved in this area to make sure the photographers didn’t stray into a horse’s path. A decision not to start the cross-country until noon probably wasn’t the best as the last competitor wasn’t home until 7.45pm or so.

Organiser and cross-country course designer Luke Drea could find himself running out of friends/fence stewards because of such a situation but he spent Monday back at Rosanna coaching around two dozen members of the Clonough, Bel-Air and Hollybrook Riding Clubs who had volunteered for duty on Sunday. Swift payback indeed!