ONE combination that certainly caught the eye over the weekend in Mullingar was Cathal Daniels and the 18-year-old multiple medal-winning eventer Rioghan Rua.

The pair competed in a 1.20m class on each of the three days. The Irish Field caught up with Daniels after the show and asked about his superb mare. “She is feeling very good. I should have won the 1.20m on Sunday, I had the fastest time, but had the final fence down,” he said.

“She is in great form. She jumped on the Sunshine Tour in the spring and she had a few wins and placings. She did some four-star 1.30m when we were away, but she hasn’t done anything really in Ireland before now.

“We are not putting pressure on her, just having a bit of fun. She is still as fresh as she was 10 years ago. She loves the game and has always been a competitor, she loves it. Going fast show jumping is quite a new thing for her; last November was the first time we tried it, it was a bit of prep for the indoor derby in Stuttgart, it’s a different atmosphere being in a small indoor going fast, compared to what she is used to.

“She was second in Stuttgart and we had a good crack in the Sunshine Tour a few times. She is fast and careful, and she is still enjoying it.

“She is still in full work. It’s just a pity that there aren’t very many nice events for her to compete for fun at. The long formats are very demanding on the horses and they need an awful lot of gallop work. There are only maybe one or two shows in the year, like the Aachen four-star short which may be good for her, but it’s not like there are many.

“Show jumping allows her to keep busy and fresh. She is as tricky as ever. She still takes managing and still takes riding; but she really enjoys it. She doesn’t act an inch of her age.

“She is doing embryos, she is too valuable to put her in foal. We decided a long time ago that it wasn’t worth the risk. Her mother was lost foaling, not with her but another one. She is not a big horse, but she has big horses in her past, so if you get a big foal you could be in trouble.

“We have an embryo from her this year and we have a recipient mare, so we are trying to line it up right now. We want it perfect before we go ahead.

“A lot of people saw her in Mullingar and I think they were shocked. Sven Hadley was first, second and third on his horses in the 1.20m and we had him on the time, so it just shows how fantastic she is feeling and how much she loves to compete.”