TRAVEL warnings are in place and some events have been amended or postponed after Met Éireann formally issued a status orange rain warning for Co Kerry as Storm Boelo approached. The warning will be valid between 7am and 2pm today, Saturday. Met Eireann also issued an orange wind warning for Donegal, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo, as the storm brings in strong westerly winds with severe and damaging gusts. This warning will come into effect at 2pm on Saturday and is due to remain in place until Sunday at 9am.

A status yellow rain warning was also issued from 4am to 3pm on Saturday and will apply to counties Clare, Cork, Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Leitrim, Limerick, Mayo and Sligo.

The national forecaster warned of difficult travelling conditions, localised flooding and potential impacts on outdoor events.

One event to take pre-emptive action was Millstreet, where the Autumn Horse Show programme was revised and the entire event moved indoors to the main indoor arena.

“Our priority is to give every horse and rider the best and safest conditions possible, and we believe this is the right call for everyone involved. We would like to thank all our competitors, owners, sponsors and spectators for your understanding and flexibility. We know this is a lot of change at short notice, but we are committed to putting on a great show whatever the weather,” an update on the decision stated.

Heights from 80cm up to 1.35m Grand Prix are all still catered for, but some height brackets and the young horse classes have been removed from the schedule.

A revised qualification format was also introduced for the Grand Prix, whereby completing either Event 8 or 14 will make the same horse/rider combination eligible for the Grand Prix.

An updated running order and timetable is available on SJI Live. Riders are encouraged to check their classes carefully with a strict ‘no show, no jump’ policy in place regarding allocated jumping slots.

For any queries, contact the show office on admin@millstreethorseshow.ie or 029 70800.

Elsewhere, the Ballinamona Equestrian Centre (Waterford) SJI and Newcomers league finals have been postponed until October 31st and the Mullingar Autumn Horse and Pony League has been moved a day to this Sunday, October 25th. The Wexford Equestrian Saturday Autumn League has also been moved to Sunday.

In Lisburn, Northern Ireland, Danescroft Equestrian announced the cancellation of the NI Autumn Championships. The working hunter, showing and in-hand show was due to take place today (Saturday) and tomorrow, October 24th and 25th.