IN the weather-related eventing circles, the past few months have not been kind to both organisers and riders alike, but having finally got underway just two weeks ago, the season quickly gathered pace to stage the country’s first international at Ballindenisk last weekend.

Run with the usual tenacity that has seen the Fell family host international fixtures since 1977, Peter Fell and his team forged ahead and were rewarded by a healthy entry and a largely sunny - if at times bitterly cold - few days.

Always run very much with the industry in mind, this spring fixture attracted a good quota of riders both from home and overseas and while, due to difficulties in picking up qualifications, the numbers may have been down in the long format classes, they were competitive enough to deliver some very close and exciting finales. “Very happy indeed,” summed up Peter Fell. “It was a very zen event and everyone was very chilled. The tracks rode well and, most importantly, everyone came home safe.”

With three wins apiece, the senior international spoils were shared equally between Ireland and the UK, with only China’s Alex Hua Tian breaking the domination in the CCI4*-S.

While the tracks were encouraging for the time of year, they were in line with the FEI directives and, with both the long and short formats acting as Olympic qualifiers, they had to be up to level. Riders commented that the distance in the feature CCI4*-L took some getting, but equally they praised the long galloping stretches and the good underfoot conditions.

“We have been doing work on the ground over the winter and it’s paid off,” added Fell. “In places it was a little sapping, but the contra to that is that it’s safer ground. We intentionally gave them plenty of galloping and luckily, we have plenty of room to do that, as we don’t have to twist and turn.”

The cross-country times were generally not overly tight, but they were notably soft in the CCI2*-L, where just two riders picked up penalties. Addressing this, Fell added: “The lower the intensity, the easier it is to keep the pace up and be more consistent.”