THERE was high praise in the eventing community for the high standards set at the debut one-day event hosted by the McNally family at Clonmahon House, Co Meath, last weekend.

Event rider and coach, Michael McNally Jnr, and his family set the bar high throughout with top-class bespoke safe fences and up to height courses that challenged combinations, making for exciting competition to the end.

Six months of meticulous planning and attention to detail paid off, stamping the debut event with a mark of professionalism from start to finish. There were no horse falls.

No expense or effort was spared on the design and construction of the bespoke fences, which will be stored under cover, for future use at Clonmahon House which is a working farm.

Social media was buzzing with positive comments from riders who described the Clonmahon event as being ‘just what the sport needs’ to bring horses, riders and trainers alike on.

The cross-country was designed and built by Dereck Hamilton and Ray Doyle.

Michael McNally Jnr thanked everyone for their kind comments this week, describing the positive feedback as ‘unbelievable’’ and ‘humbling’’. He will be exploring future national and international fixture opportunities with Eventing Ireland.

“I have been riding in eventing for a good while now so I understand what the riders want, from good ground conditions, warm-ups, to traffic and pedestrian control. I wouldn’t let one issue compromise another and had to juggle throughout until the right answer presented itself to me. I kept playing out what I wanted and what I wanted was to set the bar and standard quite high.

“It is about building the courses to a standard so that there is a little suspense and a bit of excitement among riders - that the dressage phase does not predict the outcome - that the competition is not over until it’s over - that’s what I wanted. I was happy that the course caused so many problems but there were no horse falls. It was a proper challenging course,” said Michael McNally Jnr who also dismissed speculation that the bespoke fences had cost him several hundred thousand euros.

“An awful lot went into the quality, design, structure and angles of the fences. Dereck and Ray were very good lads to work with. They let me have as much input into the fences as I wanted to have. My Dad, Michael Snr, has a long background in engineering and materials so he took care of that. The fences were made out of German Red Deal Douglas Fir, treated for ground contact. The width of them acts as a counterweight, a ballast against impact so the pressure is off any securing point to the ground.

“I have not gone into the costings, I just kept spending the money for the best but it’s not the money for me. We had a job to do. The nature of me is a perfectionist and money was not going to hold me back.

“Dora Beacom acted as secretary and gathered up a trusted team that delivered on the day, many thanks to them and the junior eventing team who all came to volunteer and were a great help,” said Michael, adding that he is continuing to carry out research as to what the eventing community wants to see going forward.

See Margie McLoone’s report on Clonmahon House ODE, pages 102-103.