OF all the riders most affected by the pandemic, the amateur riders were largely ruled out of competition for much of last season. Normally the season would start with the competitive RDS qualifiers, followed by a series of amateur championships. 2020 meant that amateur riders competed alongside national riders within regional leagues or national classes. Limited amateur classes could take place and for those that booked their place in the finals in the very few leagues that took place, they put up impressive performances.

Two leagues that did go ahead, albeit in a change of format for qualification, were the Horseware Championship and the Irish Farmers Journal league. Both of these took place at Mullingar Equestrian on September 6th. To have booked a spot in the final, athletes had to have competed in a qualifier.