THIS past year couldn’t have started on a more optimistic note for dressage in Ireland with a team qualified for the first time for the Olympic Games and a historic success at Doha in late February for Kate Dwyer, who, riding Snowdon Faberge, became the first Irish rider to win a five-star Grand Prix Special.

Unfortunately, shortly afterwards dressage in this country, as with life in general, was severely impacted by Covid-19 while, internationally, the major casualty on the sporting front was the postponement of the Olympic Games to next summer.