THE first round of qualifiers for this year’s RDS performance Irish Draught classes and Connemara performance hunter championships were held last Saturday at Scarteen when large numbers converged on the Ryan family’s world famous venue.

In spite of a big entry, the day went like clockwork, thanks to co-operation from riders who adapted well to the system of using the main warm-up and its practice fences before the flatwork phase and then just having a couple of ‘pops’ in the smaller holding area between phases.