SWISS world number four show jumper Martin Fuchs enjoyed the hospitality of Taylor and Liz Vard at their Hillside Farm in Stepaside before making his way to Ballsbridge for the Dublin Horse Show this week. Martin’s groom is of course one the best known on the circuit, Irishman Sean Vard, son of Ireland’s assistant chef d’equipe Taylor.

So if you saw a beautiful white horse hacking the hills of the south Dublin town, it could have been Fuchs’ top horse Leone Jei, a multiple five-star winner. Also enjoying the lush green paddocks at Hillside Farm was one of Steve Guerdat’s horses who travelled with Sean on his lorry. They made a very important stop along the way in Normandy to visit former European champion Clooney, now retired after an injury.

“I brought four horses, three for me and one for Steve. We travelled straight from Dinard in France and went to visit Clooney for four days at his farm in Normandy, and then took the long boat from Cherbourg to Dublin. We arrived Saturday morning in Dublin, spent until Tuesday morning at home in the home farm and came over here just before the trot up on Tuesday,” said Sean who was delighted to be back at Dublin with the Swiss team for the second year in-a-row.