GIVEN the rainfall in the south-east of the country both before and after the event, it was extremely fortunate that the first round of the Plusvital Spring Series of combined training qualifiers at Wexford Equestrian Centre took place on Sunday.

“On Saturday and Monday, the outside arena where we held the dressage was waterlogged,” said proprietor and organiser Orla Roche, whose husband Pat Peare, a senior national course designer, built the show jumping track in the indoor arena. That second phase was judged by Ciaran McGrath, while Sarah-Jane Doyle and Jill Spring assessed the dressage phase between them.