A HUGE amount of work went into the ground ahead of this year’s third Eventing Ireland fixture at Frankfort Stud last Sunday, in order to combat the conditions caused by the recent prolonged dry spell. The benefit of this was reflected in how, though entries were smaller than on previous occasions and many riders chose to run slowly, the vast majority did undertake the cross-country phase.

“The day went off relatively smoothly,” said organiser Will Kearney, “and there was a lovely, relaxed atmosphere about the place. Lower numbers meant we were able to run all the show jumping through one arena, which meant horses could warm up on the sand and we could focus on having the ground as good as possible in the ring. There wasn’t a lot of sleep got by myself or my father on Saturday night as we spiked every warm-up and competition area for all phases. We used over 50 tonnes of sand in front of and behind every cross-country fence to help reduce the impact of the ground conditions.”