THE Association of Irish Riding Clubs held their annual Festival last weekend at the Mullingar Equestrian Centre, where the weather was kind enough on Saturday - apart from a downpour at lunchtime - but deteriorated quickly on Sunday, resulting in a lot of withdrawals.

For all that, feedback from the Festival has been positive, which was good news for Chris Carter, who attended the two-day fixture for the first time as the Association’s Chairman. “I believe it was one of the best yet, the members were in great spirits, and the rain didn’t take away from it,” he stated.