Dublin Horse Show - The Puissance

I was really tired on Saturday morning after my two exciting days at the horse show, so I took things easy. I made lunch for me and Michele, then enjoyed a long leisurely breakfast and got dressed. It was close to twelve before we left for Dublin. There was a lot of Northern traffic on the road, so we phoned our trusty GAA scout (Valerie) and discovered that Armagh and Derry were both playing in Croke Park. We took the port tunnel and, even though it was quite expensive, it was well worth it because we reached Ballsbridge in no time.

Parking was just as bad as the last two days. We asked a passing policeman and he directed us to a place called Nutley Lane (I expected to find Rupert the Bear and friends on it), where we didn't find parking, but on the next road we did. It was a twenty minute walk to the RDS, but the weather was fine and warm and we ate one of our sandwiches in the car to fortify us, so it wasn't that bad.

We had seen most of the stalls yesterday, so we decided to look for the art exhibition instead. The RDS holds competitions for arts and crafts every year and has an exhibition for the winning entries. This year my sister Patricia won first prize with a rug, so Michele and I were looking forward to seeing it. We had looked for it before but couldn't find the exhibition hall, but we found it today, hidden behind a restaurant. Patricia's rug was fantastic and a well deserved winner. It was nice looking at the other winning entries too. Some were beautiful, others were beautifully executed and some were a puzzle as to why they were placed.

After looking at the art, we headed down to the main arena and took up our seats. By this stage they were beginning to feel like home. We ate our lunch and watched the end of the Dublin Stakes, and then watched the arena being prepared for the Puissance. Are seats weren't in a great position for viewing the wall to begin with, as there were two large jumps between it and us, but they thankfully removed them and our view improved a lot. There were a lot less people in the stands than yesterday and a lot more families with young children than on Thursday. I think the children got bored waiting for the jumping to begin. One young lad behind us certainly did, but he found his own entertainment kicking and punching the seats instead.

As you know, the Puissance is a test of nerves and skill as the gutsy riders jump their horses over a wall that increases in height every round. In the first round they have to jump a course of jumps before the wall, but in the subsequent rounds they only have to jump a practice fence before the wall. The wall starts at around 6ft, goes to 6ft 4in in the second round, 7ft 1in in the third round and finishes up at 7ft 4in. Often it doesn't go to the four rounds as all the riders knock or withdraw from the contest before it reaches its maximum height. Apparently a lot of countries have withdrawn the Puissance from their shows, possibly for safety reasons. Originally the wall was made from solid stone, but nowadays it is constructed with blocks that won't damage the horse if it is knocked. The Puissance takes a special kind of horse to jump it. Because of the height, the horse must have great collection and lift, as well as being very brave and trusting his rider. Likewise, it requires immense courage - or insanity - in the rider to tackle such an obstacle. As a result it is predominantly young men who jump the Puissance.

As I have said before, I have never seen the Puissance in the flesh, I have only watched it on TV and I have always found it very exciting. However, really being there it is much more nerve wracking. The wall is so big to begin with and, as it increases, the tension really mounts as to who will get over it. You can see the look of determination on the riders faces as they go for the jump and I really admire those who take it on because they must really be fearless. The majority of competitors were from England and Ireland so I was sure Ireland would get a win but, unfortunately, in the last round Cian O'Connor's horse put on the brakes and Shane Breen knocked, so Robert Whiteker romped home to victory as the only one to clear 7ft 4in. I was thrilled for him though, because he rode so well and so fearless and he had such a hard time at the Nation's Cup yesterday with eliminations in both rounds because of his horse spooking, so I was really pleased that he won the Puissance.

I'm sorry that I'm not going up again tomorrow. The Grand Prix is always great and I would love to see the Hunt Chase afterwards. The only time I went on a Sunday before we had to leave straight after the Grand Prix, so I didn't get a chance to see the Hunt Chase and I would love to see it, but I am already so tired from the three days that I don't think I will be up to it. Maybe things would be different if Michele had been able to share the driving with me, but when we booked the tickets neither of us could have imagined that her arm would be out of action. I thought I would be riding three times a week by this stage, maybe even riding Cori as well, and that I would be on the look out for lots of goodies like jodphurs and flexi stirrups, but that didn't happen so you never can tell how things are going to pan out when you plan them in advance.