The Puissance at Dublin Horse Show today - was an extraordinary event!!!!!!!!!!!!! There are no words to describe the horses and riders who do this event - it takes such bravery on the part of the horse because they are being asked to jump a solid wall which is far too tall for them to see over and it requires a certain type of horse to do this class - and as for the riders, you would have to question whether they are mad or brave or a touch of both!

Prior to the event, Brendan McArdle had a ringside chat with Cian O'Connor, who is well known for winning Puissance competitons and he generally has at least one specialty horse for this event. When Brendan asked Cian what is the hardest part of the Puissance event, Cian said "the first round is usually the hardest because you have to jump all four fences clean, the three normal fences and then the wall!"

The starting height for todays class was 1.80m which is no small fence in itself and there were 19 starters for the class - first rider out was Robert Bruel for France with Farceur du Haul and they opted to retire.

Billy Twomey for Ireland had the first fence down and so finished round 1 with four faults. Peter Smyth and Party Time went great gns making it through to the 4th round when they knocked the toppings off the wall.

Roberto Cristofoletti and Lohengrin di Villa Emilia for Italy got as far as round 2 when they had the rising oxer down and the same fate befell Harry Marshall for Ireland with XL.

Peter Geerink and Norit Larino for The Netherlands made it to round 4 when they bowe dout after bringing down the top row of bricks.

Robert Bruel had a second go at the job with Ionesco du Moulin but a refusal at the wall in Round 2 which put him out of the money today.

Richard Davenport and Cheers Cassini for Great Britain were another combination outed at round three when they had a refusal at the wall.

The competion started in Round One at 1.80m and 17 went on to round 2 which saw the wall go up to 1.95m for those still in imperial measure. Of those 17 who made it through to Round 2, 14 went on to attempt Round Three which saw the wall reach 2.05m or for those still working in imperial measure it was 6' 8 3/4 " and it was HUGE!!!

The crowd were now sitting on the edge of their seats and the roars of "ooh" and "aaahh" resounded around the main arena.

Peter Smyth and Party Time pushed the top bricks forward but they stayed put and he went through to the next round and the same thing happened to Christian Hermon and Ephebe for Ever Ecolit who were tipped early on in the day. In round 3 Richard Davenport had his refusal at the wall but saved himself from falling by holding onto the top of the wall and pushing himself back in the saddle thereby saving himself from elimination and rather retiring.

Round Four saw the wall reach the scary height of 2.15m or 7' 1" and Peter Smyth and Party Time demolished the wall and it crashed loudly to the ground! John Whitaker showed what a master of the saddle he is when he and Lactic 2 flew over the wall and the horse looked like it was going to crumble to the ground and spill John but he managed somehow to regain his seat and stay on board - very spectacular ride this was!

Event though John and Lactic 2 were eligible to go through to round 5 they opted to not go ahead - and the photos left and below clearly explain why - the wall sawyed and swung but everything stayed in place, including John but I dare say he didn't feel confident about go up in height again with this horse.

John had two horses in the contest and and he quite obviously made the right decision about which horse to go through to the final round with.

Round Five was extraordinary - and made this Dublin Horse Puissance the best I have ever witnessed - the wall reached 2.27m or 7' 5 1/2" and 7 combinations were challenging the wall at this height!

And it was exactly that - horses and riders challenging the wall - the five brave horses and riders were Captain David O'Brien and the incredibly handsome grey mare Cruisehill, which is owned by the Ministry for Defence; Dermott Lennon and S. Bronfman's Athletico 26; Edward Doyle and the McLoughlin Bros.

Midnight Call; Patrice Delaveau for France and Beatrice Delouis' Ideal Breceen; Jean-Claude Vangeenberghe and Arnold de Brabandere's Osta Rugs Quintus for Belgium and John Whitaker on Clare Whitaker's Exploit du Roulard for Great Britain. Lactic 2, as I said earlier, with John Whitaker qualified for the final round but chose not to start.

First to go was Captain David O'Brien and the Ministry for Defence's mare Cruisehill - I use the word handsome for this mare because that is exactly what she is - strong, muscular and so brave and I have seen her Puissance once before and she was amazing the way she played over it. Cruisehill is no 'spring chicken' at 13 years old an she is by the stallion Cruising out of a Clover Hill mare. I understand she is a quirky mare - but the good ones usually are!

She was so brave as she approached this fence, hunting for it - and she took it on with the courage of a warrior going into battle - the fence rocked and a whole column swayed forward but it then swayed back and stayed in place and the mare came through clear!

This "clear over the wall" guaranteed this combination a share, at worst of the euro11,000 prize for first place!

Next to go was Dermott Lennon, also for Ireland and his 12 year old gelding Ahtletico 26 who is by Alexis Z out of a Dorian mare. This tall and scopey bay is owned by S. Bronfman but today he showed his intelligence by facing up to a wall that he had no chance of seeing over and coming to a halt, letting his rider know that he really wasn't keen to give it a go - Dermott patted the horse and accepted his decision and they left

the arena to a huge raor of approval from the capacity crowd. They were still going to be in the money by getting to the final round today.

Next out was Ireland's Cian O'Connor and he went with Martin McLaughlin's Ortwin de Laubry, a 1991 grey gelding by Darco and they again thrilled the crowd by clearing the wall - and Cian would have to win the award for some of the funniest faces pulled by a rider as they came up over the wall! Their clear put them in equal first placing with Capt. David O'Brien sharing the big prize fund.

So now we had two combinations sharing first place and still more combinations to come!

The next to go was one of Ireland's "gentlemen", Edward Doyle who combines a tough competitive mature with one of the best senses of humour around - and he was attempting this 2.27m Puissance Wall with the McLoughlin Bros' 12 year old gelding by Duca di Busted out of a Flagmount Diamond mare, Midnight Call. This very dark bay horse seems to be willing to try to jump the moon for Edward but today the "ask" was a huge one and even though Midnight Call tried the wall tumbled and Edward was launched sideways in his saddle after the wall tumbled, landing on his feet running beside the horse but he slipped and ended up on the ground while Midnight Call headed straught for the pocket where he was possibly hoping for a treat.....maybe! A huge effort which didn't come off today, but Edward left the arena on foot and in good humour, waving to the crowds!

and then it all went completely wrong!!!!!

Ooops - but I have to say it is no shame to not win this class - and they successfully jumped 2.15m it must be remembered of all these combinations in this final round!!!