As always, on arrival at Cavan Equestrian Centre, the place is spotless and ready for the activity of the weekend with Pauline and Mervyn Clarke and their family always available to answer queries or give a hand when needed.

Entry fees were expensive and prize funds limited but it seems to be the way here and to date Cavan have certainly had the largest entries of the series - and this would surely be due to the excellent and efficiently run facility they have in Cavan, County Cavan.

The program was simple - 90cm, 1m, 1.10m, 1.20m and 1.30m for Friday and Saturday with the finals of the 1m and 1.10m being held on Sunday prior to the GUIDAM Spring Tour Grand Prix class.

On Friday we saw 80+ entries in the 1m class, 120+ in the 1.10m class, 50+ in the 1.20m and just 12 in the 1.30m with Saturday showing marked increases in numbers with the classes seeing 80+ again in the 1m, 150+ in the 1.10m, 80+ in the 1.20m and 40 entries in the 1.30m - so as anyone who has jumped at Cavan will know - there were early starts with long days and jumping late into the night!

Conor Swail would surely take the prize for having the greatest number of horses with a team of 18 at Cavan this weekend and it seemed that every fifth call from Phillipa in the Pocket was for Conor Swail - the man must have gone home and wanted to sleep for a week - but no doubt that was not on the schedule for this very busy man!

Scottie Barclay was very happy with his results this weekend as he took out Friday's 1.10m class by nearly 5 secs with Celtic Winners Australia's Irish Draught stallion Celtic Gold and they then went on to take Saturdays 1.10m as well. Scottie also took out Saturday's 1m class with Charles Grendon's gelding Pax and he took the 1.20m class as well with Michelle Hanlon's gorgeous black mare so perfectly named Guinness.

Sunday's 1m class saw 60 enties with 10 from the temporary ticket/non qualified section going through to the jump off and 14 from the ticketed and qualified combinations. The fastest time for the non-competitives was James Durham and his new ride, MyCeltic Tiger Lil when they finished with double clear in 38.13secs.

Please accept our apologies as we have no doubt got quite a number of the riders and horses names incorrect - as the season continues we will no doubt learn the names of the new horses on the circuit and riders too.

First in the 1m class went to Robert Verdi and Salmon with their very fast time of 29.77sec sin the this jump off class; Charles O'Hanlon and Red or Dead were 2nd with 30.67secs; Simon Trent was third in 31.45secs; 4th went to Joanne McOkey and Diva Star in 33.30secs; 5th to Laura Snell in 36.15secs; Judy McGuinness and Shalimar Montana (pictured below right) took 6th in 41.46secs; Robert Verdi also took 7th place with Aachen (pictured below left) and a time of 44.48secs; John Floody and Athena took 8th place in 45.74secs.

Pictured below: Richard Kerins and the very attractive dun horse looking good b7t didn'tmake it through to the final placings today.

As always, the standard question at Cavan is "how big will the 1m class be?" Sounds silly but Cavan are known for always building big and usually well over size even if they continue to deny it - but everyone knows what to expect and so it causes no dramas - the 1m final on Sunday stood in the opening round at 1.05m by most people's reckoning with the jump off getting quite a bit bigger!

Pictured left: Delyth Collins, still sporting her cracked wrist from the end of last season continues to ride regardless and here we see her on Ronnie Hollinger's Creevagh Highland Lady - they were jumping a great round until they took a wrong turn and belled for error of course - they were not the only ones to make this mistake and there were several riders eliminated for the very same error.

The 1.10m final on Sunday was also a qualifier for the prestigious Cavan Crystal 5 year old class later in the year - the class saw 90 starters wiyth 33 going through to the jump off, with the first 5 being non-competitive and so not eligible for Cavan Crystal clas snor money today.

The class was kindly sponsored by the Farnham Arms Hotel in Cavan where you will always find good accomodation, friendly faces and good food so perhaps consider staying at the Franham Arms when you are next in Cavan for a show at Cavan Equestrian Centre.

Conor Swail had 6 competitive horses in this 1.10m class and the jump off saw him take 3 in to face the clock.

The final places in the 1.10m saw Conor Swail and Duc take first placing with no penalties in 34.97sec; Andrew Bourns took 2nd position in the line up with Caligstown Cruiser in 36.22secs; 3rd placing belonged to John Higgins Jnr and Rio; 4th placing went to Victoria Clarke and Fortuna; Mary McShane and Riminissa were in 5th placing; Barry O'Connor and Alaska took 6th place; Monroe GeeGee took 7th place and Scottie Barclay and Peter Pan took 8th placing.

The top five, 5 year olds who have now qualified for the Cavan Crystal class were in order of merit, Scottie Barclay and Mark Devey's Peter Pan; Clem McMahon and Luxury; Scottie Barclay and Charles Grendon's Pax; Conor Swail and Venger; Victoria Clarke and My Cavalier.

Pictured left: Conor Swail and Alaska in the 1.10m class.

Pictured above: Barry O'Connor and Alaska who tookj placing in the 1.10m class.

The Swail and O'Connor stables have a team of horses this year which will be a force to be reckoned with throughout the coming season.

Pictured left:Shaun Cubitt who has been riding in Germany for some time has returned home to Ireland and is riding this season with Linda Courtenay who is another with a large and impressive team of horses.

Pictured right:Scottie Barclay of Harmony Cottage Farm and Mark Devey's 18hh 5 year old continental bred horse Peter Pan who qualified for the Cavan Crystal 5 year old class later in the year.