Day three:The rain arrived here at the RDS yesterday just as Ireland's Nations Cup team lost any hope of winning the Aga Khan Trophy. It was the kind of double whammy that we have come to expect from this Irish summer.
However, the threat of rain and possible equestrian defeat had not kept Horse Show fans away from the Ballsbridge grounds and tickets for this, the most social of events, had been sold out as early as Wednesday evening.
Germany took the lead early on in front of the packed house and never lost it even though for a brief heady moment before the rains came, the Irish team looked as if it could drive the gloom and the rain away. It was not to be.
At any event our team finished in joint third place with Switzerland behind the winners and holders, Germany. The United States team, which had struggled early on in the competition, came second.
However, it was a fine spectacle which was enjoyed by the crowd and by President Mary McAleese who had the Northern Ireland Minister for Sport, Edwin Poots, as her special guest.
While the competition was going on, it was a strange sight indeed to see one of Ireland's top riders, Jessica Kurten, up in the press room where she was making a television programme for RTÉ.
Ms Kurten was involved with five "pony kids" from Finglas, Dunsink, Tallaght and Ballyfermot, whom with Ronan Corrigan from Coolrea House Stud she has helped train for an appearance last night at the show.
The inspiration for the project came from pony-mad Diarmuid Gavin, better known for his gardening expertise and whose television company is making the programme for screening on RTÉ 1 on September 6th next.
Ms Kurten said she had been coming to the RDS since she was a small girl and had always enjoyed coming to the show.
"It is certainly different sitting here while the Nations Cup is on but I am enjoying my involvement in this project and helping the young people learn about the business," she said.
Diarmuid Gavin confessed that the last time he was in the RDS he was digging up the ground in the show rings for a garden festival that formed part of the now defunct Spring Show.
"I had two gardens out there where they are showing horses. This is a great place and we are having a lot of fun making this programme which began over 10 weeks ago when we started to train the young people," he said.
The young people, Dean Dwyer, Daryl Hogan , Dean Comerford, Thomas Keenan and Jade Mooney, were picked from 50 hopefuls from the Fettercairn Horse Project in the Dublin suburbs.
Readers who tune into the programme in September can discover how they got on last night.
Later today, all eyes will be focused on the Puissance competition where riders and horses will be hoping to win the €35,000 prize for clearing the high wall that normally stands well over seven feet by the time the prize is eventually won.
The event finishes tomorrow.