The fabulously ornate fairytale carriage used to ferry the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Mary Freehill, to the RDS yesterday caused confusion on the streets of the city.
One woman, clearly thinking of the days when the carriage was used for the birthday celebrations of royalty, was convinced the Queen Mother's birthday was being marked.
A deeply excited German tourist thought the mayor must be getting married.
In fact Ms Freehill was on her way to open the 126th horse show. In a low-key address she wished the Irish team well and confessed that she had never been a contender for best-dressed woman.
The show itself provided the usual sights, sounds and smells (particularly smells).
Exuding charm and frosted lipstick in equal measure, Danielle Quinlivan (19), the Army's first female competitor, strolled around the arena obviously delighted with her performance in the Grade A National Class competition.
She was placed fifth, qualifying easily for the final on Sunday.
"I wasn't nervous," said the young Cork woman who is destined to become the State's first horse-riding pin-up.
"I just went out there and enjoyed it."
Organisers expect 100,000 visitors over the five-day run and when not watching Ms Quinlivan and her colleagues showing off their horsemanship, punters can wander happily among hundreds of exhibition stands.
One of the most popular - second only it seemed to fortune teller Lory Boswell - was the Irish Masters of Fox Hunting exhibit.
Watching their video of a hunt (complete with "thrills and spills") friends and horse-riders Orla Delamare (15) from Dublin and Aoife Gaffney (15) from Wicklow quietly voiced their disapproval.
There was a distinct lack of glamour around the RDS yesterday, just the usual tally of straw boaters, cloth caps, waxed jackets and the odd sleeveless dress.
Given the rain and slight chill that set in later, goose-bumps as accessories were everywhere. Exotically-named Galway woman Mafra O'Reilly wore what was without question the most striking outfit of the day.
Revelling in the stir her bottle-green peacock feather strewn headwear was causing, she declared that she was known all over the place for her hats and her eccentricity.
Asked if she planned to put her name forward for the Best Dressed Ladies (the po-faced Best Dressed Person title has been abandoned by organisers) competition today she looked askance. "One doesn't enter these things," she said, adding that it was far more dignified and "less like a cattle market" to be selected by the judges for standing out from the throng.