“I’m thrilled to achieve the qualifying score for the Europeans after just four international outings with Sambuca,” Holstein said. Her mount has taken to the international stage in fine style. “The mare is learning all the time and she has really grown up over the last three weeks competing at shows in Belgium, Germany and here in Great Britain.”

Of course, while three riders is sufficient to field a team, four is, to say the least, desirable, since without the fourth, the team will have no ‘discard’ score back-up and a mishap such as an injury would scupper the whole national effort. The hope is that at least one other rider can also pass the eligibility criterion in time, and preferably a few more. “We have a number of riders seeking to qualify for the Europeans and the plan is to have a whole squad to select from for Rotterdam,” said Horse Sport Ireland’s Dressage and Para Dressage High Performance Chair Gillian Kyle, who described Holstein’s achievement as “brilliant news”.

Two other possibles for qualification, James Connors and Anna Merveldt, will be in action in Italy this weekend at the three-star meeting at Ornago.

Ireland last had a team at the dressage Europeans in 2003 when they were staged in the UK at Hickstead. Kyle is, of course, keeping an eye on the even bigger picture. “Our aim is to qualify a team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” she said. Getting to the Europeans is Ireland’s only chance left to secure a dressage team Olympic place, as there was no Irish team at the world championships in North Carolina last September where the first Tokyo slots were awarded.

Five of them were secured by European teams (Germany, Great Britain, Sweden, Netherlands and Spain) which means Ireland will not need to outdo any of those in Rotterdam. What they will need to do is to finish in the top three, among the teams that have not already qualified. There is still much to do before we are even sure of a team appearance at the Euros, but at least the door is now open.

What is much more imminent is Judy Reynolds’ involvement in the FEI Dressage World Cup final, for which she comfortably qualified on Saturday at the Dutch Masters meeting in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. She will swing back into action in just three weeks’ time with Vancouver K in Gothenburg where this year’s final is being held. The Kildare rider finished fourth in the 2016/2017 World Cup when the final was staged in Omaha, USA, but missed all of the 2017/2018 campaign while her horse was recovering from an injury. She was late into proceedings in the current season, finally getting into action when there were only four qualifying events left (riders can contest six, with their best four scores to count) so she had no room for error, but came through with a bit to spare, taking eighth place among the nine qualifiers.

Five-star show jumping action focuses on central Paris this weekend with the Saut Hermès meeting being staged at the Grand Palais. Irish involvement comes through Bertram Allen (Christy Jnr and Molly Malone), Denis Lynch (Gun Powder and Hector van d’Abdijhoeve) and Mark McAuley (Miebello and Vivaldi du Theil).

Allen and Lynch were at the Dutch Masters meeting at the weekend but were unable to progress in the showpiece Rolex Grand Slam Grand Prix. Lynch had three down with Hector van d’Abdijhoeve in the first round while Irish hopes ended when Allen also came unstuck with two down on Molly Malone.

In Florida, it’s the second-last week of the Winter Equestrian Festival with this week’s action at four-star level. Top of the bill will be Saturday night’s $209,000 (€184,000) Wellington Agricultural Services Grand Prix.

In eventing, the riders’ list for this year’s Badminton Horse Trials in May shows a strong Irish entry which includes the world championship team and individual silver medalist pairing of Padraig McCarthy and Mr Chunky. Also entered are Sian Coleman (Kilroe Hero), Ciaran Glynn (November Night), Clare Abbott (Euro Prince), Joseph Murphy (Sportsfield Othello) and Jim Newsam (Magennis).