Green Glens gears up for welcome tour

MILLSTREET is gearing up for another busy competition season with the Green Glens Arena set to host five FEI International shows over the next eight months.

Preparations are at an advanced stage for the upcoming Millstreet International Welcome Tour, which takes place from April 3 to 7.

Established seven years ago, the Welcome Tour has developed a reputation as the ideal season opener due to the variety of competitions on offer. Over 75 events are due to take place, ranging from Newcomer Ponies up to the CSI1 FEI classes.

Competitors and their connections will travel from across Ireland looking to take home their share of the €25,000 prize fund on offer. The Welcome Tour operates on a unique basis in that the rider does not need to decide what classes they will jump in at the time of entry.

Instead, they pre-purchase a desired number of ‘starts’, which can then be used to declare for competitions before 5pm on the evening beforehand.

During the five days of competition, Millstreet will also cater for eventing enthusiasts, with Combined Training classes taking place, as well as an Eventing Ireland one-day event which will close the final weekend of the tour.

Once again, there will be a number of qualification opportunities across the Welcome Tour, including places in the Millstreet Ruby (five-year-old) and Boomerang (six-year-old) finals at Millstreet International Horse Show.

Millstreet will also cater for eventing and dressage enthusiasts, with combined classes operating on Thursday, April 4.

For the first time, bookings for the Welcome Tour will be handled by Swedish equestrian data handlers, Equipe.

Shows at Millstreet have benefited from the live scoring and administration services provided by Equipe for a number of years.