THE HATS were out in large numbers yesterday at the RDS for the opening of the Fáilte Ireland Dublin Horse Show and it was not even Ladies' Day.
It was not a matter of style at all but the dreadful weather which launched tonnes of rain on one of Ireland's oldest events.
"You wouldn't put a horse out in that," said one man as he tried to shelter under the dripping trees surrounding the showing ring. However, it did not deter the horsey people as they ran, wet to the fetlocks, showing off their bloodstock to sopping wet judges.
The bowler hats of the judges were literally soaked and their waxed jackets looked as if they had been dipped in the Liffey.
The Lord Mayor, Eibhlin Byrne, arrived in the State coach, built in 1789, looking resplendent in her hat which was designed not only to look well but could fend off any kind of storm.
By this time, the hats were coming off and by early afternoon there was even a shaft of sunlight or two to make the place look very well.
It could not, however, dry out the showing rings which were sopping wet even though the main jumping arena held up well.
However, by late evening everything except the ground on which the horses had been shown, had dried out as staff worked hard to prepare the grounds for today.
While it may have been a bit quiet around the rings yesterday morning, this meant good fortune for the stallholders, all 300 of them, who have pitched up here for the week.
They too reflect the new Ireland and the RDS was able to boast that its trade exhibitors now come from Germany, France, Great Britain, Ecuador, Austria, Canada and the United States.
Visitors were being invited to buy property in India or Cyprus and one stand was selling software to help people educate themselves to invest on the stock exchange.
Today, Ladies' Day, the real hats come out and, hopefully, the sunshine to go with them.