Exploring the Irish countryside on horseback

We arrived in Dublin on Tuesday, June 7 after taking an overnight flight and getting hardly any sleep in the sardine can they called a plane. We struggled to stay awake all day, with a loose idea of making it to 7 pm. We did, and the next couple of days were much easier, so despite the lack of sleep initially, we were grateful to have mostly beat the jet lag!

By the time Friday rolled around, we'd been in Galway for half a day and we were excited for our first excursion: horseback riding through the countryside.

The meeting place was about a 15 minute drive from the castle hotel we were staying in. Our guide, James, and his family own a horse stable in Galway called Cooper's Hill Livery. James has been around horses his whole life, from what he told us...in fact, his father's father raised horses. Ireland is definitely still a country of family trades.

My new husband, Martin, being the hands on kind of person he is, asked if he could help get his horse ready. So, James had him brushing horses, tacking up, and leading them to the mounting area.

James also spent a lot of time with Martin, teaching him about balance and posting. He has not ridden much, and when he has, it's been western...so, he was struggling with the fact that he had no horn to hold onto. We were both riding Irish cobs, while James and our other guide, Vlad, were on more thoroughbred type Irish sport horses. I was on Midnight and Martin was riding Mr. Eastwood. They not only had the typical cob feathered feet but, believe it or not, they also had curly mustaches! It was pretty funny. Apparently Midnight chewed half of his off, so he only had a mustache on one side. Martin made a lot of terrible mustache jokes before we mounted up. :-|

My view -- a LOT of hair!

James had us doing a nice, easy walk down the back roads, letting us get a good feel for the horses before we started trotting. He was keeping an eye on Martin from the back of the line. Vlad and his horse, Sahara, were in the lead, with M and Eastwood 2nd, and Midnight and myself third. Sahara was not really happy to be up there! A chestnut with flaxen mane and tail, they told us she is a show jumping prospect. And while she is good on the roads, she doesn't like to lead. Add to that the volume of traffic, which James said was not normal for that area...and quite a few larger trucks, some with metal chains banging on their metal sides. It's no wonder she was finding any excuse to spook! They handled everything calmly and quietly and even though our two level-headed horses tried to pretend they were scared, too, I don't think Martin ever really got worried, which is awesome.

Eventually we switched the order and had James and his grey mare Vogue up front, with Martin and then me and Vlad. This worked a little better, and our trek through town was smoother with the switch.

James and Vogue, leading us down a canter lane

Connemara mares and foals watching us

A ways down the road, we split up. I went with James and Vogue, while Martin went with Vlad and Sahara. I silently hoped she behaved herself so that Martin wouldn't have any trouble with Eastwood, but didn't dwell on it because after a short trot, we had reached the canter lanes that James was taking me to. He explained that we'd be cantering down the straight aways, there were some bends and he'd whistle if we needed to shift to a trot and would whistle again when it was time to walk again. He asked if I was ready and I said yes, so he kicked his mare forward and I kissed to Midnight and we were off.

Midnight was so comfortable, it was like riding a rocking horse, no matter what he was doing. And, he was feeling kind of fresh, tossing his head and wanting to go faster, even though he was no match for Vogue's much longer legs!

I wish it hadn't been raining so much when we left, so we could have used the GoPro on my helmet. We ended up leaving it at the hotel, because we didn't want to chance it getting water logged if it didn't stop raining. :(

Anyway, we galloped, walked, galloped, walked, galloped, trotted, etc for quite some time and then worked our way back to the road we'd been on when we'd left Vlad and Martin. Eventually, we made it to the yard of a castle (Cloonacauneen Castle), where Martin and Vlad were waiting for us, already dismounted. James and I followed suit, and we went inside the castle for a drink and a short rest. The castle is said to be haunted by a little girl. It is now an event center / pub, so Martin celebrated with a pint of Guinness, and I decided to try a southern comfort and coke.

Martin waiting to mount in front of the castle

We chatted for a while and finished our drinks before going back out to mount up again. James told me I had to come back some winter and do a fox hunt with them. He thought I'd do great and would really love it, even when I told him I wasn't sure if I had the guts to do it. He assured me it was easier than it looked and if I stayed toward the back, the walls, etc would be a *little* bit smaller by the time I got there, from the horses in the front. It sounds amazing! But, I will definitely have to up my riding game before we go back! Still, it was high praise, and it definitely added to the permanent smile on my face!

We trotted most of the way back to the farm and James helped Martin some more with his posting. By the end of the ride, he had a decent handle on it and it was less flopping up and down and more controlled. He was definitely sore, though!

He needs a lot more practice, and I plan to get him in the saddle more, once we get situated next year. I want him to be able to do w-t-c, so that even if we go back and I can't do a fox hunt or chicken out about a fox hunt, lol -- we can do the beach ride with James, which requires w-t-c skills.

It was a lot of fun, and I am so glad I got to do it. My grandmother had always wanted to do something similar but never made it to Ireland, so I feel like I fulfilled a dream for both of us.

Here's hoping we get to go back in a few years!