The Irish seem to take their riding very seriously
And I had a seriously good time.
Strangely enough one of the instructors at the stable I ride at went on this exact vacation a couple of years ago. She said it was the best vacation that she ever had. I would have to agree and that is owed to a large degree to the wonderful people, horses and facility I went to, the Clonshire Equestrian Facility, just a couple of miles south of Adare.
Clonshire has a couple hundred acres of land. If you have never been to Ireland it is hard to describe the feel of the land. They don't call it the Emerald Isle for nothing. Everywhere you look is rich shades of green and rolling hills. Flying into Ireland I was struck that Ireland, from the air, resembled a big green patchwork quilt. Every shade of green you can imagine. The dark fuzzy green of the hedgerows separating each oddly shaped patch of ground. From the ground you are enveloped in a green warmth that you can almost feel.You are so enveloped in the land while riding across it anything else recedes till there is just you, the horse and the land.
The riding vacation included transportation to and from the hotel and three hours of horse time. A van picks you up about 9:45 every morning. A quick trip south thru Adare and down some really narrow, twisty-turney lanes brings you to the main Clonshire facility. Offices and bleachers adorn a nice big indoor facility. Pretty necessary in Ireland as I hear it rains a average of 270 days a year.
Oddly enough we had really great weather. It was sunny the day I arrived (all day!) and four other days as well. The other days we had just a few sprinkles in the morning but nothing that interfered with any of the outdoor riding.
The first hour we spent in the ring, either at this indoor ring or their outdoor ring. The holiday is sold as "Hunt Seat Training." Which means that you have to be able to jump as well as maintain your seat over all sorts of countryside. So naturally we spend most of the ring instruction learning techniques for jumping.
At this writing I have been riding for about 14 months. An hour a week in a ring is most of my experience. Though I do have a little bit of trail riding experience most of my experience is 'on the flat.' I have never done any jumping before Ireland. In fact when my riding instructor heard I was taking a holiday called Hunt Seat training she kinda freaked out. "that is JUMPING, you aren't ready to do any jumping!"
The first 30 minutes of the first lesson the instructors evaluate your seat and level of riding skill. I guess my level of skill was sufficient in their view as I was doing low cross rails in no time at all.
One of the things that made the holiday so much fun was the excellent instructors at Clonshire. The Irish do indeed take their riding very seriously. In fact my Clonshire instructors are BHS Certified instructors. This didn't mean much at first but after spending some time under the excellent tutelage of Emma, Sue and the rest of the gang at Clonshire I came away more than impressed. it seems that to be a certified instructor by the British Horse Society is a pretty involved course. To start you have to have at least 500 hours of instruction under your belt. After that it gets difficult.
The ring instruction was great. We were kept busy with a variety of training, changing gaits, directions, patterns and the like. As the week progressed more and more jumping was added to the daily ring instruction. While I came with the hope of riding through the Irish countryside I found the ring instruction to have benefited my riding the most.
After the first hour of ring instruction we headed out to the surrounding countryside for an hour of cross country hacking. I wish I had some pictures of the course we rode every morning. It wound its way thru most of Clonshire's 150 acres. But to be honest I had so much fun and the riding was so busy and varied that there was no time to even carry a camera, far less find time to take a picture or two. Like a friend said, "I was too busy having fun to take pictures." How true!
Clonshire has gone to a great deal of trouble to provide a cross country course that any level of rider can have fun on. From low walls and fences for the beginning jumper (me) to obstacle courses experienced riders would find challenging and fun. And all of the riding we did was on the magnificent Irish Sport Horses kept at Clonshire.
I found joy in one horse in particular at Clonshire. An eight year old Irish Sport Horse named Rivari. Rivari exemplified what is great about the Irish Sport Horse at Clonshire. Superbly trained, athletic, motivated, experienced and eager to do whatever his rider asked of him. He had a wonderful smooth gait and a great personality. believe me that if he was not already a privately owned horse (and I had the money) he would have come back with me.
Rivari and Olga
I did have the pleasure of meeting and riding with his owner one day. Olga was a charming lady who rode with me and the rest of the cross country class one day. She was tickled pink that I thought so highly of her horse. She is very lucky to have such a great horse at such a great facility. After our ride she did me the favor of a picture with Rivari.
Let's visit Hollywood while we are here, shall we?