Horse Racing in Dundalk

I am very fortunate that I know someone who is not only a VIP in terms of Dundalk Racing, but is also kind enough to invite me along to share her table with her on the opening of the new all weather horse racing track. I've been in Dundalk Stadium before on several occasions to watch the greyhound racing and I always looked forward to the time when the horse racing would be reinstated, and it was very exciting to be present on this long anticipated day.

We arrived early and made our way to the stadium. Another perk of travelling with a VIP is that we got free parking just outside the venue. There was a band playing just outside the stadium door. As we arrived they were playing the battle theme from Gladiator (one of my favourites). They were very good and it was nice to hear the theme being played in real life rather than being recorded. After playing such haunting dramatic music they launched into a rousing rendition of The Bare Necessities, which I found a jarring contrast.

The first ever race on the new track

We collected our tickets and made our way to the table. We had some of the best seats in the stadium, with our table right at the window on the first row, overlooking the finishing posts and a brilliant view of the track. We were also near a door which provided easy access to the stands. There were glass commemorative menus at each place, as well as embossed napkins, beautiful flowers, and balloons on every second table. We were given free commemorative badges and every table got two bottles of wine. The waiting staff were friendly and attentive and introduced themselves to us as we sat down.

Because we were early, we left our tables and wandered around the grounds looking at the track (the all weather arena seemed to be a mixture of sand and rubber, just like what Cori and J.B are used to), the parade ground and the stands. There were plenty of chip vans and ice cream stalls for the ordinary folk, as well as bouncy castles for the kids. The Dundalk FM mobile broadcasting unit was also there. There were loads of entertainers juggling fire and walking on stilts, dressed as Queen Meave and other characters from legend. There was an enormous black horse puppet being controlled by three men (one holding up the head and the other two holding the body with their ankles tied to the legs so it looked like it was walking. Very clever) and later on an Irish Wolf Hound puppet, which must have been at least 20 feet high, and was controlled by about 6 people, moved through the crowd biting people (or licking them, as I prefer to think) with its massive jaws. It was an amazing sight, and somewhat frightening, as the shaggy dog put in mind of dragons and other monsters I've read about.

The second race on the new track

The ceremony was officially opened with speeches and then the serious business of eating, and betting on the racing, began. The first race was at 2.30 and we placed bets on all eight races. We had a couple of wins but, as always happens with gambling (in my experience anyway) we left with lighter pockets than we had entered. We had a terrific view of the track and it was very exciting watching the horses streaking past the finishing posts. There were some very close finishes.

Keep off the grass!

The meal was delicious and I especially liked the touch of serving monogrammed chocolates with our coffee. There was a party and a band in the evening (I gather) but we left after the last race at about 6.30. We anticipated a long queue leaving the car park, but the traffic flow was well organised and we got out in no time.

Some momentos of the day

The last time I was at the races I was very young and I was terrified by someone dressed up as Pluto. I came away from today with far happier memories. It was a really fantastic day.

Riding Lessons

It turned out dry today, although chilly, which was a surprise. Michele, Pamela and me went over to see the horses in the early evening. The ground in the main paddock has reached maximum saturation and has turned into a small marsh. All the horses were huddled near the second gate and wouldn't come into the first field apart from Cori, who braved muck up to his fetlocks to be fed carrots at the gate. He looked great, despite an enormous belly, being covered in mud and having what looked suspiciously like the beginnings of his winter coat growing through. Days of clipping are not that far off. I don't like to think about that. Humphries and all his equine and goatish companions were in the garden when we went into the yard, so it was easy enough to smuggle Humphries out and leave the others locked in the garden. Michele was able to put the head collar on Humphries and lead him, which was a marvelous feat considering her dislocated shoulder. Pamela acted as decoy to lure Shianna away with carrots, but the canny skewbald was not fooled and followed her friend to the door, where I crouched waving my arms in the air. Michele led Humphries to the stable where we had to tie him up to groom him. He was a bit stroppy, but not bad, and only misbehaved slightly because it has been so long since he has received this sort of treatment. Pamela brushed the body while I brushed his face. When we were finished, I helped Pamela tack him up. Then I led him out to the arena, where he gave a great big whinny to Shianna in the garden.

Pamela mounted beautifully from the mounting block and the lesson began. Because Pamela is a beginner, I led Humphries to help her get a feel for the movement of the horse. First I led him by just walking around the arena and he followed, while Michele helped Pamela with her position and got her to do exercises with her legs and arms. Then Pamela tried to make Humphries go around the arena without being led, but he made things difficult, so I clipped on the lead rope and led him again and Michele encouraged Pamela to ride standing in her stirrups. When Michele thought she was ready, she talked Pamela through the motions of rising trot and took over the leading. Together we got Humphries to trot nicely forward and I took over with teaching Pamela in the trot. I wasn't teaching exactly, I am not fit enough to trot a horse for very long so Michele had to do that and she couldn't run and watch Pamela at the same time, so I had to do that. Pamela picked up the rhythm of the rising trot really quickly and improved with each trot. When the trotting was finished, she tried riding him without being led again and it went much better. She even attempted a couple of trots on her own. Her lesson finished, Pamela dismounted and Michele hopped on for a few minutes. She rode Humphries in a lovely outline and got him more responsive to the aids in mere minutes. It was lovely to watch. She led him back to the stable where Pamela and I untacked him and gave him carrots for being a good boy. Then I opened the door to the garden and let all the others out. I was really pleased because Harvey came right up to me and let me rub him on his face and I didn't even have any food for him. We said goodbye to the horses and went home.

Dublin Horse Show - The Puissance

I was really tired on Saturday morning after my two exciting days at the horse show, so I took things easy. I made lunch for me and Michele, then enjoyed a long leisurely breakfast and got dressed. It was close to twelve before we left for Dublin. There was a lot of Northern traffic on the road, so we phoned our trusty GAA scout (Valerie) and discovered that Armagh and Derry were both playing in Croke Park. We took the port tunnel and, even though it was quite expensive, it was well worth it because we reached Ballsbridge in no time.

Parking was just as bad as the last two days. We asked a passing policeman and he directed us to a place called Nutley Lane (I expected to find Rupert the Bear and friends on it), where we didn't find parking, but on the next road we did. It was a twenty minute walk to the RDS, but the weather was fine and warm and we ate one of our sandwiches in the car to fortify us, so it wasn't that bad.

We had seen most of the stalls yesterday, so we decided to look for the art exhibition instead. The RDS holds competitions for arts and crafts every year and has an exhibition for the winning entries. This year my sister Patricia won first prize with a rug, so Michele and I were looking forward to seeing it. We had looked for it before but couldn't find the exhibition hall, but we found it today, hidden behind a restaurant. Patricia's rug was fantastic and a well deserved winner. It was nice looking at the other winning entries too. Some were beautiful, others were beautifully executed and some were a puzzle as to why they were placed.

After looking at the art, we headed down to the main arena and took up our seats. By this stage they were beginning to feel like home. We ate our lunch and watched the end of the Dublin Stakes, and then watched the arena being prepared for the Puissance. Are seats weren't in a great position for viewing the wall to begin with, as there were two large jumps between it and us, but they thankfully removed them and our view improved a lot. There were a lot less people in the stands than yesterday and a lot more families with young children than on Thursday. I think the children got bored waiting for the jumping to begin. One young lad behind us certainly did, but he found his own entertainment kicking and punching the seats instead.

As you know, the Puissance is a test of nerves and skill as the gutsy riders jump their horses over a wall that increases in height every round. In the first round they have to jump a course of jumps before the wall, but in the subsequent rounds they only have to jump a practice fence before the wall. The wall starts at around 6ft, goes to 6ft 4in in the second round, 7ft 1in in the third round and finishes up at 7ft 4in. Often it doesn't go to the four rounds as all the riders knock or withdraw from the contest before it reaches its maximum height. Apparently a lot of countries have withdrawn the Puissance from their shows, possibly for safety reasons. Originally the wall was made from solid stone, but nowadays it is constructed with blocks that won't damage the horse if it is knocked. The Puissance takes a special kind of horse to jump it. Because of the height, the horse must have great collection and lift, as well as being very brave and trusting his rider. Likewise, it requires immense courage - or insanity - in the rider to tackle such an obstacle. As a result it is predominantly young men who jump the Puissance.

As I have said before, I have never seen the Puissance in the flesh, I have only watched it on TV and I have always found it very exciting. However, really being there it is much more nerve wracking. The wall is so big to begin with and, as it increases, the tension really mounts as to who will get over it. You can see the look of determination on the riders faces as they go for the jump and I really admire those who take it on because they must really be fearless. The majority of competitors were from England and Ireland so I was sure Ireland would get a win but, unfortunately, in the last round Cian O'Connor's horse put on the brakes and Shane Breen knocked, so Robert Whiteker romped home to victory as the only one to clear 7ft 4in. I was thrilled for him though, because he rode so well and so fearless and he had such a hard time at the Nation's Cup yesterday with eliminations in both rounds because of his horse spooking, so I was really pleased that he won the Puissance.

I'm sorry that I'm not going up again tomorrow. The Grand Prix is always great and I would love to see the Hunt Chase afterwards. The only time I went on a Sunday before we had to leave straight after the Grand Prix, so I didn't get a chance to see the Hunt Chase and I would love to see it, but I am already so tired from the three days that I don't think I will be up to it. Maybe things would be different if Michele had been able to share the driving with me, but when we booked the tickets neither of us could have imagined that her arm would be out of action. I thought I would be riding three times a week by this stage, maybe even riding Cori as well, and that I would be on the look out for lots of goodies like jodphurs and flexi stirrups, but that didn't happen so you never can tell how things are going to pan out when you plan them in advance.

Dublin Horse Show - Nations Cup

You need more than one day to truly appreciate the Dublin Horse Show. There is so much to see and do, and every day has its own exciting international competition that can't be missed. Friday is perhaps the most famous day, with the Nation's Cup taking place in the afternoon. It is a good excuse to dress up in fancy clothes and soak up the atmosphere as entertainers and street performers move through the crowds and not one but two bands parade in the main arena. The Nation's Cup, for those who don't know, is a tough competition where eight nations battle it out against one another to be the victor. Each country has four members to a team and each member must jump the same set of jumps in two rounds. The best three scores are counted from each round and the team with the lowest number of penalties are the winners. All the major shows around the world have their own nation cups and Samsung have sponsored them in what is known as the Samsung Super League. This means that every country competing in the various different nation cups get points depending on how well they do in the competition. Every year the country with the lowest number of points is kicked out and the country who has done best at the lower levels gets promoted. Ireland did very badly last year and was knocked off the Super League, but we still got to compete in the RDS because we were the host nation, thus there were nine countries competing this year. We had to do well in the first round or we wouldn't have made it through to the second round.

Because Friday is the most popular day at the Horse Show, Michele and I made an effort to arrive extra early at the RDS. Despite getting there before 11am, we still couldn't get parking. We were fortunate that a resident allowed us to park in their driveway, otherwise we would have been looking at on street parking and a long walk to the venue.The RDS was packed when we finally got into the show grounds. We decided to do a bit of shopping and looked through the stalls in both Simmonscourt and the Main Hall. My German Shepherd, Janna, has recently developed arthritis, so I was on the lookout for something that might help her, and stopped at the Bioflow stand. These are magnates that work on the principle of increasing circulation, thereby flushing toxins more easily out of the system and reducing inflammation. The woman selling them certainly sang their praises, so we bought a collar for Janna and a wristband for my mum. We also stopped at a stand selling delicious homemade preserves and coulis and, after sampling some of the produce, bought some as it was so tasty. It has become a horse show tradition that fudge is purchased, so we had a stop at the confectionery stand. We found this stall with the most beautiful wildlife photographs I have ever seen. I was amazed to discover that the actual photographer was manning the stand. He was very pleasant and willing to talk about the different photographs, where they were taken and how he got to the locations. I'd say he had some interesting stories to tell and it would have been wonderful to stay and chat, but we had to press on and meet up with Madeline, who was joining us for the Nation's Cup. At this stage we were feeling tired from making our way through the crowds, and it was so hot I was beginning to feel quite dehydrated. Once we had met up with Madeline, we headed out to our seats in the grand stand. What a difference from yesterday! The stands were nearly at full capacity and there were people thronged around the main arena. I felt quite grumpy because of there being so many people and it wasn't until I had a rest, some water and my lunch that I got into better form for the jumping. Pamela was also supposed to join us for the Nations Cup but unfortunately she couldn't get away from work.

As always, the Nations Cup was very exciting. Ireland had a good first round and went into the second round in second position after Germany. Germany was on top form and would have had to mess up terribly in the second round for Ireland to win, but if Ireland had kept on form in the second round they would have given Germany a run for their money. Unfortunately, Ireland lost it a bit in the second round and the USA crept ahead to steal second position, while Ireland fell back to third. While it is always nice to see Ireland come first, I couldn't grudge the Germans their win as they looked so happy on their lap of honour with the Aga Khan Trophy. The jumping was made all the more exciting by the fact that the course was one of the most difficult I have seen in years and the heavy ground, made worse by more rain in the afternoon, resulted in a lot of skids, refusals and two falls. There was also a dressage demonstration during the break between the first and second rounds, which was interesting to watch.

Dublin Horse Show

Ah! Horse show week, the most exciting week in the Irish equestrians calendar. All year hopeful competitors have been practising and accumulating points so that they could qualify to show, ride and jump at the RDS in Ballsbridge. Over the last few years I have enjoyed the excitement of the opening day, Wednesday, with the freshness of the stalls and the welcome stakes. I have partaken of the speediness of the speed stakes on the Thursday and bathed in the glamour of ladies day. I have revelled in the nail biting, edge of your seat competition of Friday's Nation Cup and I have been amazed by the skill of the Grand Prix on the final day, Sunday. This year I decided to buy a season ticket so I could enjoy all these days again, plus get a chance to go on the Saturday to see the Puissance, which I have never seen in the flesh, so to speak. Due to an unfortunate concatenation of events, I wasn't able to make it on Wednesday, but I popped down to Dublin on Thursday and spent the afternoon at the RDS with Madeline. We arrived around 1pm and it was impossible to get parking anyway near Ballsbridge. I have never seen the Horse Show so crowded, especially on Thursday, which is usually a quiet day.

After a long walk we made it to the RDS and browsed the stalls of the main hall. There were loads of finely dressed ladies teetering about in high heels, tiny hats perched on their coiffured heads. I admired them immensely - I take my hat off to anyone who puts their feet through the agony of walking around in really high heeled fashion shoes all day. Of course, there was the possibility of a €10,000 prize for the lucky lady who won, so perhaps the bunions were worth it.

After browsing the stalls for a while, we headed out to our seats in the grand stand to watch some show jumping. We were fortunate that the weather was really warm and sunny and there was a cheerful atmosphere because of it. There has been so much rain recently though that despite two dry days the ground in the main arena was still very heavy and wet. I was really impressed by the grounds men working in the main arena. After every round they scuttled out to put down sawdust, stamp in the divots and aerate the ground with pitch forks.

Because I have been to the Horse Show before (dare I say I am a seasoned attendee?), I came prepared with a packed lunch for both Madeline and myself, which we devoured while watching the Power and Speed competition. Unfortunately we were too late to catch any of the speed stakes, although we did see the winners performing their lap of honour. The power and speed competition consisted of a set of jumps that had to be jumped clear in order to jump a second set of jumps against the clock. It was a hard course and, because of the heavy ground, there was a lot of slipping and sliding going on. We took a break from the jumping to wander around the stalls once more and to purchase some 99 ice creams at a van parked near the Angelsea Stand. They were delicious. Then back to the grand stand to watch a relay race where international riders teamed up with children on their 128cm ponies (I don't know why they don't use hands as a form of measurement anymore) over a course of jumps against the clock. It was great fun to watch and I was very impressed by the young riders getting their tiny ponies to fly so fast over the jumps.

Poll Results

Looks like dogs are your favourite animals, readers, with horses not that popular at all, only beating out poor cats. Pigs and ducks have come out as being surprisingly favoured (were you voting Harvey and Webster?)

Riding Lessons

Humphries gave another riding lesson today, this time to a complete beginner. I wasn't there to see it, but I believe it went very well.

Riding Humphries

Ha!Ha! Fooled you! Bet you thought the title of this post meant that I was riding Humphries, but no, I have not clambered upon the death train that is known as the horse. Madeline did though. She rode Humphries this afternoon and got a great lesson from Michele. He has lovely paces but is very slow (lazy or unfit, I'm not sure which) so Madeline had to work hard to keep him going, which is hard when you are riding a horse you are unused to and especially when you are riding one that is so wide!

Teacher and student

trotting standing up - tough work!

Michele put Madeline - and Humphries - through their paces. At the end of the lesson, Madeline tried some canter. As Humphries was so difficult to get into canter on the lunge, Michele and I were on hand to give her a hand with the transition. We stood at one corner of the arena and Madeline rode in walk towards us on the outside track. We were all ready to encourage Humphries into canter, but it was like he already knew what was expected of him. I don't know if he is a keen observer of body language, incredibly sensitive to the rider's aids, or can understand English, but when he came to that corner he went straight into canter. He only kept it up for a couple of strides, but the next time round Madeline kept him going for the long side of the arena and she left it at that. The whole incident reminded me of a time when I was learning to ride. I was on Humphries in a group lesson. All the other riders were either more advanced or more confident than me because we were doing walk to canter transitions. I didn't like canter very much and the thought of going into it from walk did not appeal to me, so as I waited in line for my turn to come, I let Humphries know that I was against the whole idea by clamping my body tight around his back. When my turn came, I told the instructor I didn't want to canter. I don't think he even wanted me to try a walk to canter transition, I was allowed trot, but I still didn't want to canter. He tried to persuade me to reconsider, so I reluctantly agreed and relaxed my position. Immediately Humphries went into canter, and I was the first person in the lesson to complete a walk to canter transition. I think Humphries had been watching the proceedings and knew what was expected of him, so he was just waiting for me to give him the word. He is a very intelligent horse.

J.B and Cori are glad to see Michele Don't they look lovely!

After the riding lesson Michele went out to the horses in the field and fed Cori and J.B some treats. They were glad to see her. They must think it is odd she hasn't been out to see them in a quite awhile.