Evening now, after a short day of riding, but many other events in the evening. We rode only about 10 km today (as opposed to about 25 km yesterday), only about 3.5 hours. Pretty amazing when only 3.5 hours of riding is easy! We were off-road much of the day, with about a 200 meter elevation change up and down over a “mountain” pass. Part of this was on a two-track road, part on a slightly mucky trail through sheep pasture. The land looked like it had been worked in the 1800s (the hills had old terraces we’d been told were for potatoes, plus many abandoned storehouses and stone fences). Now, it is lovely green pasture, and fantastic views of lakes and villages. The weather was a bit showery and gloomy, but not bad—not as nice as the sunny days we’d had but good enough (no gale winds or hard rain).

We ended up at a nice farmhouse B&B, a middle-aged couple, including a woman who rides the hunts. After putting the horses in their pasture, we walked down the hill to a local castle/fortified house that had been restored. Across the lake was Yeat’s Isle of Innisfree. The castle had an exhibit on “vernacular” houses of Ireland that was very interesting—an EU funded project to visit and analyze old houses across Ireland for their architecture and uses.

Dinner was a nice pot pie and rice. All the food we’ve had in Ireland has been excellent, and always hot and fresh made. We don’t understand people who’ve told us Irish food is bad. Maybe not fancy, but quite good. After dinner, we accepted an invitation by our hostess, Pauline, to go check out a race that Tillman was supplying the horses for. We ended up driving to a place near our stop for Day 1—very disconcerting to ride in a car after four days of riding! Turns out it was one of those multisport endurance races where teams of four do various sports—kayaking, bicycling, running, horseback riding, etc. Called the “Adrenaline Rush,” it was being done at places around the local area. The horseback part was two riders and two running alongside, with a tether between a rider and runner. They were starting where we started on Day 2 and riding to the end of the forest. At night. Through the deep muck. In sneakers. Absolutely crazy. It was done in timed segments, so we only saw one team as they headed off. They looked completely confused. Supposedly some teams had dropped out due to hypothermia. As I write this at nearly 11pm and it’s raining outside, they’re out there now. I feel sorry for the horses and I hope they’re safe. The riders/runners are just nuts and if they lose their shoes and their way in the mucky dark forest, it’s their own fault. But I hope the horses don’t get hurt—or put up with the rider stupidity.

On the way home, we stopped for a pint. Our hostess is very generous to do so, since she doesn’t drink. We buy her and a friend some tea and talk about riding, fox hunting, rails to trails. Very nice people and place.

It’s raining hard now, I can hear it on the windows. Long day tomorrow, so I hope it clears….