Finally, the 24th. We drive to Sligo and spend a little time getting money, some supplies, and lunch in a café. As it got to afternoon, we drove to the Sligo airport—they gave us instructions to get gas—and turned in the car. We called for a taxi who drove us to Horse Holiday Farm—after a five-minute stop at W.B. Yeat’s grave.

We check into the farm and they take us about 1 kilometer to our guest house (Armada View). We decide to join the farm guests at dinner, so walk back to the farm and are transported to an Italian restaurant in Cliffony. At dinner, we talk to a German fellow and pair of “Swedish girls.” They had met 4 or 5 days before while galloping on the beach and had been spending time together since then. They filled us in on what to expect—good solid well-behaved horses and a very fast gallop when we got to the racing beach. (We had read this as well in the “A-Z of Horses”—a handout given to us at the farm.) We also heard about the German’s adventures with his horse, a big Irish thoroughbred named Kennedy, “who has no morals….” After dinner, we were picked up and taken back to the farm, and we walked back to our guest house to pack our saddlebags.

Finally to today, our first day to ride. We had also been told by our previous night’s dinner companions to expect very few instructions and little guidance. This proved to be true. We met up with Tillman, one of the owner’s, who had given us a map and instructions the evening before. He helped Glen with his horse—a little, dark bay with a stripe and socks named Sunny. Mine was not in the barn area, so Heinrich—one of Tillman and Collette’s sons, just back from college, walked with me to a far pasture to find Kileen, a medium-sized reddish bay Irish half bred (1/2 thoroughbred, 1/2 draft). It was a muddy field and by the time we returned, Glen had given Sunny his feed and finished grooming. The next hour was a bit chaotic as I fed Kileen, then we groomed, saddled, figured out the pads, hooked on the saddle bags (two sets each, one for front and one for back), bridled and led the horses out of the stalls to the yard. This involved a lot of back and forth, asking questions of the Swedish girls, getting help from Heinrich, sorting out which tack belonged to the horses (based on numbers). Such a process! We at last mounted up in the yard, walked around a bit, then with a map and a point towards the right way, we set off.

A short walk along the road, then right along a lane to the shoreline. We’d timed our departure so the tide was out. We rode for a long way over seaweed rocks, following a vague trail with a few hoof prints. At one point, we reached a channel, so went up on the road to cross over on a bridge, then back down to the tide line. Kileen was not happy about parts of this, since it obviously wasn’t the usual route. Later, when we came across a channel we could not get around, we walked through it (about 2-3 feet deep, above the hocks just below the belly), so perhaps that is what we should have done the first time.

We ran into the German fellow and his horse Kennedy and he pointed us in the direction of the beach. We had gone south along the shoreline and actually were not far from our guest house, but the route had us doing a detour along a peninsula. When we came over the rise, it was obvious we’d reached the racing beach. We’d done some trotting along the wet sand before, but once we asked the horses to move out on the beach, they were off at a full gallop! With the deep trail saddles and all the saddle bags, we were pretty secure. Still, I did keep a grip on Kileen’s mane during the sprint. After a pace, I asked him to slow and he did, as did Sunny. Fun and scary at the same time. And Glen stayed on, which had been my biggest worry. We continued our ride down the beach at trot and canter and walk, then over the dunes. Since the tide was coming in now, we chose not to ride onto the island, since we could have gotten trapped by the tide. Plus, we didn’t want to tire ourselves too much the first day. The return along the beach involved another sprint at a full gallop. I looked back to see Glen hanging on with basically loose reins. At this pace, it’s about all you can do—there is not really any control. But, after the gallop, again they walked calmly and trotted and cantered nicely when asked. Wonderful horses in that way.

We came around on the small road but we soon came to a locked gate. Oops! Tillman had mentioned several gates but had forgotten to give us the key. So, I held Sunny and Kileen while Glen walked to a nearby house to ask to borrow a phone and call the farm. About 20-30 minutes later, Tillman drove up with the key. The horses had been very good, waiting (mostly) patiently with their backs to the wind, even when a very loud tractor rumbled by.

Just a short ride to our farm B&B. We cleaned up the horses and turned them out in a pasture. Then, we cleaned up ourselves and had a pot of tea and relaxed (including a nap). For the evening, we gave the horses some oats then walked to the town of Grange (about 2 km) to a small pub. Very local place, complete with bar dog named Holly, a very sweet Jack Russell terrier, who kept sitting next to my chair wanting her ears scratched. A few pints and some pub fish dinners and we felt pretty good. Overall, a successful day on our Irish half breds. Tomorrow, we will need to better our map reading skills and look for the yellow arrows that mark the way. I’m quite impressed with our stout little horses, very solid, well trained, and affectionate. We came home tonight, they walked to the fence, interested in any treats or attention. They are well muscled, big feet to handle the mud, shining coats and eyes from good care, good bone, long forelocks, mane and tail. Despite a few kicks this afternoon, they even seem to like each other since they were scratching each other’s shoulders this afternoon. Hopefully, if the hard rain doesn’t return, we’ll have as good a day tomorrow.