From strimming to swimming — a colourful weekend in the life of the club

So you thought a riding club was for riding? Well, of course it is, but that doesn’t stop us doing other things as well.

Mary Finneran’s Friday evening classes were over-booked and hugely popular. With one flatwork session followed by two jumping lessons, Mary focussed entirely on the rider, pinpointing small details which, if mastered at a basic level, will allow us to get everything right as the stakes get higher. The weather played along and it was a most enjoyable evening at Glenleary. There’s one more Friday remaining in the series. If you want to participate, book early with Erica.

Saturday saw a lovely example of the “meitheal”, the old Irish tradition of undertaking a task as a community. When has strimming grass, clipping hedges, weeding shrubberies and redding sheds ever been as enjoyable? A sizeable army of riding club and pony club members attacked Mick and Suzanne’s property in Glenswilly on Saturday afternoon and achieved in a few hours what a single family might despair of for a season. The sound of a beautifully orchestrated quartet of strimmers echoed around the remote valley, with a rustic tractor engine and well-tuned electric hedge clippers providing the chorus. Okay, maybe the line of the hedge wasn’t plumb perfect and the odd shrub might have been weeded out with the grass and rushes, but hopefully the overall effect was positive and it was certainly a lot of fun doing it. The tea to finish up with was a treat and seeing Mick again was great.

Sunday saw yet another stand off between weather and riding club but this time the riders weren’t giving in. The daytrip to Carrickfinn went ahead despite a threatening forecast. Mounting in the dying moments of the dry morning, within minutes the Magnificent Six were riding resolutely through torrential rain along the airport fence and on across to the grey inshore beach at Annagry. But try as it might, there was nothing the weather could do to diminish the pleasure of riding in such a unique expanse of strand and sandune. With the rain finally blowing off, the synchronised canter up the spectacular white strand was executed like a cavalry drill. The return trip across whin-spotted heath was marginally less orderly as the wind got up the horses’ tails.

Back at camp, Paddy had Lizzie untacked and comfortably in her trailer in time to sneak a pre-prandial swim in the bracing waters of the North Atlantic before sprinting back to catch the first burgers coming off Nadine and Damien’s grill. The barbeque crowned a great expedition and it was good to finally thwart the weather Gods. Let that be a lesson to them in case they think we’re going to take things lying down next season.

Pictured below: A Carrickfinn view of our club’s diverse life. More in the Gallery.

Day trip to Carrickfinn, Sunday 25 September

With our Carrickfinn camping expedition in May and our Millers Hill weekend in September both lost to the weather, we’re hoping to get lucky with our third attempt to get away for some exhilarating riding and food cooked in the open air.

This Sunday we’re heading to Carrickfinn for the day. It’s a very worthwhile journey for a day’s riding across stunning beaches, extensive sandunes and minuscule coastal roads and tracks. Bring your own food for the grill, some weatherproof gear and your horse (or just your shoes, if you’d prefer to walk while others ride).

The weather forecast is middling and the trip will definitely be going ahead unless a hurricane tears across the Atlantic between now and Sunday. If you plan on coming along, contact Damien on 087 763 1911 for directions and times.

Pictured below: Memories of our unforgettable camping trip in May 2010.

Cloncaw proves its worth yet again

Cloncaw Equestrian Centre’s highly popular 2-Phase league ended on Sunday with its final leg proving yet again what a valuable amenity its facilities provide. Despite torrential rain in the preceding week, the show jumping and cross country courses were beautifully prepared and ready for action on the day.

Martina, Marina and Libby competed at this non-AIRC event. Jayne Robinson was there too sporting her red Tirconaill silks on her lovely new horse. All of the Donegal riding club members opted for the Mini category, each looking for a nice confidence-boosting round over attractive jumps. Martina handled a headstrong Smuggler manfully in the show jumping ring before heading out for a faultless cross country round at her first ever attempt. An upgrade to Advanced Primary is imminent as the combination set their sights on riding club cross country competitions for 2012.

After jumping Fence 3, Libby had flashbacks to Nadine’s two most memorable Glaslough experiences  and rode a giant circle while she figured out that, no, she had not missed a jump! To compensate for the detour, she rode Mai on like the clappers over the second half of the course and ended up with no faults and the fastest time in the competition — too fast, of course, for a competition run over optimum time…

It was Marina on Jenny, jumping only her second cross country course, who hacked around like an old pro and took sixth place for her faultless and 12-second less speedy round.

It was a most enjoyable event and a wonderful schooling experience. Glaslough is so close that it’s almost in the county — a well worthwhile journey over excellent roads. Maybe one of these day the Border Counties and Castle Leslie members will realise that it’s just as easy travelling in the other direction!

Pictured below: Three Letterkenny members in action at Cloncaw. (Photos kindly provided by Cloncaw’s Geraldine Bellew.)

Book promptly for Friday evening lessons

Mary Finneran’s lessons on Friday night may have been on the wet side but that did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the 14 members who enjoyed excellent instruction at Glenleary. Hopefully the weather will be kinder this Friday evening.

Book as early as you can with Erica. We’re limited to three lessons on the evening and you don’t want to miss out on your place in the arena.

On the hunt for the stapler thief…

Okay, hands up, who swiped the brand new stapler that was bought on the Saturday we were setting up at Lenamore? Detectives Hamilton and McClafferty are opening a file on the case and anyone with any information should contact them at Stapler Search HQ on 086 821 6335.  Meanwhile, Libby is desperately rooting around looking for John’s stapler that ended up in her jeep two years ago…

Reduced membership fees for the remainder of the year

In keeping with the AIRC’s annual September-onwards reduction in fees, our club’s fee for riding membership now drops to €35 for the remaining months of the year. This gives people who are considering joining us a great opportunity to test the waters at a very affordable rate.

Contact Orla on 087 643 2458, if you’re interested in joining, or download the membership form on our Join Us section.

Best of luck to Benbulben

This weekend our neighbours, Benbulben Riding Club, fly the AIRC and Irish flags at the Association at the British Riding Clubs (BRC) Championships at the Lincolnshire Showgrounds in England. We wish them the very best of luck. Hopefully they can pull off a victory but most of all, let’s hope they have a great experience.

Read more about the event on the AIRC website. You’ll see that one of the Benbulben team horses, Nisqually  de May, has the same name as Annie McCole’s mare – is that like “Molly” in English or should Gabriel be checking his fields?