Since I'm running a bit behind on the postings, I'm going to combine Friday August 14th (Elizabeth's birthday) and Saturday August 15th into one posting; this kind of makes sense anyways, since theses were exclusively horse days for both of us.

August 14th

This morning, I followed the group on foot as we went through the hills and pine tree forests of the Oughterard region, just west of Galway.

The highlights were extended canters on the dirt and gravel trails, with me doing my best to keep up by running on foot, catching up with the rest of the herd when they recovered with their walks. I was also followed and passed by a couple of renegade Connemara ponies that hopped their stone fence and left their grazing field; and I was chased by two male goats down the road for several increasingly worrying minutes!

Overall though, despite intermittent mist, we covered about 20 kilometers in just over 3 hours, and had a great time. For the last hour, I returned back to the Wellfield B&B after hitchhiking with an older Austrian couple, while the rest of the group finished off with a muddy mountain pass, getting caught in the rain. Their highlight on the way back was a riderless pony running into the middle of the road, resulting in Willie on his pony and a truck driver yelling at each other on the road while traffic was stopped in both directions. Here's Elizabeth on one of the particularly misty periods.

Connemara mountains in Oughterard, near Galway, Ireland

We had a lovely dinner across the street again, featuring chocolate birthday cake for Elizabeth, then several of us went into Oughterard city center for a Guinness at the local pub.

August 15th

Today was a visit to Willie's Dartfield horse museum and professional cross country course, which is the only museum dedicated to Irish horses. Of course, for Elizabeth the highlights were new and challenging cross country jumps, while I again followed on foot with camera in hand. Here are some highlights of Elizabeth's day, including swapping horses to find a good one.

Dartfield Horse Museum, east of Galway, Ireland

cross country course at Dartfield Horse Museum

horse has no jumping ability

good jump at Dartfield Horse Museum x-country course, Galway

Dartfield Horse Museum water crossing, Galway

The day ended up with riding/running into several of the fields with the wild ponies; as with any herd of wild animals, they moved en masse, and also kept an eye on us together as well. This was really a great way for Elizabeth to end her horse riding week.

Connemara ponies breeding at Dartfield Horse Museum

Elizabeth and herd, Dartfield Horse Museum, east of Galway

When we were done, we headed into Galway for dinner and photo sharing at the Meyrick Hotel in Eyre Square, then off to bed after a tiring day.

08/17/09 by visitEarth
Tags: horse riding, Ireland, Galway, Oughterard, Dartfield, Dartfield Horse Museum, Connemara pony, Ireland horse riding, cross country horse riding