It wasn’t nearly as nice this day as it had been the day before. We woke up to a morning that was decidedly overcast. According to Pat, the reports were for rain by evening. In Ireland, that means from about 10am on.
After our hearty breakfast, we went to get our horses. Nelly was in a bit of a mood. Grooming her was OK, but getting her cinched was a real chore today. Every time I tried to tighten her girth, she would dance about and fuss. It took 5 tires before I had her saddle secure enough that I didn’t have to worry about falling off the instant I got on her.
We rode back out into the mountains again, this time heading further west. The hills were absolutely beautiful, thick with heather as far as the eye could see. We were encountering a lot of cattle grazing in the pastures along the way. Nelly, it seems, doesn’t particularly like cattle. She gets very alert and her ears pick up when she notices them. I have her nudge her to keep her moving. She’s not at all afraid of them. Just doesn’t like them much.
As predicted, it began to rain on us early in the morning. I was glad I had my rain slicker, even if it did make me look like a Hefty bag! We had a lot of open trails for long, fast gallops. I cannot believe how secure my seat had become since I’d been there. I was much more confident and was able to ride these long canters and gallops over hills and down slopes without being afraid of losing my balance. Was a lot of fun.
Did a lot of long trots too. Was frankly amazed that I was able to post comfortably for such long durations, especially considering that on the trails in the park that I ride through at home, it’s not usually possible to trot or canter for the distances that we’d been doing here. Still, lad all of the riding lessons I took before coming to Ireland were paying off.
The morning ride was extremely long and I was so glad when we arrived at the meeting point for lunch. I really wasn’t too hungry, but I wanted to get off this horse in the worst way and take a break and a good stretch. My back was killing me, and every time Patricia called out, “Ready to trot?” I was thinking, “Please, lord, no!”
We tied up the horses and fed them their lunch before we got to eat. Nelly not only devoured her grain, but was trying to steal the other horses’ lunch too! She is such a glutton! I had to move her so the other horse could eat in peace.
After lunch, we set off down the mountain towards Lough Graney for the highlight of this day’s ride. We eventually reached the shore of this enormous lake that we’d been seeing all afternoon from a distance. After a few minutes of snapping pictures, we turned for what was the most exciting part of the ride – a gallop through the trees on a very narrow, winding path that would plow us right into the lake!
Nelly set off and I was not prepared for just how narrow the path really was. I could barely see it! There were so many blind turns that I had no idea of where we were going. Nelly apparently did and I let her follow the path, focusing more on staying on top of her! I got swiped by a holly tree, but managed to keep my seat. Before I knew it, we were in the clear and charging full tilt across the beach and into the water!
This was so much fun. The water came up just under the heel of my boots, and Nelly just splashed her way though the lake. All of us were just laughing and having a great time snapping pictures of one another. I was just thinking "Horses, water and expensive cameras. Not a good combination!" We crossed the shallow portion of the lake at a brick walk until the water was shallow enough for the horses to canter up onto the beach. What a charge that was!
At this point, the rain was starting to come down pretty hard and I think we were all looking forward to the end of the ride, but we still had quite a ways to go before we reached the evening pasture. We rode along roads that lead us past several fields where sheep and cattle were grazing. One steer even got out of his pen and followed us for a while. Nelly was not impressed. Also passed by a number a horses and 2 donkeys that just made the biggest stink when they saw us!
Was really hurting by this point. By now my legs were so tired that I just couldn’t post properly and was hitting the saddle really hard. By the end of the day, my tailbone was really sore, along with my back, shoulders and just about everything else. Really wished that I’d thought to invest in a saddle cushion before coming here. At least I’m not the only one who was suffering. The whole group looked pretty wet and miserable.
By the time we arrived at the evening pasture, it was already past 6pm and we were way behind schedule. All of us were wet and chilled despite our rain gear, and we were all walking like old women. We let the horses out into the pasture and I noticed that the field was dominated by an extremely steep, high hill. I had a bad feeling that we’d be slogging our way up that hill in the morning to get them down. *sigh*
Got back to the riding center too late to grab a shower before dinner. I was so tired and sore that I didn’t have any appetite at all. I just kind of picked at dinner, then went back to the cottage for a long shower. We all had to pack our bags because we were moving on tomorrow. This was our last night at the riding center. The area we would be riding in was just too far away to easily transport the lot of us to and from the center. It took us over an hour to drive home that night. We would be staying in Corofin for one night, then in Lisdoonvarna for the remainder of our trip and we ride towards the sea. It’s amazing how much ground we’ve covered in a relatively short time.
I knew that I was going to miss staying here. It was so much fun and I really enjoyed bunking with Erin and Denise. Oh well. Just tossed all my stuff in the bag except for the gear I want to wear the next day and settled in for the night.
