So fed on these legends, I was so excited about seeing these great Irish horses for myself and having a chance to ride them across the countryside where these legends were made. I had done my homework and learned as much as I could about the two native breeds of horse found in Ireland; the Connemara pony and the Irish Draught. Both breeds were well known for their intelligence, strength, endurance and sure-footedness. Qualities that are especially important in navigating the often treacherous Irish countryside. These were horses that had to be extremely versatile – able to pull a cart, jump a fence, follow hounds at hunt and basically do whatever task was set out for it.
On our first day of riding, we were matched with our mounts for the week. I was told that my horse, Nelly, was a full-blooded Irish Draught mare. I couldn't have been more excited. THIS was what I came to Ireland to ride – a real Irish horse and not some frou-frou Thoroughbred. I had visions in my head of a horse that Cú Chullain would be proud to ride. When I finally set eyes on her for the first time, I couldn't have been more surprised.
My first response upon seeing her was wondering if someone’s plough horse had gotten loose. She was in no way what I expected at all. Oh, she was nice looking enough, a lovely dark bay with a white blaze down her face and white stockings on her legs. She had a nice, thick mane and a long, swishy black tail that hung down to her hocks. But in my mind, I had pictured a tall, leggy hunter. Nelly was about 15 hands tall, and extremely stocky. Very cobby in confirmation, though perfectly proportioned. Her head was in proportion to her body but appeared huge at first. Her hooves were large and there was a light feathering on her legs.
I had to admit that I was a wee bit disappointed at first, especially when I saw other riders getting paired with the taller hunters that I had been looking forward to. Still, she seemed to have a nice enough disposition, and the guides acted as if I’d just won the national sweepstakes getting paired with her. I figured that I had to give her a chance.
After taking a good amount of time getting her groomed, I could see that this was a remarkably strong horse. She wasn’t old by any stretch – about thirteen years. Her legs were extremely strong, and her hooves were in excellent condition. While she had a round barrel, she also had a good deep chest and strong neck. Altogether a very nice animal of her type and I began to learn that THIS is what an Irish Draught is supposed to look like. Most of the horses that I’d seen in my books were cross-breeds. Nellie herself had thrown of foal seven years ago who’s sire was a Thoroughbred and was being ridden by another rider in our group. Her foal, D'Artagnan, was taller and lighter in build than his dam, but looked almost exactly like her in coloring and markings.
After getting Nelly tacked up and got up on her, I thought that this wasn’t going to be so bad after all. As round as Nelly looked from the ground, she was not at all uncomfortable to ride. Her girth wasn’t so wide as to make the hip joints stretch uncomfortably. One of my friends also mounted on an Irish Draught mare said it was like riding a sofa. Then we got to feel these horses in action.
I was quite pleasently surprised. For such a stocky-looking horse, Nelly had absolutely lovely gaits. Her walk was brisk and strong and her trot was lively and with just enough bounce that you could post easily without feeling like you were on a pogo stick. She had a sensitive mouth, and was extremely responsive to leg aids. I quickly found that it took the lightest pressure of calf to signal what I wanted, and she was very responsive. I found her to be intelligent, very willing and perfectly capable of keeping up with the taller horses. Apparently to Nellie, she was the biggest horse in the herd and wasn’t afraid to let everyone else know that.
That first day, we ended up riding through some pretty rough territory. We took the horses on a trail that ran through a peat bog where the ground was uneven and extremely muddy. It had rained on and off through the day, so the ground was especially bad in some spots. I was actually getting a little concerned for some of the hunter-types – one of them actually took a step than landed him knee-deep in the bog and it took him a bit of time to get out. Nelly had no trouble with the trail and seemed to take it all – mud, rain, peat – in stride.
We arrived at a hill where we could take a brisk canter, and that was when I got to see a whole other side of Nelly . Ever ride in a locomotive? It felt just like that – all speed and power beneath me. Nellie might not have been as fast as some of the taller horses at a dead run, but she had so much energy in her canter that I couldn’t care. And there were more than a few horses that were eating her dust (or in this case, mud).
Have to admit that my opinion of my little Irish mare changed quite a bit that morning. It changed even more when I spoke with Nicola and Brendan, the owners of the riding center and told them how much I enjoyed riding Nellie. Turns out that Nelly is a great favorite of everyone at the center and is more or less the top mare in the herd hierarchy. Nicola told me that Nelly is such an excellent example of a true Irish Draught that they were planning to breed her again in about a year, this time with a top Irish Draught stallion. Apparently the Irish Draught was in such demand for cross-breeding with Thoroughbreds to breed sport horses that the pure Draught was becoming somewhat rare. I was glad to hear that Nelly was going to be a part of saving this wonderful breed of horse.
I was also warned that Nelly could be a bit pushy and was somewhat of an escape artist. She became known not only for managing to free herself, but usually unties a friend too so she won’t be alone. I realized that I had gotten quite a character.
I also discovered that she was extremely fond of treats. I had picked up a bag of these cookies for horses and she certainly liked those. I quickly learned to make sure I had a few of them in my pack at all times, and it was funny to see how assertive she could get regarding her treats. On the first day, I thought I'd given her all that I had on me, but she kept nosing at my pack very insistantly until I finally gave in and checked again. I found a small piece that had been broken off down at the bottom. That seemed to satisfy her.
One great advantage to riding trips like this where you ride the same horse every day is that you really get to know the animal and all of her habits and quirks. Over the course of that week, I really got to know Nellie as an individual and grew to very much appreciate the qualities of her breed. She had quite a disposition. Nelly was alert to everything that was going on around her, but not easily startled. I always found it amusing at no matter what direction we rode in, she always wanted to peek at what was happing on the other path. She very much prefered to stay in the lead on trail, and nothing bothered her more than a slow-moving horse in her way. She also didn't seem to like cows (a standard feature in the Irish countryside) too much. Not afraid of them at all, just didn't seem to like them.
I was always amazed as how sure-footed she was, even on the roughest of trails. She was willing to canter, or even gallop on rocky, uneven tracks and never once stumbled. She also amazed me at just how much she could eat! I know that all horses can be real gluttons, but to Nelly, the world was her salad bar. She was always happy to grab a bite when we stopped to take a picture and I was amazed at what she would eat. The nettles that were so painful when I got stung were just another tasty snack for her. And more than once, I had caught her stealing another horse's grain!
She was also funny about her drinking habits. There were several times when she would pass by nice clean brooks, or fresh rain puddles only to turn around and start drinking out of the nastiest, dirtiest ditch water she could find! Then just the next day, when the puddle she intended to drink out of wasn't to her liking, her head came up, her lip curled in disgust. You could easily tell what was running through her little horsey mind. "This stinks!"
And forget about sharing! If one of the other horses even thought about trying to drink from HER water, she would have a complete fit! One of the other horses ended up getting kicked for that offence.
But Nelly never even tried to kick or nip at me. As big as she was, I had no fear about checking her feet, or brushing her tail. She was always very docile about being handled, sometimes even dozing off as I was grooming her. Even when the farrier was working on her, she was content to stand there and let him get the job done without raising the least fuss. She had a lovely, gentle nature and it was easy to see why everyone at the riding center was so fond of her.
All of us who love horses know that once in awhile, do you run across an animal that is really special. Nelly became that horse for me. She was, in such a large part, the reason why this trip was so very special. I could see in her the greatness of her breed, and a bit of their place in the history of this most remarkable country.
