Busy Weekend

Well, this was an exciting weekend.  First, there was a horse clinic that Derek and his younger son Andrew attended.  It was a clinic on Western Horsemanship given by Bob Mayhew.  They took Elka and both of the other interns wih them, leaving me manning the fort all by myself.  The first time I stayed alone at the barn, I thought it was a coincidence that Bozo, the half spaniel half border collie, stayed close to me all day.  He did it again on Saturday.  I think he knows what a klutz I am and he's waiting for his opportunity to pull off a Lassie-esque rescue.

Sunday, the three of us interns went to a horse fair in Banaher.  That was an experience.  It was the first horse fair I've ever been to.  It was really sad and occationally scary.  The town closed it's main street and filled it with horses people were trying to sell.  It was pandemonium waiting to happen.  There were some horses that hadn't been handled almost at all in the middle of a packed crowd of horses and people moving around.  They all looked more or less taken care of, no starving or half dead nags, but some of them could have used a proper grooming.  Many of the foals were wandering without halters.  Some of the stories people told about their horses made us laugh.  One thing I noticed, everyone carried sticks.  They looked like walking sticks for the most part, but many of them were too skinny to actually be used as walking sticks.  These appeared to have two purposes.  The first, and apparently primary intended, use was to help direct the horses.  This could be either using it as a guide or as a form of rather forceful motivation.  However, about halfway through our tour, we found out the second use for the sticks.

We managed to find ourselves in the middle of a street brawl.  We were right there, but I still couldn't tell you what started it.  Some guy started singing and that got a group of men really really mad.  There was lots of shouting and the Garda were unable to keep the two groups (singer guy had friends) apart.  The second use for the sticks was demonstrated when two of the guys got within swinging distance of each other and each started to beat at the other with these ~3ft wooden canes.  During the chaos that ensued, some horses broke loose.  I think that more than anything was what finally ended the fight.  We were caught in the middle of these two groups and sought refuge along the side of the road, right along the back ends of the horses who were tied shoulder to shoulder along that section of road.  I'm just very grateful that they were calm horses who didn't start to panic when the shouting and running started.  We finished touring the fair and came back to the barn in time to finish the evening chores.

The Interns Cook

Yesterday, Jennifer, Gia, and I picked blackberries from the fence lines on our way to and from the mail drop box. Mail is apparently delivered to the box in the front gate but only picked up at the box on the main road, about a 10 minute walk away. I love the habit of the Irish to grow plants to reinforce their fences, especially plants with edible fruit. At this point, I recognize blackberries and elderberries. Stinging nettles are edible and frequently found along fences as well, but I hardly think that is intentional.

So this afternoon, just before lunch, Gia and Jennifer made about 20 blackberry muffins. Yes, they were fabulous. Since Gia is leaving soon, and Jennifer and I had both promised to teach her how to cook a dish we ate at home. Jennifer taught Gia how to cook a pork Indonesian dish a few nights ago. Tonight it was my turn. I taught Gia how to make meatloaf, the way my mother makes it, which is never the same twice. Gia taught me how to make mashed potatoes, without a potato masher since it turns out our host doesn't have one. Our assorted cooking attempts have thus far been mostly successful (a few burnt muffins and lumpy mashed potatoes).

A fair amount of this time in the kitchen has happened mostly because the past few days have been extremely wet. One of my favorite lines from the first season of Dr. Who calls England a 'damp little island'. I love the line, but whoever wrote it must never have visited Ireland. Even after more than a week of wind and sunshine, there were multiple wet and muddy spots around the farm. Now, with a few days of torrential downpours, we have had to move where some of the horses are kept until the water level drops and some of the paddocks are no longer hock deep in mud. Hopefully, next time I write we will have more sunshine.

Returning to Normal

The Game Fair concluded on Sunday, allowing life to go back to some semblence of normal.  The Fair was fun though.  It was a lot like the summer festivals I went to in North Dakota.  There were booths and games, our stable put on a demonstration of western horsemanship.  There was a group of historical re-enactors, Picts I think.  I wish I could have seen more, but one of the horses we brought needed constatn supervision once the crowds came through.

Other than that, things are pretty good.  We are settling back into what I consider to be the normal routine: feeding and mucking and riding.  We had the farrier come out to work on a few more horses.  We also had my first set of visitors for a trek.  I stayed and kept working on the stables as the two more experienced riders of the interns, Gia and Jennifer, took them out on a several hours long trail ride.

I have also adopted a pet project.  One of the horses, Mariposa, needs some serious hands on time.  She is a two year old palimino filly who currently objects to humans. She runs away from everyone.  The few times I have gotten close, she nearly panics when I reach out to touch her.  My project is to turn her into a model prospect for when she starts properly training.  That is my goal.

A Busy Week

Well, this week kept us all hopping.  We added one more girl to our little trailer, Jennifer from Holland.  We also lost one, Skye went back to the States to start college on Monday.  We sent her off in proper Irish form, we hopped down to the local village for a pub crawl.  The village is about 10 minutes away and as far as I can tell, the only things there are a pair of pubs and a gas station.  I tried a Guinness on tap, not bad if you like beer, and the others each had cider, called hard cider in the States.  At the first pub, we just sat and had a quiet drink, it was mostly empty with a few of the locals hanging out.  The second pub was much more lively, complete with live music.  We were spotted as tourists right as we walked in.  After grabbing seats at the bar and placing our order, a man I think is the owner came over and asked if we sang.  We offered Skye up for some public humiliation and she took it all very well.  She was called up to the stage and sang and played a few songs before bowing out and rejoining us.  I think what happened after was more interesting, though she does have a nice voice.  A number of older ladies came over and told her how much they appreciated her performance, the bar tender brought her a Mini-Guinness, and a man on the far side of the bar bought a round of drinks for our group!  Talk about appreciation for an ad hoc performance!

What I would consider to be our normal daily schedule has been interrupted by more than just an adjustment of personnel, we also had to get ready for the show this weekend.  Currently, I am the only one on the farm.  Everyone else is at the show.  In preparation, we added daily grooming and training for the three potential competing horses, only two made the cut.  We also got a visit from the farrier.  He stopped by and worked on a set, four horses, giving them each a trim and a new set of shoes.  We also sat down and cleaned the tack the farm will have for sale at the show and the tack they will be using while they perform.  It is remarkable how quickly I managed to get through the normal daily work, even though I'm only one person, when I don't have to worry about all that other stuff.  Even though it means I will have to get up a fair bit earlier, I am really looking forward to attending the show tomorrow.

Shopping

So, still having problems getting photos to the blog, but I'm working on it.  Saturday we had a shopping day.  But first, we had some excitment on the farm.  After breakfast, we started playing ball with the dogs until we noticed that Mouse, the biggest one, was slightly distracted, buy the week old foal!  She had figured out how to sneak out of her mom's stall.  So, we all dropped what we were doing.  It took three of us to corral her back into the stall and figure out how to baby-proof it, and another two to keep the dogs from trying to 'help'.

Then, the three of us interning here and Elka, our host's girlfriend, drove the half hour it takes to get to the nearest town with a grocery store and stopped by a shopping center.  Losts of clothing stores, small phone, book or flower stores.  I have to admit, I didn't buy anything.  I'm still trying to figure out how much an Euro is worth.  After stopping by the shopping center, we went grocery shopping, returning to the farm in time for evening feeding and supper.

First Day in Ireland

Well, it obviously hasn't been a week. It seems I can have more frequent access than that. If this becomes a regular thing, I may even be prepared with pictures next time.

This is the end of my first full day in Ireland. Some things are constant. Horses are horses and there are lots of similarities between the way horses are cared for here and the way I cared for them in the States. They still need food and water and exercise. Their stalls still need to be mucked out (scooping out the wastes). There are still some horses who are left out in the field unless they are being used.

Some of the differences in care seem to stem from a lack of space rather than a cultural difference. For instance, since there is no room to turn all the horses out at once, the horses are turned out into the arena singly or in pairs while we muck out their stalls.

One startling difference between horse management here compared to what I've done before is that I've always known breeders to try to breed in such a way that the foal are born early in the year. Some breeders aim for January and February for older and therefore bigger yearlings, since all horses are considered a year old on their first January 1st. Other breeders aim for the spring when the weather is mild and the grass is growing to provide the dam (mother) with lots of nutrition. Neither of those things seem to be pressing issues here.

Here, there is a foal just one week old, still a little wobbly on her spindly little legs. They are also breeding a mare who is in her first heat (fertile period) since coming to the farm a few weeks ago. If she becomes pregnant, she will be expecting in late July. I can under that here, where rain and mild temperatures appear to be the norm, an owner may not be concerned about availability of high quality food for the dam. However, if they are planning on selling the foals, I would think it would still be important to make sure they were comparably sized to the rest of their age group.

Well, I think that's all for today, I'll post more next time I have a chance.

In the Air

Yesterday and today I spent flying, riding a bus, and riding in a car.  Starting at 6:40pm yesterday, I got on a plane and headed across the ocean.  Six hours and two hours of sleep later, I landed in London.  I don't know how many of you know this, but being lost is one of my skills.  So, it comes as no surprise that I immediately got lost in Heathrow.  I wound up going through interterminal security three times before I finally got to my gate in the back end of nowhere for my connection to Dublin.  I hopped the bus to Athlone.  Where I was picked up by the owner and my host for the durration of my stay.

I got to Cochise Stud and Saddlery this after noon in time to help with the evening chores.  Lots of stallions!  We also did a breeding in addition to the standard mucking and feeding routine.  I met the two other girls who will be sharing the little trailer/bunkhouse with me.  Well, it's time for supper.  I hope to get online again some time next week.