I recently came back from a ten-day
trip to Ireland with the Equine Industry Program at the University of
Louisville. It was a fantastic experience because we were able to get a taste
of both the racing and sport horse sides of the Ireland equine industry.
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| 150th Irish Derby at the Curragh Racetrack |
On the racing side, we visited the
Curragh racetrack to witness the amazing Thoroughbred, Jack Hobbs, make history
by winning the 150th Irish Derby. While there, we met with trainer
Dermot Weld. He discussed the differences between how racing is run and
operated in Ireland versus in the United States. The main aspect that struck me
was how personalized the training procedures are. Each horse is assigned a stable
hand that personally oversees his or her daily care. The horses are all hand walked
and grazed; there are no mechanical hot walkers on the property. The time spent
per horse averages one and a half hours versus the typical half hour in the
United States. Also, during a race, a jockey on a horse with no chance of
winning is not allowed to whip his horse. Horses that are in the running to win
must be given recovery time between each use of the whip. Weld meant it when he
told us “personalization is key.”
Coolmore Stud - Australia Greatest Sire in the World - Galileo Living Legends Horses
Before Thoroughbreds start their
racing career, they have to go through training and prep work. In the United
States, a lot of racehorses are trained on a racetrack facility; however, in
Ireland, racehorses are trained at private farms. We had the chance to visit Coolmore
Stud and the Irish National Stud to witness the breeding and training side of
Irish Thoroughbred racing. At Coolmore, we were able to meet the famous
stallions So You Think, Australia, and the striking Galileo, who is universally
acknowledged as the current greatest sire in the world. At the Irish National Stud, we had the
pleasure of viewing their Living Legends, past equine superstars who are living
out their retirement in a life of luxury on the facility. At both facilities,
the care of the stallions was remarkable. The personalized operation system is
seen through the stallions’ calm temperaments; they are clearly handled and
pampered often.
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Demonstration given at the Gisela Holstein
confirmation master class |
On the sport horse side of the
Ireland equine industry, we met a few amiable individuals. If you have been
riding for a while, there is no doubt that you have met one or two quirky
trainers. Gisela Holstein fit that description, and she was definitely
entertaining to learn from. We attended her sport horse master class in conformation
and she showed us her creatively-drawn diagrams and compared those pictures to
her horses. She had an interesting perspective and I learned a lot about the
differences between Irish and German body types. I also learned a lot of
curious conformation vocabulary (“hanging/canopy bridge” refers to the muscular
structure of the topline of a horse, “banana left/right” refers to which side
of the horse is stronger).
We also got to meet Elaine Hatton,
director of International Marketing at Horse Sport Ireland. This is basically
Ireland’s version of USEF; they are the umbrella that covers each discipline of
the sport horse industry. The most interesting aspect that I learned from this
visit was that Horse Sport Ireland will pay part of the flight cost to fly you
out to Ireland if you are searching for an Irish equine prospect. This is good news for those of us interested in purchasing an Irish Sport Horse! Anyone want to take a trip with me?
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The beautiful Connemara pony mare
that I rode through Phoenix Park |
Hatton was very generous and gave
us all tickets to see the “Jumping in the City” show-jumping competition in
Dublin. We watched Jason Higgins and Liam O’Meara pull off the amazing feat of
jumping the 6’7” wall in the Puissance class. After this excitement, our group
decided it was time for us to personally experience the Irish equestrian world.
We went on two rides in Phoenix Park and Galway. We adventured through the city
streets, saw amazing views of the valley and mountain scenery, and jumped cross
country obstacles while galloping through sheep fields (even almost jumped
sheep that were hiding behind a coop). It was such a fun experience that even
our one rider who took a spill was laughing through it!
View of Galway fields and Pretty Lady - The ISH mare
the Connemara Ponies I rode through Galway
Overall, this trip was an
unforgettable experience. I loved every minute of it and am looking forward to
the day when I will be able to return to this beautiful country. I would
recommend visiting Ireland to any avid horse person who wants to travel or
learn more about the equine cultures of other countries. And if you go there
for the purpose of looking for an Irish-bred horse, you can get some of the
cost covered! Can’t get any better than that! Go hop on a plane, you won’t
regret it!
Jamie Humphries
University of Louisville
Intern with Mythic Landing Enterprises LLC
