Photography by Elliot Framan

Some of the best horsemen in the world have testified to the outstanding qualities of the Irish horse. The unique qualities of temperament, soundness and ability have been bred into the Irish Draught over hundreds of years of galloping across the Irish countryside. This makes them capable of doing anything you want them to do, from dressage to jumping, from hunting to eventing, and even everyday leisure riding. They are intelligent, quick to learn, safe, reliable, and ... ...

By Judie Framan

On September 6th through 9th, 2007, the Central Region of the Irish Draught Horse Society of America (IDHSNA) will host the Society's Annual Horseshow and Inspections at the Lamplight Equestrian Center, Wayne Illinois.

"This is the first time our Annual Horseshow is being held in a Midwestern venue," said Susan Jensen, show chairperson. "We are excited because the location will give more of our members nationwide a chance to attend and participate in the classes, inspections, andsocial ... ...

Today I was able to do a very unique ride out to Omey Island with Siobhan of Cleggan Riding Centre. Omey Island is a tidal island located in the Connemara region of Ireland. It is about as far West as you can travel. The island is only accessible via a sand bridge during parts of the day. It was almost eerie to ride across the sand bridge out to the island. A low fog hung close to the sand, as a small herd of cattle made a break away from the island towards the mainland. I guess they saw that the ... ...

The beaches of northwestern Ireland, in County Donegal, are great for horseback riding and surfing. I'm doing both up in the beach town of Bundoran through Donegal Equestrian Holidays.If you want to do some galloping and cantering along wide Irish beaches, backed by high cliffs and tall dunes, Donegal is a great place to venture.I rode Jade, a 15-year-old Irish Cob, for my beach ride. Jade liked to run and was pretty strong, but levelheaded- great for beach riding. Our small group took off through ... ...

We just ate a really great dinner at Fitzpatrick's, a true locals pub that Niall Connelly recommended, just outside of Carlingford. I had Guinness steak topped with a pastry shell with salad and potatoes gratin. MmmmToday we ventured into the town of Carlingford, which has a large number of medieval buildings, including a town Mint and King John's Castle. You can look across the lake to see Northern Ireland. After exploring the town, we used our somewhat trusty GPS to navigate over to the seaside ... ...

Today we drove part of the Ring of Kerry, a popular scenic driving route on the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry. We started off our drive in the town of Killarney. It’s touristy, but a good jumping off point, because there are lots of good restaurants, pubs and places to stay. We’re staying in Foleys Townhouse, right in the center of town. We had the typical big Irish breakfast before we began our drive.Driving on the left side of the road is no joke. I am totally not used to it. Every time ... ...

After lunch, we continued our trek up towards Windy Gap with Aoife of Killarney Riding Stables. The spot where we were riding was the picturesque spot that a multitude of tour buses below were looking up at. Let me tell you, the best views are not from a tour bus looking AT the scenery. The best viewes were from where we were, up on the trails in the mountains. The ride up to Windy Gap got increasingly cold and, well, windy. It was good to be on horseback, as we headed up a steeper rocky incline. ... ...

With beautiful sunny skies, our crew headed to Killarney Riding Stables right outside of the center of Killarney. There’s a reason why so many tourists flock to this part of County Kerry, it’s absolutely gorgeous. There’s also a reason why Donie O’Sullivan has been leading riders from this spot since 1968. O’Sullivan is in a great location, right outside of downtown Killarney, where there are restaurants, pubs and shopping. You can take an hour long or five day, six-night ride that will ... ...

We continued down the trail, taking in views of the river far below, before reaching the megalithic tomb in a grassy area above us. Nicola explained that there are tombs like this scattered all over the area. We rode up to take a closer look, hearing the moist grass squish beneath our horse’s hooves as we went off the trail. This particular tomb had not been excavated, so the archaeological treasures inside are a mystery.

Darley Newman is an equestrian travel expert, published author and host and ... ...