I'll just leave this here. *** 'Whither'!
Fear of Flying Off: Hacking Terrors Fully Laid to Rest on Three Rock
That is Three Rock Mountain, as seen, with zoom, from my kitchen window. Located in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Co Dublin, and accessed through Tick Nock Forest, the summit is 444 metres/1,457 feet high. I rode it up once, and was preparing to ride up it again. Given my dread of hacking, the first time had been …
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Baby’s First Long Boots: So Proud
A DIRECT AND MEASURABLE RESULT of all this riding: I can haz long boots. I have had to shop, and very gladly with it, at justchaps.com, because they were the only crowd that catered to folks like me who are not in possession of assembly line calves. They do carry spectacular half chaps adorned with …
And Flights of Angels Sing Thee to Thy Rest…
... which is not entirely inappropriate, as our Mercury was a famous TV star, playing Henry VIII's primary mount in The Tudors. The shrieks that ensued the first time I saw him on the telly! [Mercury, not Jonathan Rhys-Meyers.] The sad news was shared in the yard today: Merc, who was probably around a thousand …
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Riding in Cars with Dads
John James Conley: 22 June, 1941 — 12 March, 2013 It's winter, January, and in Ireland, the sun is already going down at 2 in the afternoon. The light is blue and chilly and sharp, and yet you can see, just around the edges of the sky, a bit of warmth, a bit of what …
New Half Chaps: My Big 2013 Purchase
Very much liking. I was actually terribly bummed last week, when, between the rain and the gales and not wanting to walk up the long, long lane in the weather, I had to wait to wear these. These are, as ever, from my favourite chaps place, justchaps.com. The craziest thing happened! I got an email …
My Half Chaps: Worn Out in All the Right Places
I only noticed what a wreck these half chaps were the other day. I mean, I knew they were getting some wear and tear, but they are actually in utter bits. I am very proud. Not only because I'm not going off and spending money where I needn't — sure, these'll go another three or …
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Modern Technology Meets Horses, Works
My go-to website for ordering stuff is robinsonsequestrian.com, and I generally take a spin round their place whenever they send me an email, which is, er, twice a week. Or so. Ha, ha. So there's this hat, right? It comes in either blue or pink — like, a powdery, lavendery blue, and a magenta-ish pink. …
Fifty Shades of Hooray! Or: Extremely Kind and Incredibly Stunned
Some friends made me a gift of that Airowear Outlyne Body Protector that I was lusting after. Holy wow, it is the most amazing thing that has happened to me in a long time. In, maybe, ever. So what happened was: My friend texted me to ask, did I get the letter she sent me? …
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Fifty Shades of Neigh: Body Protector Lust
It's not like I had the money to spend, but nevertheless: at the Dublin Horse Show, I went and tried on some new gear. I am trying to remember when I got the John Lewis yoke that I've been using... I'd say maybe three years ago, at least? Getting used to being sandwiched in that …
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MANY BRAVE FOOLS 