Equiery World Travelers, continued...
at the storied Dunraven Arms hotel, where the owner Louis Murphy en- tertained us with many stories about Maryland foxhunters who have vis-
ited and stayed there and become fast friends. We took the morning to explore the charming village of Adare with its thatched roof houses, had coff ee at the very fancy Adare Manor and then head- ed off in our rented car to see the famed Cliff s of Moher. We arrived to the very popular
cliff s to be told there was no park- ing left but spied a sign nearby for parking and access to the Cliff Trail. T e parking involved driving through a friendly farmer’s fi elds and scrambling over an electric wire fence to gain access to the trail along the cliff s. Way more fun than parking in the lot! T e cliff s are breathtaking in scope and dramatic views. Even with crowds of people, the views are fantastic and the cliff s absolutely amazing! We only had a limited time at the cliff s as we wanted to make it to the races that evening at Gowran Park Racecourse outside of Kilkenny. We caught the last three races on an undulat- ing and huge turf track. Much of it all looked the same as any track with a tree-lined paddock and well-conditioned and turned out horses. T e cards were all very full with 16 to 18 horses entered in each race, running clockwise around the racecourse, which looked to be 1 ½ miles at least. T is is the home racetrack of popular now Maryland steeplechase trainer Willie Dowling. We chatted with racegoers in the stands and in the paddock proving that it’s Ireland’s people who make the country so special. A night in a friendly B&B in Kilkenny, some
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sampling of Irish whiskeys at a local bar and a visit to Kilkenny Castle and the Kilkenny Crafts Center the next morning rounded out the stay there. Off to Wicklow we drove, where we would stay in a guesthouse at the Herbst farm overlooking the Irish Sea.
Team USA at the International Ladies Polo Tournament in Ireland We took the longer scenic route to Wick-
low, driving through the Wicklow mountains, avoiding range sheep on the road and taking in the views, with the purple heather contrasting with the yellow, green and tan rocks and grass- es. In the heart of the mountains are the 7th century monastic ruins Glendolough where we stopped to see the amazing rock buildings that have stood the test of time. T e Herbst fam- ily (who owns Wicklow Polo Club) greeted us with a wonderful dinner outside on their ve- randa where we celebrated Liz’s birthday. T e next day, Friday, we had a practice game
to try out the borrowed ponies we would be playing on Saturday. Local players generously
loaned ponies for the cause practicing just north of Wicklow in Ashford at a lovely fi eld. We were able to work out the kinks from trav- eling and get a sense of the ponies we would play in Saturday’s match. Following the prac- tice, the Herbsts again spoiled us with a BBQ dinner with many of the players. Game day Saturday was actually sunny and hot enough that I got sun- burned! Not something you usually worry about when going to Ireland. T e fi eld in Phoenix Park, the All- Ireland Polo Club boasts that it is the oldest polo fi eld in Europe. It was fun to be in the huge park in the middle of Dublin with joggers and cyclists stop- ping by to view the game. T ere were even some travelers from the States! T e day started with a preliminary match between two teams of local lady polo players, a luncheon and silent auction, and then an exhibition match featuring some of the best trainers vs. jump jockeys in Ireland. Finally, it was time to play our game. T e Irish team was on their best horses and had played
together quite a bit but Kylie and I, along with our two Irish teammates (who were American for the day!) were holding our own and keeping the pressure on. It was tied up at halftime, 2-2, and we felt that we had a good chance. T e third chukkar was our downfall, with some horse issues on our side and some great runs by the Irish team putting them ahead 4-2 after three periods of play. We played evenly last chukkar but were unable to make up the score diff erential and fell by a score of 5-3, fi nal. I was happy with how we both played. Kylie had some challenging horses to play and she got a lot done on them, being smart with her continued...
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