WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS...OF DIVISION 2 !!!

Well the football season has finished ...and all the Gov. can do is to go round the stables singing "We Are The Champions......We Are The Champions" ......no the red and white scarf he dressed me in isn't for Man U or Liverpool (when were they last champions?) ...its for BRENTFORD....Champions of division 2. All he talks about is Brentford this and Brentford that....we even talks about when he first started going to support them...he even remembers the team..Gerry Cakebread, Ken Coote, etc...no they mean nothing to me either.
He told me all about football...bit like playing polo....now that I would like to do...can you see me galloping up the wing on the pitch at Griffin Park? .....YES think I would like to have a go.
GREAT NEWS.....I got a new set of shoes fitted a few days ago....my first since the accident (I try not to talk about that ) ........maby I'm going to go out for a ride...or better still the Gov. may put me in my carriage again and drive me......watch this space...........

NOW I KNOW WHY THEY'RE CALLED COWBOYS!

Last week they all cleared off to be Trecies....this week they became cowboys......YES complete with Cows!!!!!!!!!! ....... Talk about "Home On The Range" & "A Four Legged Friend"....this four legged friend got forgotten about...AGAIN... and they went on a round up....YES I know it was for charity and that's great...BUT what about me.......just wait...I'll be back soon....I heard the Gov. singing (very badly I might say) "Back In The Saddle Again"....so I live in hopes.

In the meantime, here is a selection of photos taken at Bunnageddy Equestrian Centre in Co. Roscommon that the Gov. and Mam bored me with when they came back....although I do like the bucking bronco....think I might try that trick....oopps...I already have.....

There they are, Tara, Mam & Annette representing Drumcoura Riding Club.....But it should have included MEEEEEEE

THEY'VE ALL BECOME TRECIES NOW

They've all gone mad....completely stark raving bonkers!!!! AND...just to rub my nose in it, they tell me that as I am the P.R.O. for Drumcoura Riding Club that its my responsibility to promote their madness. YES...they have all gone to a Trec competition this weekend....evidently it involves bending poles, reining back, standing in a circle while the rider gets off, jumping, opening gates, loading in a horse box........but I can do all of those things....and faster....you should have seen how fast the Gov. dismounted me at the indoor school just before Xmas........well its not my fault he landed up side down...still his broken arm is on the mend now.

Just look at them.......Bess, Blondy....they even call her the golden horse.....more like a cowboy horse to me, and on the left a grand little cob...don't know his name but he does look smart.

O....then there's Rachel who instructed everyone and scored the competition......she's gas...drove her mule from the top of Ireland to the bottom to collect for Guide Dogs for the Blind.

And there they all are...enjoying their day out as guests at Lakelands Riding Club......while I get left at home...AGAIN.

Still the Gov. and Mam have told me that they are going to a carriage sale soon and will get me a present.......now what could that be? ....can't wait.....

THEY'VE GOT ME DOING THE MUSEUM'S PUBLICITY NOW

Well would you believe it.......the Gov. and Mam have made me an offer I can't refuse. Publicise their museum ......or half food rations.....now a horse has to keep his integrity...but he has to eat....so.......................

Roll up, roll up come to the Museum of the Master Saddler....or visit its new web site http://www.museumofthemastersaddler.com/ I'm told that it has all the latest news, exhibits, books by the Gov. and even his art work. Now I think that deserves an extra helping of course mix and sugar beet, don't you.

ITS PADDY'S DAY...AND I GET LEFT AT HOME !!!

Its 17 March...Paddy's Day....the ponies get groomed...plaited....dressed up in their best harness and get taken to Ballinamore for the parade.....which they win, but I'm not going to mention that...AND what do I get...I'll tell you...I GET LEFT AT HOME. YES I know life isn't fair...but that's no excuse...well not in my book.

Just look at them...there's Mam and Jeff who has helped out at the stables while the Gov. was recovering from a broken arm after he fell off me...do you think that is why I got left at home? Well he is out of hospital now with a load of paper staples up his arm and hip...they chopped a lump of bone off his hip and put it in his arm...sounds a bit odd to me.

Look at St. Patrick...he looks even older then the Gov....AND he is as old as the hills. AND there's also a picture of Bookie the new pony in a beautiful set of farm harness.....AND whats this?.....why its Rambo having a drink of beer with the Gov. outside the pub after the parade....THE NERVE OF IT....he gets best beer AND PRINGLES...and I get wet grass...that's enough....can't take any more...I'm off....if you want to see more Paddy Day pics log on again over the weekend......beer indeed

I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING

I feel so bad....and it's ALL MY FAULT!!!!!!!!!
YES the Gov. is going into hospital today to get cut open and have metal plates bolted inside his arm...and all cos of ME. His broken arm hasn't mended so he needs an opp.....only hope he forgives me. He always tells me to look on the sunny side of life...so here's a picture of me and the Gov. being washed by my friend Emer....actually only I got a cold hose wash! It was taken on our Riding Club visit to Castle Leslie last summer...o for those hot summer days. Hope they will come again and...think I'm going to break down....poor old devil...he didn't deserve this...will let you know how he gets on...

DO YOU WANT TO HEAR SOMETHING COMPLETELY STUPID?

Here I am reading this weeks edition of Horse and Hound....what do you mean horses can't read.....corse they can...anyway there in this weeks issue it is reported that a Professor Nutt...don't laugh, I kid you not....and he claims that it is no more dangerous to take the drug ecstasy then to ride horses.......ya really!!!


This Nutt fellow is chairman of the Home Office advisory council on the misuse of drugs. He claims that riding is a "DANGEROUS ADDICTION" and....wait for it.....would recommend control under the Misuse of Drugs Act...even class riding horses as a class A drug.......LAUGH?...I haven't stopped since.

ME a class A drug!!......can you imagine it ...the Gov. being brought before the court charged with being in possession of an illegal substance with the intent of using it to blow his brains........Nutt by name and nutt by nature I say.

Do you know how daft I think this is?......I think I will write to the Horse and Hound and give them a horses perspective of this matter....doesn't that Nutt fellow know the difference between a drug for ravers and a good solid cob....I hope you all do.Let me reiterate...the drug ecstasy makes people have an inflated opinion of their capabilities until they fall down and break their bones...whereas riding horses makes people have an inflated opinion of their capabilities until they fall down and bre............yes well, the Gov. goes back to hospital this week and hopes to be out of his plaster cast soon...oopps.

I'M GOING TO BE PART OF IRISH HERITAGE

YES THAT'S RIGHT....I'm going to be part of Irish heritage....well part of Heritage Week at least. Every year there is a European Heritage Week and each year the Gov. and Mam put on a display in their museum....you've got it...they are so old, there the museum pieces...well that's what I think. AND this years exhibition is going to feature ME!!! Well that's what it said in the local paper last week....said I was going to be the star of the show...well it will make a change from those 2 little piglets stealing all the limelight every time.

They are going to dress me up as a farm horse...do you like my new bridle? the Gov. bought it on eBay...then I'm going to have loadsa fancy harness on me so I really look the business....don't know if I'll look as good as this chap in the photo....HOPE SO!!!

So if you are around these parts on the weekend of 29-30 August do call in to have a chat with me and see me in all my finery.

THERE GOING TO TURN ME INTO A WORK HORSE

Here I am enjoying my lazy days turned out at grass while the Gov. 's arm mends and what do I hear?........mutterings of me being dressed up as a working farm horse for the museum's Open Weekend....what a nerve. I mean ME.....a great example of a riding cob...and what do they do to me?....get some rusty old horse machine out of the hedge...paint it up to look like new.......try an old farm collar on me for size...and tell me its all to do with Heritage. Heritage my hoof....look at the harness...they are even going to put BELLS on me...I'll give them Ding Dong........I tell you all this talk of being a farm horse doesn't ring my bell!!!!!!!!

On a more serious note, the Gov. goes to hospital this week for an x ray of his arm that he broke when he fell off me......well he did fall off....honest I didn't drop him. Hope he's going to be OK and not need to be nailed together with shoeing nails. Watch this space.

I'MFEDUP WITH ALL THIS COLD WEATHER

YES...I'm getting totally miffed with this weather.....haven't been out in days....just want to get out and have a good gallop around.

The Gov. went to hospital last week and got his plaster cast cut off...he now has a plastic cage on him....looks very ultra modern...like something out of Star Trek......The Borg......he even came in the stable the other day and told me "resistance is futile"....and that I would be "assimilated"....he has gone completely off his trolley!!!! "Trekie" my hoof.....he's lost it.

AND do you want to hear a joke?....they told him at the hospital that when his broken arm mends it will be crooked.......so there he is with a wonky leg and a bent arm...and he expects me to ride in a straight line.....think I will be like a rowing boat with one paddle...going round in circules...ha...ha...ha

AND FINALLY......to remind me how lovely it is to go out riding in the warm sunshine...here's a pic of me out last summer with my friends.

LOOK WHAT SANTA BROUGHT ME

WOW....Santa did visit me...but poor old Rudolf was too tired to pull the sleigh so he used our little Rambo and his cart to deliver all the presents to the children.....and ME. There he is...and look what he got me.

I didn't think he would give me a present after what I did to the poor old Gov.....BUT here I am in my lovely new turnout rug and hood...its so warm and keeps me nice and dry as I'm clipped out at the moment. I don't live out all the time, just during the day until the Gov. is well enough to ride me again. And look at old Sam the dog...he must be 16 or 17 years old now and totally deaf...he sleeps beside my stable and I' very fond of him.

BUT WHAT IS THIS!!!!!!!!!!

Why its my Mam...yes that's right......."I Saw Mammy Kissing Santa Clause, underneath the mistletoe"........here hang on...there's no mistletoe...she's just giving him a quick squeeze....hope the Gov. doesn't get to hear about this.......still there about the same age...both very ancient.

I'M SO ASHAMED OF MYSELF

YES...I'm ashamed of myself...I'm very, very sorry.......I didn't mean to do it...I really didn't.
Last week at the Riding Club evening I got rather excited and gave an almighty skip to the right...and the Gov came off me on the left......there he was on the floor of the riding arena in a heap and I just galloped around....sorry...sorry.....sorry.
He could not get up as he had the bone sticking out his arm....and I did it. The ambulance even came into the indoor arena and he got carried away on a stretcher......taken to hospital...and stayed the night to have his broken arm reset.
Now they are talking about sending me to the glue factory where they send useless old horses......I'm so frightened!!!!!!!!! The Gov. came in the stables today and showed me his arm in plaster...he has to have it on for at least 6 weeks...even longer if they decide to cut him open and use 6inch nails to hammer the bones together...do you think he will ever forgive me?.....I love these stables......I don't want to go to the factory. Mam said that the Gov. was only saying that to frighten me...WELL...HE DID!!!!!!!!!!!
AND its Christmas tomorrow.....will Santa still come and visit me?...do I deserve a present?....I'm all worried and confused.

SANTA'S COMING...WHAT DO I WANT?

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! SANTA'S COMING TO TOWN.........that's what Mam and the Gov. told me today...........and as I have been a good boy all year (cos I have...the odd bit doesn't count)...I get to choose what he will bring me.

Now where shall I start.......food...yes that's a good start....a whole big bag of carrots........loads , and I mean LOADS, of extra strong XXX Mints......a nice new turnout rug with a neck cover for when I get to play in the fields.....and a years subscription of my favorite magazine...no not Horse and Hound.....the nice glossy "Fab Fillies"...all those lovely young horses frolicking in the fields...Ahhhhhhhh.

Don't think it will all fit into my sock....Santa will have to leave the gifts beside the stable door...its got my name on it so he won't get confused as he's getting on a bit now.

Everyone in the stable is getting excited about Santa coming....just look at those 2 little farts of ponies all dressed up in their "Sheepie" rugs and tinsel.....what exciting times...just hope he comes...you don't think he will forget do you?

MEET OUR STABLE CAT, FLUFFY KNICKERS

Let me introduce you to my favorite cat...Fluffy Knickers...yes,
that's really her name...even the vet calls her that. The Gov. and Mam have 4 cats...but she's the best. She came to us after some crule person abandoned her along our lane......and as you can guess, they took her in....they'r a bit soft like that.
She lives with me in our stable and when she is not sitting on my stable wall she goes to sleep in the Museum next door on my lovely 1896 Beaufort cart.
Now I would never hurt her.....well yes, I will try to give the Gov. and Mam a quick bite...a sloppy kiss actually....and yes I do nip those two little midget ponies...well its my job to keep them in order and show them who's the boss.......BUT I would never dream of biting Fluffy Knics.
All stables should have a cat...I still miss Suzie...she used to jump on my back and go to sleep.

I'M A HORSE...NOT A COW!!!

These are some photos showing you just what a pretty part of Ireland I live in.......winding country lanes, gently sloping hills, lakes....all very idyllic, except for..........fast cars and inconsiderate drivers.

So the other day the Gov. came up with a good idea (unusual for him).........to ask the council if they could put up signs warning motorists of HORSES AHEAD and to SLOW DOWN along the road where we usually get taken for our exercise. Now that seems sensible to me don't you agree?.......Yes the Gov. asked an official from Cavan County Council if this could be done.

His answer was NO! ....there was no way that the council would entertain such an idea....AND WHY?........he explained that horses being ridden on the road was the same as cows straying on the road.......if there is any accident the motorist just sues the owner of the animal..........WHAT IS HE TALKING ABOUT???????? The idea is to prevent accidents....not to line the pockets of solicitors (oops, sorry if you are one) as they throw writs about.
SO THAT'S IT.....this council regards us majestic creatures in the same way as they do an ugly old cow....the nerve of it!!!!! but that's Cavan County Council for you....I think we deserve better.

I'VE BEEN ELECTED P.R.O. OF DRUMCOURA RIDING CLUB!!

YES THAT'S RIGHT.....I've been elected as the Public Relation Officer of our Riding Club.....I got proposed at the AGM this week....YES me elected to office!!!!!!.....although as I'm so busy I am going to ask the Gov for some help. What will I have to do I hear you ask.......well its now my job to tell as many people as possible just what a great bunch of horses we are......YES.... OK our riders aren't bad either. So here is a selection of photos of what we did during the past year.......a weekend to Castle Leslie....riding on the beach....Elvis revisited...Xmas party...what a happy group we are.

Do you know I think I'm going to get used to doing this....me in a place of office...just think what I could do higher up....in government even....the'r are some real duffers in the Irish government.....I'm sure I could do better.

The government wanted to save some money, so what did they do?....take away old people's medical cards (for those of you not living in Ireland, they stoped free medical as a right to all people over 70....YES really...) AND save on teachers by increasing class sizes to 50 kids...there told you there were some duffers out there.

SO what would I do to put things to rights?.........well for the oldies I would give reduced cost of riding lessons to ALL pensioners.......and introduce riding lessons into the school curriculum.....there told you I could make a difference........YES come the next election you know what to do.........VOTE FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So if you would like to join our happy band of members phone Mam on 086 8775791 as she is the Sec. (I think the Gov. calls her Moira )