Riding in Ireland

So I came across this site called discoverireland.com and in poking about it, I saw that they have themed vacations, including riding vacations. As in horseback riding. I have heard of such things--Kelly's friend Nicole Greevy mentioned them to me when the three of us (with Letham) hacked in Forest Hills once, but the one she mentioned was in Argentina (lotta good equestrians there). The idea is that you spend four or five days hacking through the countryside, stopping at sites and B&Bs and whatnot--a very picturesque tour of whichever country you choose. I wasn't aware of this, but Ireland has a long and proud equestrian tradition--I can't imagine how I didn't know this, but when I think of British equestrianship, I think of fox hunting in England. (And when I think of horse farms, I think of Kentucky.) I mean, outsiders do refer to non-western, American-style riding as English. ANYWAY. It is silly of me not to assume this--Ireland's topography is perfect for riding, not too smooth (and hence boring) and not too sheer like, say, Scotland. All those beautiful green rolling hills...

At any rate, I can't do a 4-5 day thing, obviously, but I would like to see if I can do a day or half-day trail ride or something. So I've started emailing these riding centers over there to see if they offer anything like this--it shouldn't be too late, I've ridden in colder weather than Dublin in November, certainly. January in Virgina can be brutal--I remember one time we hacked outside and the entire time, I was flexing my hands in my gloves, trying to warm them up. Maybe I can invest in some self-heating motorcycle gloves like my Dad has. And I think it's probably best to schedule this for later in the week, perhaps the day before I return, so if I'm in agony the next day, I'll just be on the plane anyway.

But what a perfect way to experience the Irish countryside, huh? Hopefully I can convince them to let me take a few jumps :> And I will definitely bring my camera!