Ballinasloe October Fair kicks off this weekend!

The Ballinasloe Horse Fair and Festival is kicking off in County Galway this Saturday October 3rd and running right through until Sunday 11th. Its one of the oldest fairs in Ireland and a real celebration of all things equestrian with lots of fun stuff happening all over the town to entertain the whole family.

Thoroughbred Trail Weekends

Well the first of the highly anticipated Thoroughbred Trail Weekends has just gone by (Sept 11th - 13th) and was a great success with 50 people joining the 2-day trip! So now we're looking ahead to the next installment in November from Friday 13th to Sunday 15th which coincides with the races at Punchestown.

For those of you haven't already heard we have teamed up with a number of luxury accommodation providers, trainers yards, studs and racecourses to offer a number of insider, behind the scenes racing weekends in Ireland. Our host is Frances Crowley, a former Classic Winning trainer and Champion Amateur Jockey who accompanies the group on its visit to one of our Trainer’s Yards and to the National Stud to see the horses and meet the trainer’s who will answer questions and give insights into the preparations that go into Race Day. Frances will also be on hand to act as tipster for the afternoon’s horse racing and may even organise some surprise visitors to the table!

Log onto www.goracing.ie or www.discoverireland.ie/equestrian for more details and how to book.

Limerick to Dublin by Stagecoach

The Bowman family with their teams of horses will retrace the steps of the coaching era, travelling the highways and byways from Limerick to Dublin with all the proceeds going to the Barretstown ‘a Hole in the Wall Camp’ charity.

Barretstown is a specially designed camp for children with serious illnesses - primarily cancer and serious blood diseases - from Ireland, Britain and throughout Europe. They provide a unique programme of adventure, activities and fun,which helps children with serious illness regain their confidence, trust and self-esteem so its a really worthwhile cause and should be a cracking experience!

Its happening from September 21-24 with stop-overs along the way at historic coaching inns and hotels. You can downlada their brochure on Discoverireland.ie/EQUESTRIAN.

Fáilte Ireland Dublin Horse Show 2009 (Part 2)

Here you spoke to the CEO of the RDS, Michael Duffy and asked him to explain what the Dublin Horse Show is all about. It should give you a flavour of what the event in the heart of Ireland's capital is all about! Courtesy of Discover Ireland and Festival TV.

Fáilte Ireland Dublin Horse Show Video (Part 1)

As promised here is the first of our video pieces on the 2009 Fáilte Ireland Dublin Horse Show - enjoy! Courtesy of Discover Ireland and Festival TV.

Environmental best practice for Irish equestrian centres

Fáilte Ireland (Irish Tourist Board) are currently in the process of preparing environmental guidelines for riding establishments in Ireland. Headed up by the Environment Unit work began on the project in July. The main objectives are to undertake a number of environmental audits of Irish equestrian centres with a view to identifying and evaluating all the significant environmental impacts and issues associated with them. Then based on the observations at each centre, as well as current environmental legislation and international best practice, we will produce and publish best practice guidelines for distribution to all equestrian cenrtes in Ireland. We hope the recommendations in the final report, which is due out later this year, will further an awareness and appreciation of environmental best practice in Irish equestrian centres and highlight cost-saving opportunities in the process.

Dublin Horse Show teaser videos coming soon

We are currently preparing a number of short teaser videos we made at this year's very successful Dublin Horse Show at the RDS in Dublin to give those of you who have never been to the event before a feel for what its all about and as you will see, there is much more to the Dublin Horse Show than meets the eye. They will be available to view exclusively here on this blog soon so keep your eyes peeled! Courtesy of Discover Ireland.