10 Annual Edition "The Blarney" (PDF) - Irish Draught Horse Society ...

Top 20 Moments from WEG - Demonstrations . . .
Mr. Collins commended Fleur and everyone involved for doing
such a great job representing and promoting Ireland and its horses.
13. William Micklem: Author of the newly released “Complete
Horse Riding Manual,” former national coach for the Irish Horse
Board, trainer/director
at Gleneagles’ Mark Phillips
Equestrian Center,
eventing guru, and television
commentator and
contributor to equestrian
journals … it was an
honor for us to have Mr.
Micklem lecture at WEG,
stop by our booth and
visit with our Demo team and volunteers. He is truly a legend, an
expert horseman, and an outstanding individual.
14. Mechanical Penning Horse:
While WEG was a lot of fun,
it was tiring and stressful.
So, for stress relief, we always
ended up going to the
mechanical penning horse.
Everyone seems to have a
video or picture of themselves
on this thing. And,
let me tell you, it felt pretty
real whizzing and whipping
around after the little mechanical
calf!
15. Rosemount Farm: Fonda Eigle, who was part of the Connemara
demonstration team with her stallion, Spuddy, was kind enough
to open her farm to us as off-site stabling and practice site. What
no one was prepared for was
the moment we pulled up to
her iron gates and drove onto
a magnificent farm, hundreds
of acres of rolling grass hills and
fenced paddocks, a beautiful
mansion, and a barn fit for
king’s horses. No one wanted
to leave. Aside from the gloriousness
of the property itself,
Fonda was an impeccable and
organized hostess and we can’t
thank her enough.
16. Wine & Cheese: The second
Saturday night, the Irish Village
hosted a Wine & Cheese at the
park near our booths. We had
a variety of guests, from dignitaries,
to competitors, to demonstrators,
to park personnel. A
good time was definitely had by
all. While I won’t into the details,
I’ll just mention that Irish feather
boas and Mardi Gras beads
made an appearance!
Debbie riding the Mechanical Penning
Horse. Photo: Sarah McMullen.
17. Feemsters: If Fonda
provided off site stabling
for the horses, Paul
and Debbie Feemster
provided it to many
of our volunteers and
demo team. They also
have a spectacular
property and home,
and opened it up to
us for dinner, wine, and
places to sleep. People
came and went over
the 3 week period, and we had some of our best times sitting
around the table, telling stories and recounting the days adventures.
The next morning, we’d all carpool to the park, and a
whole new round would begin. Thank you Feemsters, for all
you did! Along with your beautiful BenMar Bella Blue, who did
double duty under saddle and carriage for many of the demos.
18. The Irish Village: It was the heart
and hub of our whole crew at
WEG. Bill Appel and Lyn Lindstrom,
with the help of Nadia
Cook-Grisewood and Fleur,
made this IDHSNA booth come
to life. It turned out to be a
lovely tribute to the breed, full
of information, with fun bags
and keepsakes books for spectators.
We had a ton of interest
the whole time. Next to us were
the boys at Goresbridge Horse
Sales, where a large chunk of
Olympic and National level
competition horses come from.
The Donahues kept us laughing.
Nadia and US Eventing Team vet
Brendan Furlong had their booth
next to the Connemara Society.
We were smack dab in the middle
of everything, and enjoyed
meeting folks from around the
world and sharing our love for all
things related to Irish horses with
them. Great job to everyone
that had a hand in the Village.
19. WEG Itself: While I didn’t have
a whole lot of spare time, I did
manage to sneak away to view
a few of the events. Our demo
passes got us in to all the complexes
for free, and we were
welcome to sit in any open
seat. So, I was thrilled to watch
Dressage and Show Jumping
from the front row. We also
were able to get back in the
warm up arenas, and watch
these amazing competitors up
close and personal, schooling
Debbie Feemster, Sterling and Bella Blue.
Photo courtesy Sarah Hooper.
Nadia and Bill in the Booth. Photo
courtesy Sarah Hooper.
IDHSNA Booth
all dressed up and ready to go.
Page 22
2010 Yearbook - T he Blarney