Niall Connolly of Ravensdale Lodge has passed away suddenly
It was with terrible sadness that I heard late yesterday of the untimely death of Niall Connolly, the man behind the wonderful venue of Ravensdale Lodge, just outside Dundalk, Co. Louth. Niall was a true gentleman, dedicated to his family, his friends and...
No rest for the wicked!!
All the horses are back in work again after their breaks. With the weather being so mild some of them are having their second clip already! We are really lucky to have Clippers Ireland as one of our sponsors, so we have no shortage of sets of clippers in ...
Joseph Murphy Cross Country / Jumping Clinics
Joseph Murphy – Eventing Ireland’s leading rider for the last 3 years running and one of our fantastic HorsePlay bloggers – will continue his series of weekend Cross Country / Jumping clinics in December at his yard in Co Down. The dat...
Top 6 Horsey ideas for Christmas
Whether you’re a Christmas fanatic or have a bit of the ‘bah-humbugs’ about you, there’s no escaping the fact that the ‘Christmas season’ seems to get earlier and earlier each year and is now most certainly ‘upon us’! This extended Christm...
Week ending 29th November 2015 results Ravensdale Lodge Equestrian & Event Centre
With two weeks remaining of the 2015 season at Ravensdale Lodge, show organisers are putting the finishing touches to the new season schedules and the final show of the year, the annual “Bumper” Christmas show which will be held on Sunday 27th...
An excercise using transitions to improve your jumping canter
The last exercise – ‘improving the jumping canter’ – gave the rider a way to achieve the balance and feel for the proper stride patterns required for jumping a track of fences. As you know, the canter is king to perform these kind of exercises...
Week ending 22nd November 2015 results Ravensdale Lodge Equestrian & Event Centre
With only three weeks of their current autumn / winter run remaining, show organisers at Ravensdale Lodge are putting the finishing touches to next year’s opening winter / spring season schedule. The year has flown by and thoughts are now focusing...
Meet Camilla Speirs
At just 25 years of age, Camilla Speirs has already achieved more than many professional event riders achieve in their entire careers. The result of 25 years of talent and hard work, Camilla’s incredible list of achievements to date includes 6 European ...
Trying to survive the ‘legendary’ Irish weather…
The Irish weather is a thing of legend worldwide. Along with the stereotype of always being drunk, we are apparently also always getting rained on. It rains many more days than I am drunk, that much I do know… After an unseasonably dry and warm Octo...
Donegal man convicted of cruelty to eleven horses
A Donegal man was convicted of animal cruelty at Letterkenny District Court on 16th November 2015 after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to eleven horses. Adrian Browne, aged 44 and with an address at 15 Newbrook Court, Letterkenny, was fi...