Tractors meant the end of working horses on farms, but farmers missed working with the animals, says Michael Spellman, a cattle farmer and horse breeder in Co Roscommon. For many years, most farmers did not own horses - but now they're back. This time around though, they're doing a different, gentler kind of work.
On country roads around the counties of Roscommon, Leitrim, Sligo, Mayo and Donegal on summer evenings, you can hear the clip-clop of horses' hooves, as they pull a small "trap" with one or two passengers. Pony driving, as it's called, reaches its peak on Sunday afternoons during July, August and September, when horse-owners from various parts of the country take the day off and meet for a communal drive - one keen horse-owner even motors from Drogheda to the west each week.
"Some fellas like football, some fellas like golf. We like driving horses. It's a sport, a hobby," says John Kelly, a farmer from Castlerea, Co Roscommon, standing proudly by his big, healthy-looking two-year-old "trotter" - a horse trained to pull a trap - at a recent drive in Ballymote, Co Roscommon.
Horse driving as an organised activity is not an old tradition in the Republic, although it is more established in the North. According to Roscommon horse-drivers, the first of these organised drives for charity took place in Manorhamilton, Co Leitrim, in 1988, when John James Connolly and a group of friends began getting together informally.
"A couple of neighbours started going out for a drive, a bit of fun, and a cup of tea afterwards," says Connolly, who breeds and trains horses. "In 1988, it wasn't near as busy as it is now. There's more traffic now," he says, aware of the dangers of speeding cars on narrow, winding country roads.
It's still a relaxed affair - there's no national association and the summer drives are organised by an ad hoc group of horse owners in each town who arrange dates and ensure drives are at least 40 miles apart. They are run for charity - each town selects a good cause, such as a local hospital, and the amounts raised vary from £300 to £2,000.
The drives follow a pattern. On Sundays, horse boxes start pulling up at 3 p.m., with the driver, family and friends slowly preparing the horse and cart, and wandering around chatting to other regulars. The number of drivers depends on the time of year, explains Spellman: "Later in the year, there's a bigger crowd, when the hay is in," but 30 is the average.
By 3.15 p.m., traditional Irish music is blaring from a van topped with a yellow sign - "Pony drive in progress" - and horses are getting excited, some rearing up, others breaking into a fast trot as drivers try to turn, ready for the off.
Around 3.20 p.m. the drivers move out, followed by supporters in cars. The drive goes along country lanes, lined with hedgerows and hayfields and, at several points, families enjoy the spectacle.
At the half-way stage, about five miles, or 30 minutes, later, the sweating horses get a 10-minute rest, and the red-faced drivers get an ice-cream. The return journey is the time for speed. Although it's not officially a race, the front-runners can reach more than 25 miles an hour. Then it's back to the starting point, where everyone heads to the pub for a cup of tea or something stronger.
"Traps" is a loose term for what the horses pull. For speed, there is the lightweight sulky, consisting of two motorbike front-wheels and a seat, held together by metal rods painted lilac, red, blue or green. The driver perches in the seat - often an institutional-type mould, plastic chair with legs removed - and wedges his feet, somewhat precariously, high up on the bars. For more comfort and safety, there is the two-seater gig, consisting of a wooden, slatted seat, or, for softies, a cushioned seat, and a tilted platform for feet.
"People travel for 20 to 40 miles to get a good spin," says Desmond O'Hara, who's in his 60s and wears a distinctive cowboy hat, blue jacket and coloured tie. "And there's the chance of selling a good horse. But they're all good, well-fed, well-shod." Buying and selling of "trotters" and other horses goes on, but not on a Sunday, says Spellman: "Drivers do the looking on a Sunday, not the dealing. It's not lucky to deal on a Sunday".
It's not a cheap hobby. A good trotter can cost up to £1,000 - for £300 you can get one "which could go into a ditch or hit an odd car," says Spellman. A sulky costs about £250, and then there's the continuing cost of feed. It's not an easy or relaxing hobby, either. Horses need a lot of training and exercise, says 16-year-old Dave Martin from Ballymote, who drives a sulky and daily takes his grandfather's horse, Spellbound, for a two-and-a-half mile drive before and after school. "It can take one-and-a-half hours, it depends on how hard you work them, how fast they go," says Martin, who loves horses but has no plans to work with them.
But it's not just the horse-owners who relish the drives. "The horses enjoy it," says Spellman. "They nearly know it's Sunday." Although horse driving is popular with farmers and businessmen, as well as the horses, it's becoming less popular, says Connolly, because the roads are getting too busy and insurance is high. And so "progress" may result in the loss of horses on farms yet again, and the death of an enjoyable, sociable pastime.
Forthcoming horse drives: Aug 20th: Foxford, Co Mayo and Riverstown, Co Sligo; Aug 27th: Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon; Sept 3rd: Aclare, Co Sligo; Sept 10th: Tullaghan, near Bundoran, Co Leitrim; Sept 17th: The Four Provinces pub, Rathallen, near Boyle, Co Roscommon; Sept 24th: Dromahair, Co Leitrim; Oct 1st: Ballinasloe horse fair; Oct 8th: Leitrim, Co Leitrim
