These days it's known as the Discover Ireland Horse Show – and it's about a great deal more than just horses. There's music, food, trade stands, and the RDS craft and student art awards; and it has become firmly entrenched as one of Dublin's favourite annual August events.
But the equestrian arts are still at the centre of what is universally referred to as “the Horse Show”, and the drama and skill of the relationship between human and horse will be showcased over five days of national and international competitions at the RDS in Ballsbridge.
Taken in 1989, our photo shows the British rider John Whitaker and his mount, Foxendale, at a tricky moment “after a difficult crossing at the triple” in the Bord Bainne Speed Challenge.
Just looking at this image, your heart starts to beat faster.
He must fall, surely? How can the horse regain its balance? How can Whitaker not clatter, like the jump which is collapsing behind him, to the ground?
With his left hand placed, apparently casually, on the horse’s neck and his right leaning on thin air, he somehow manages to stay in the saddle – at least for as long as it takes for the shutter to click.
If it’s dramatic to look at now, a quarter of a century later, how much more so must it have been for the little group of people sitting at the ringside in August 1989?
Their expressions tell a tense tale. A sharp intake of breath from the man who is standing up, his head craned to see what’s about to happen.
The woman with glasses has her hand over her mouth. And just at the edge of the frame, on the left, another enthusiast appears to be gripping the hedge – as if it might, somehow, be possible to keep the rider in place by fingernail osmosis.
Arminta Wallace
