Tragedy and sad farewells aplenty

SOME topics covered in the Irish Horse World during the year were more difficult to write about than others, starting in the issue of Saturday, January 4th: ‘Investigation after horse dies in Galway fire’.

This was in relation to an incident of alleged arson at the Horan Stud Farm in Claregalway on New Year’s Eve.

It was the third fire at Owen Horan’s yard in 14 months and the second in eight weeks, reported Judith Faherty.

‘Family horror as fire claims seven equines’ was the heading over Lesley Hunter-Nolan’s report on a fire which had broken out at the Massachusetts home of Kerry native Cormac Kennedy, his wife Catherine and family the previous Tuesday.

Others stories included ‘Limerick woman convicted of cruelty’ (January 25th); ‘Irish horses found in horrific conditions’ (February 8th); ‘Kildare couple jailed for cruelty’ (March 8th); and ‘‘extremely deviant’ horse dealer sentenced’ (April 12th).

Thankfully, there were some good news stories to balance out matters, one concerning the Northern Ireland Horse Board: ‘NIHB celebrates 30 years of excellence’. Like others, we’re still sitting on the fence about this one: ‘RDS Main Arena renamed in Laya deal’.

I suppose we’ll get used to it.

For fear of leaving anyone out and, sadly, it would be very difficult to pick up on them all, but most Saturdays during the year, the Irish Horse World carried news of the deaths of those involved in equestrianism; some better known than others, but all missed by their friends and families.