WITH the festivities of Christmas barely behind us, we were invited to a birthday party recently at The Cobblers Rest, which was bursting at the seams as we arrived, with all kinds of birthday hospitality being dispensed by owners, Susan and Martin. But it was no ordinary birthday, it was the 40th birthday to the day of the East Clare Harriers, who had their first ever day’s hunting on January 1st, 1984, where the meet was at nearby Ogonolloe. Sadly, Ogonolloe has gone downhill over the years, having lost its pub and shop, which made switching the meet to Bodyke sound like perfect sense.

Huntsman on that day 40 years ago was the very young but enthusiastic amateur, one Michael Blake of Scariff, a son of one of the founders, John Blake MRCVS. Looking almost as youthful as ever and still wearing the coat he hunted hounds in 40 seasons ago, Michael was raring to go. This coat has its own provenance, having been donated to him back in the day by the late Maxie Skully, on his retirement as master. This was the coat that saw Michael establish the bareback puissance record of 2.17m (7ft 6 in old money) on Mark Skully’s horse, which stands to this day. His younger brother, John was also out, but not riding and he explained that he had been the youngest rider of the day back in 1984. In the meantime, Michael has entered the sporting history books as the most successful manager ever of the Irish show jumping team, since the days of Major Jed O’Dwyer back in the 1930s. Under Michael’s direction, the Irish Show Jumping Team are number one in the world.