The Irish Hunter by Noel Mullins, 2015, Forewords by Professor Patrick Wall, Chairman of Horse Sport Ireland and Hugh Leonard, Chairman of The Traditional Irish Horse Association, color, 208 pages, CaseboundThe Irish Hunter: An Exceptional Horse Across Any Country includes a portfolio of some five hundred photographic images taken at more than sixty hunts by photo/journalist Noel Mullins in his travels in Ireland and abroad over the last twenty years. More than two hundred of the images illustrate the exceptional jumping ability of this marvellous horse tackling a wide variety of natural cross country obstacles such as stone walls, ditches, hedges, streams, and double banks as well as man-made obstacles such as gates, concrete railings, metal barriers, wire, pallets, and even the bed post and church pew that one might occasionally come across hunting in the Irish countryside!
In hunting fields in North America, Mullins has photographed the Irish Hunter out with the Green Spring Valley, Genesee Valley, Orange County, Mr Stewart’s Cheshire, Lowcountry, and Palm Beach Hounds.
In his Introduction the author looks at how horses originated in Ireland from wild horses 28,000 years ago to domesticated horses circa 2,400 BC, and some of the various breeds that graced the Irish countryside since, such as the Irish Hobby, the Garraun, Donegal, Cushendall, Rathlin, and the Kerry Bog Pony. Then there’s the Irish Draught Horse, the Connemara Pony and the Thoroughbred, whose offspring give rise to what we know today as the Irish Hunter, also known as the Irish Draught Cross and the Irish Sport Horse.
As a testament to the temperament and the popularity of the Irish Hunter, the book shows a number of well-known individuals over eighty years of age who have continued to hunt regularly as octogenarians. We see more Irish Hunters in the hunting field of ladies crossing the country side saddle, including riders participating in popular cross country and charity events, such as Athlacca/Dromin Charity Event, the Ward Union Staghounds Antler Challenge, Ballymacad Foxhounds Hunting Extravaganza, Hunter Trials, Eventing, and Hunt Chasing.
The book features National Hunt Racing as it began in Ireland with steeplechasing—closely associated with hunting—and also a trio of pure Irish Draught horses that specialize in dressage, one of which has reached Prix St. Georges level, one level away from Grand Prix.
Nor has the Irish Horse diaspora overseas been forgotten, as the author features Irish Hunters out with packs he has come across in his travels in the UK, USA, France, Italy, Germany, and the Czech Republic.
Two of the most popular shows in Ireland are also included: the Dublin Horse Show, held in the heart of Dublin City at the Royal Dublin Society Grounds and sometimes referred to as the Show of a Thousand Hunters, with some of the Hunter Champions that have claimed top prizes over the years, and the Connemara Pony Show in Clifden to which Connemara Pony breeders flock each August at its beautiful location by the Atlantic Ocean in the West of Ireland.
Mullins’ purposes in writing the book was first to present a history of the Irish Hunter—where it came from and how it evolved. Second, while many riders around the world are well aware of the status of the Irish Hunter, they may have never seen an Irish Hunter cross the natural Irish countryside and would hardly believe what they are capable of. So here is a photographic record of what this unique horse can achieve, more often than not with a novice or hobby rider on board. What better reference is required?
Posted November 28, 2015
This book and others by Noel Mullins (Horse Tales & Hunt Talk and The Origins of Irish Horse Fairs & Horse Sales) may be purchased online from the author’s website.