It’s here, the greatest show on earth.
I’ve settled in to my apartment in Donnybrook and the annual “Dublin trainers” are on my feet, ready to navigate up to 40,000 plus steps a day around the magnificent showgrounds.
Every year, horses aside, the logistics of the Dublin Horse Show fascinate me. I love the equestrian mayhem that descends upon the elegant Georgian streets that wrap around the RDS. I love the horseboxes winding their way through the city, hairy hind-ends travelling patiently as city-dwellers revel at them passing by.
I love the creative parking of a random two-horse - the epicentre of someone’s week - a bed, a changing room and a storeroom for the five days of the show. I love the random horse droppings on Ailesbury Drive or Shrewsbury Road, scattered like Hansel and Gretel’s crumbs through a forest.
I love the glorious sound of horseshoes on tarmacadam and that horsey smell that mingles with the city air. I follow that smell like the Bisto kid follows the scent of gravy.
Speaking of which, there’s way more than gravy on offer, from the champagne and seafood restaurant to the best bacon roll, there’s something for most palettes, from horse-mad kids to the hungriest of grooms.
Over 120,000 visitors from Ireland and across the globe come to the show to see not just the equestrian competitions but also the unrivalled shopping and stands.
If you have never been, come. Even if horses aren’t your chosen passion, you’ll see things you’ve never seen before. You’ll see magic happen in every corner
You can truly lose yourself and your monthly budget in the often-dizzying selection of things to buy or people to talk to. Antiques and art also have their place within the hallowed showgrounds. There are deals to be done with some of Ireland’s most popular artists.
And the Long Bar, oh the Long Bar. I don’t even know if that’s its official name, but that’s what everyone calls it.
Make all the plans you like to meet a friend there, then spend a good fifteen minutes squeezing your way through the sardine-packed malty balm of Guinness, until you hear the roar of your friends.
Last year, I came home from the Long Bar having bought a 22-year-old Mercedes for €1,300, it’s that kind of place.
Looking out over the main arena warm-up ring, the Long Bar is the perfect place for a keen eye to witness the top-level mechanics of an international horse in motion.
The Dublin Horse Show - it’s our tribe you see, we are the horse people of Ireland and we love what we do. We know our trade and we know our worth. We fling open these Dublin doors and we invite the world in to share these magnificent horses and these monumental moments.
If you have never been, come. Even if horses aren’t your chosen passion, you’ll see things you’ve never seen before. You’ll see magic happen in every corner.