|
' Tackling a horse is not a fool's job. Never forget that,'
Danny Dooley had spoken curtly to Mark one fair morning
when
the younger man tended to take the exercise for granted.
' Tackling a horse properly will save your horse's life and
maybe your own. What if the two traces are not tied to the
same length! How about the damage such carelessness will
cause to your horse's breast! How about if the slides are
not greased and the straddle shifts! You'll scorch your
horse's breast for sure. What if you forget your bellyband
and your horse bolts! I knew chaps that tackled horses and
they didn't know a common bit from a running bit.
Wronging a horse is as bad as wronging a woman. A good
woman or a good horse will never let you down. Remember
that always and you won't go far wrong.'
- John B. Keane DURANGO
Listowel, Co. Kerry -- The annual Listowel Horse Fair is always
held the first week in October. The square is filled with horses,
buyers, sellers, vans, trucks, and the occasional lucky tourist.
And you better watch where you step.
The John B. Keane Pub sits at the end of the square, a cozy
place with walls covered with posters of the many plays and
movies that sprang from the great man's stories of rural Ireland.
His widow Mary still runs the kitchen and is well known for her
soup. We spent a pleasant hour there, enjoying hot tea and
discussing the time the 1948 Kerry football team played for the
all-Ireland championship in the Polo Grounds, New York City, USA.
|
sold