Can you find Ireland on the map of the world? If you can, congratulations because you know your geography.

My name is Linda Shute from New jersey and I'd like to tell you about my trip to Ireland and "The Ring of Kerry".

The "Ring of Kerry" is not a ring you can wear on your finger, it's located in the South West of Ireland.

County Kerry has beautiful lakes and mountains, magnificent waterfalls and their coast line is studded with inlets that can take your breath away with their beauty.

The ring is the path I took as I traveled 130 miles in 6 days by horseback through this majestic land.

I have always hungered to travel to far away places and meet the folks who live there.

Being an avid horse enthusiast, and riding since childhood, I like to combine these two pleasures whenever I can.

As I was flipping through the pages of a travel catalog from Equitours, they offer worldwide riding holidays, I found a trip to Ireland I just couldn't pass up.

Picked up the phone and booked the horseback trip, then I got a bright idea extend the trip to include a week of traveling via rental car and stay at Bed-and-Breakfast homes. This will ensure I would get off the beaten path to meet the local people.

Off to the travel agent I went with checkbook in hand. I paid for the airline tickets and booked the rental car and picked up the Bed-and-Breakfast information.

I arrived at Shannon Airport filled with excitement. I found my driver and was taken to the riding stables. I met the other people who would be sharing this trip with me.

There were elderly women from England, a young woman from Italy, three others from the United States. Our guide, Les Little, was an ex-jockey born and raised in Ireland. Since we arrived in the morning at various times the first day was a short ride so we could get better aquatinted with each other and our assigned mounts.

My horse for the week was a spirited bay mare named Melody.
I learned that Melody was an Irish Thoroughbred and she use to race over timber. In other words she was a Steeplechase race horse.

These are the ones that jump over fences which may be either bushes or wood fences and sometimes water. I was ecstatic about this we were well suited for each other.

I quickly lost all fear of being stuck with some slow hack horse I would hate for the duration of the trek.

Early the next morning after a hearty breakfast we were handed our brown bag lunches and set off to mount up.

We rode around the Lakes of Killarney and past Ross Castle.
We climbed the Devils Elbow and wound our way into the mountains. One of the advantages of traveling by horseback is that we can leave the roads to cut through the fields and forest.

You get to see very beautiful places you can't get to in a car. We visited such places as Glenbeigh, Glencar, Waterville, and Hogshead. We galloped on the beach at Rossbeigh where Melody and I won the races with such ease.

We rode around part of Caragh Lake which offers huge salmon to those who like to fish. We stayed at the Glencar Hotel which caters to the sport enthusiast. Fishermen come here from around the world because it's so close to Caragh Lake and they will smoke your salmon for you so you can have it shipped home.

The smoked salmon we ate at the Glencar Hotel was fresh from Caragh Lake and smoked at the hotel. It was positively the very best smoked salmon I have ever had!

Our final night we stayed in a small village called Waterville during the day we again raced on the beaches and took in more wonderful sights.
That night we went to a local pub, danced and had a wonderful dinner and exchanged addresses and phone numbers from new found friends. It was the most fabulous vacation!

The next day I was off to the rental car agency to continue on my trip around Ireland via the Bed and Breakfast routes.

My first stop was a place called Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. This is a very old castle built around 1450 by Sioda MacConmara. It was restored and furnished by the late Lord Gort during the 1960s.

This was the first old castle I had ever been in, what a thrill! I was so happy I could afford such a wonderful trip thanks to my secret cash machine.

As I left the castle and I walked about the Folk Park and saw refurbished Thatched Roofs, Blacksmith shops and homes which were shared by both animal and human during the winter months for combined heat.

By animals I don't mean dogs and cats. I'm talking about large animals like horses, cattle, sheep and such all living under one roof.

The only thing which divided the animal side from the human side was a small amount of dirt floor space. It made me glad to think we don't have to live like this any longer.

I love my horses and dogs but I don't really want to share sleeping quarters with them all winter long just for the benefit of heat.

My next stop was Blarney Castle. I was amazed at the very narrow circular stairways in this castle of rock. I have herd many saying about kissing the Blarney Stone and I wanted to actually see what all of this was about so up to the top of the castle I climbed.

While climbing the stairs low and behold don't I meet and guy from northern New Jersey, my home state. We recognized each others accent and struck up a conversation. It's such a small world in some ways both of us were on vacation.

Once at the top there was no way in this world I was going to kiss that blarney stone for anyone! You have to lie down, hang over the edge of the castle wall, and kiss the underside on a particular stone. It's a good idea if you have someone hold your feet and legs so you don't fall off the edge of the wall. Not for me no way!

My favorite Castle was Kilkenny Castle still in use today and part of it has been turned into a museum for tourist. My next stop was The Irish National Stud Farm and Museum. A fact I found very interesting here was that each of the stallions stalls or boxes as they called them had its own distinctive lantern type roof complete with skylights.

The original owner believed that stars dictated not only our own destiny, but also the destiny of horses. And it was considered very important that the moon and stars should exercise their maximum influence on their subjects thus skylights for each stallion were incorporated into the roofs of all stabling he built.

One item I did not expect to see in The Irish Nation Stud Farm was a Japanese Garden. So I took my first tour of a meticulously well kept garden with all it hedges and finery trimmed into different forms, each with its own story of life. At the end of the garden I came to the Horse Museum where I found the skeleton of Arkle.

He was a famous race horse who fractured his pedal bone in the hoof during his last race in 1966.

At last much to my dismay, my vacation has come to an end and I must return to New Jersey.

Warmly with a smile,

Linda Shute