Loving the sight and sound of horses at Spancil Hill Horse Fair

“I just like the smell of horses, the sight of horses and the sound of horses.”

Ennistymon man, Frank McNamara Jnr had come to the right place yesterday as he stood in the sun-kissed Fairgreen at Spancil Hill, joined by thousands more horse dealers and enthusiasts for the annual Spancil Hill Horse Fair.

“For me personally, I couldn’t pass up on Spancil Hill and I love the smell and the sounds here. It is something you don’t get elsewhere.”

Mr McNamara was not unduly concerned over the lack of offers for his horse. “I’m only 15 minutes standing here. It is the horse’s first big day out in two years. She is broken and ridden but she is a bit nervous.”

Higher up on the Fairgreen, Burren farmer Micheál Barry had a eight year old red and white cob for sale. “I’m hoping for €750. You would want to be getting that. He is a good riding cob — a steady one. He is in good condition, a lot of feed went into him over the winter.

“I love to spend the night before the fair here as well — early in the morning, see the sun rise, you can’t beat it. Spancil Hill is a magical place.”

The farmer from Boston, Tubber said “prices are coming back a little bit, it has been bad since the crash in 2008”. Mr Barry added that the buying and selling of horses at fairs like Spancil Hill “is like an addiction”. He laughed: “If I run into something I want I might buy it, but I don’t want to bring anything home and not sell because the wife would kill me or divorce me if I did.”

At the entrance to the Fairgreen, Miley Cash, one of the biggest horse traders to come to Spancil Hill each year, is chatting with long-time friends he meets every year.

Usually around this time of morning, Miley is busy scrawling a large red ‘C’ on horses he has bought. However, the marker is staying in the pocket for the moment.

A veteran of Spancil Hill over the past 65 years, Miley said: “So far, the numbers are down coming here.”

Asked how the horse buying was going, Miley responds: “Not so good. The horses are not there, they are scarce. People won’t put passports on the horse because it is costing so much and people are not getting enough for the work they are putting into the horses.”

Miley said he has purchased nine horses so far: “This time last year, we had two lorries filled. We have three lorries and we hope to fill them eventually.”