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BY SGT WAYNE FITZGERALD PHOTOS JIM O'CONNOR & ARMN NEVILLE COUGHLAN
From 400 Horsepower R
TO ONE
They have also assisted in Irish team wins in many Aga Khan Trophy successes in the RDS in Dublin. The School's mission is to advertise the Irish competition horse through participation in international events at the high- est level. This they have done remarkably well for nearly 90 years. But what of the backroom staff of any award- winning team? In the equestrian sport/discipline a horse and jockey both rely on the 'Groom' to that end. Grooms have come to the equitation school from all
iders from the Army Equitation School, founded in 1926, have represented Ireland and the Defence Forces at European-, World- and Olympic-level.
corners of Ireland, and from many different walks of life. The Equitation School have run two grooms courses of six weeks duration this year so far. The course climaxed with the students completing a general test (GT), a riding test and a lunging test – lunging is walking the horse around in a circle which exercises a particular side of the animal. Students are assigned two horses, one to ride and one for lunging; everything is taken into consideration when being assigned a horse, like injuries and size. Then the Grooms had to present themselves and their respec- tive horse for a Commanding Officers (COs) Inspection – which includes getting the horses hair platted and making sure the Tack i.e. Saddle and Bridle are in pristine condition and that's before they get their own No1 Uniforms ready. This year's courses
have attracted a small group of in- fantry soldiers from Cavan and Cathal Brugha Barracks. These are their stories on how they made the transi- tion from infantry soldier to groom in six weeks.
An Cosantóir October 2012 www.dfmagazine.ie
