Blogs

Ride On

Posted by Emma Loughney (Adminstrator) 30 July 2010 at 17:00

“Ride On - The Army Equitation School Exhibition” was launched in the RDS Library on Wednesday evening. I had been working on this exhibition with equestrian historian and Horse Show commentator, Michael Slavin, since early May. Michael has been researching this topic for much longer. He and Louise Parkes have just completed an absorbing book about the history of the School, entitled “Ambassadors on Horseback”, due to be published this November. Both book and exhibition chart the School’s journey since its foundation nearly 85 years ago.

With the help of our special collections cataloguer, Natasha and librarian, Gerard, we found a wealth of relevant newspaper cuttings and letters in the RDS Library archives. We came across four very interesting scrapbooks from the 30’s and 50’s that fit in perfectly with our exhibition.  The articles in these fascinating albums bear witness to the wide spectrum of events that have taken place in the RDS over the years. From Irish Army victories at the Dublin Horse Show to lectures given by W.B. Yeats at the RDS - I found it difficult to tear myself away from these chronicles.

We also found a number of letters - one interesting piece of correspondence was a letter from General Rau of the Deutches Olympiade Komitee für Reiterei to RDS Director Edward Bohane dated April, 1935. Rau expresses how much the German Army rider team had enjoyed themselves at the previous year’s Dublin Horse Show. He encourages Bohane to arrange for the Irish team to travel to Aachen and compete in the German Nation’s Cup competition. Two years later, the Irish went to Aachen and won that competition. They were presented with the German Nation’s Cup by Adolf Hitler. Thanks to the very helpful staff in the Army Equitation School the fascinating “Hitler Cup” will be on display in the Library until the final day of the Horse Show this year.

We at the Library were thrilled to play host to the current Aga Khan Trophy for launch night! It really is a captivating piece of work. Everyone was frenziedly eager to touch the trophy and get their photo taken with it.

The exhibition will run in the Library up until November 15, 2010, 10.00am-5.00pm, every weekday. Special Horse Show Opening Hours 9.00am-7.00pm (August 4-8, 2010). Pop in to see the exhibition when you can, it tells quite a story. I would particularly recommend coming to visit during the Horse Show so you can get a peek at the mesmerising “Hitler Cup” and the beautiful “ Romulus and Remus Trophy” before they are delivered back to their rightful home at McKee Barracks.