Make lifelong memories on the ride of a lifetime
Connemara Equestrian Escapes offer bespoke week-long guided tours with an equine twist in Connemara, on the west coast of Ireland.
We connect our clients to the landscape, traditions, and culture of Connemara viewed through the ears of our home bred Connemara ponies.
Join Cáit (Gaelic for Kate but pronounced ‘Cotch’), a 3rd generation Connemara pony breeder as she and her team guide you through the winding turns of the back roads of Connemara. Cáit’s deep connection with the area and the people will take you off the beaten path to immerse you in the history of Connemara and meet it’s colourful characters that have maintained traditions going back generations.
Cáit’s story
Connemara Equestrian Escapes was inspired by my love for horses (which I most certainly inherited from my dad), my passion for the great outdoors, and my longing to allow overseas visitors to experience the real Connemara from a saddle on the back of one of my beautiful Irish Connemara ponies!
Growing up in the city to parents who were born and raised in the Connemara hinterland, my love of the countryside is something that has been part of me since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. At just three years old, whenever I’d see my dad throw his yellow wellies into the boot (trunk!) of his car, I knew he was heading across to the farm he’d recently bought at Curra, and every time I would try to sneak into the car so I could be part of the adventure.
While dad worked as a builder by day and a farmer by night, my mum also happened to be one of Galway’s most talented dressmakers, effortlessly creating stunning wedding gowns as she relaxed in front of the fire after the household chores were done and the kids were fast asleep. In our house we learned from an early age that nothing ever came for free; if you wanted something, you had to work to pay for it; that’s why getting to drive the little train at Leisureland Fun Park when I was just 13 wasn’t just great fun, it also put some money in my pocket.
Despite always knowing that I wanted to work outdoors, my parents’ belief that education was the key to success in life meant that despite my reluctance, I graduated with a degree in Computer Science, and spent the next 25 years working in the I.T. industry, eventually founding a successful I.T. Services company based in Galway City.
Ironically, rather than diminishing my passion for horses and my life-long dream of spending my life out in nature, since many of my clients were based in the heart of Connemara, I ended up spending more time than ever working way out west. So many times, on these visits, I found myself driving down hidden laneways and began to realize the mountains, hills, forests, and streams I’d known forever had so many different faces, depending on the season, the lightness and the dark, the sunshine and the rain.
Eventually, in 2014, my dream to return to the farm that my dad had painstakingly re-developed became too great to ignore. Overnight, I decided to sell my I.T business, move back to Curra Farm in Connemara, and create the equestrian tourism business that I’d been planning in my mind for many years, to give overseas visitors not just the equestrian vacation of a lifetime, but an exquisite, once-in-a-lifetime Irish cultural experience.
As I sit here and write this note 8 years after I first plunged head-first into the world of tourism, I can honestly say I feel privileged to be doing what I do. Mine truly is a life less ordinary, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Life on Curra Farm in the heart of Connemara is truly idyllic. Here, I am surrounded by the most stunning and mystical scenery, the likes of which you will never experience anywhere else. Come join me on the experience of a lifetime and let me share the wonders of Connemara with you.
Love,
