Monday, October 10, 2016

The Burren -- Equine Style

Rock...
...more rock
 The Burren is a limestone desert. The land in this vast area is solid rock. It once had a thin layer of solid over it, but now the soil is eroded away and the land is grey. rugged shrubs and grass had begun to grow on the rock, so it is becoming more green than a few decades ago, but the rock base has not changed.


Rugged greenery
 The green fields in the picture above are completely man made. Soil from eastern Ireland was transported into this valley in the Burren so people could live and farm in the midst of this stone desert.

The rock formations were amazing
 Beneath this rocky landscape are a vast network of caves. This area and especially these caves inspired Tolkien as he was writing The Lord of the Rings.

The stone tomb above is called the Poulnabrone Portal Tomb. It used to have twenty people buried under it. Unfortunately, when it was being excavation, the men became careless and broke off half of the stone slab covering it. The remains of it are laying there on the ground.  
Lots of rocks.

Now, that we've discussed the rocky part of the Burren for so long, you might be wondering where the promised Equines are. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the Burren. It was fascinating, but considering that there were four horses and two donkeys on the hill, you can forgive me for being a little distracted.

 Believe me, the pictures below are only a fraction of the number I took of the horses and donkeys. I was quite excited to see them.
 This seal bay horse seemed to be the trouble maker of the group.
This is my spot!

Get away!
 But sometimes this donkey was the instigator.
I'm bigger than you, leave me alone.

Really? Is this necessary? Get off!

Fine. I'll eat peacefully over here.

Who are those people over there? Do they taste good?
 This older grey barely moved. Apparently these scuffles aren't much to worry over.

Foolish youngsters. Stand here and enjoy the sun.



2 comments:

  1. Wow! You captured so well the spirit of this place...and of course, the beautiful beasts as well. I love how you gave them words. Simply charming! Thank you for doing such a great job of keeping us posted back home. Keep up the good work and God bless! 💓

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