Ashford Equestrian Centre
About
A riding centre on the Ashford estate, ten minutes' walk from the village, offering trail rides by the hour through the forest and the gardens, a thirty-minute pony ride for children from four to twelve, and lessons in an indoor and an outdoor arena for riders of any standard including complete beginners. Its own directions tell you what the estate layout is actually like: in through the Ashford Castle gates from the Cross road, through the golf course, and a sharp right after the bridge in front of the castle. Like the falconry school it sits on the County Galway side of the boundary that runs through the estate.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓Trail riding through the Guinness woodland rather than in a ring
- ✓Pony rides for children from four years
- ✓Indoor arena, so lessons run in bad weather
Tips
- →Book ahead through the centre's own booking page; it is not a walk-up operation.
- →The approach is through the estate gates and across the golf course, so allow longer than the map distance suggests.
- →Prices are not published on the centre's site, so ask when you book.
Best Season
More Attraction Activities
Cong Abbey and the Royal Abbey cloister
Free, unguided twelfth-century Augustinian ruin in the middle of the village, where the last High King is said to have died.
The Monks' Fishing House
A roofless stone fishing hut built out over the Cong River, part of the abbey's national monument.
The Quiet Man Museum
A replica of the film's White O'Morn cottage, with original artefacts and a wall of 1951 newspaper cuttings.