There are many different types of horses. Travellers would own many types. The piebald, the stueball, the blood (these are horses which are like race horses), the Connamara, the miniature, the chestnut and the Appleby.

The piebald is mostly the Travellers horse. In the old days these would have been used to pull the wagons and the carts. Nowadays they are just used as ornaments. They are just kept in fields and their coats are brushed. They are a valuable horse, but the price you would get for one would depend on the amount of hair on its legs and the colour. The length and the height mean a lot as well. The longer the main and tail the better. If a man is selling a mare he will describe her to the buyer. This is an example of what he would say –

"She has four white legs. She is about twelve hands. She has a long mane and tail. She is after the ould Lob (that means the name of her sire) and she is heavy in foal to Henrys (that would be the name of a stallion who covered her). No wall eyes on her (that means she has no white in her eyes)"

A horse like that would go to a good price.

If a piebald is being sold , here is an example of how she would be described –

" She has a white ear. She is heavy in foal. She is out of the dock tail cob (that is the name of a mare) after the Lob. She has four legs as heavy as a stallion. A little small sweet head on her. She is as quiet as a lamb. You won’t get better for money"

The stueball are like the piebald but they are bay and white in colour. In the old days they would have pulled the wagons as well. But just like the piebald, they too are just an ornament now as well. They wouldn’t be as valuable as the piebald because they aren’t as good a colour.

The blood horses are the trotters. The are thinner and faster than the piebalds or the stueballs. Their manes are cut into a hedge mane which is real tight down onto the back of their necks. They are harder to train than the others because of their temperament. The others are more honest – they wouldn’t be as wicked as the trotters. They have to be trained young. They would be harnessed to a sulky for the trotting. There would be betting to see who would win the race.

The connamara are a breed of pony called after the place where they are bred in Connamara Co. Galway. They are a valuable pony, which is famous all over the world. The only Travellers who would buy them are men that will deal them again.

The miniatures are mostly bought just to sell at fairs. Travellers don’t keep them for any length of time. They would be bought for the children. Generally the children would not ride them but would just keep them as pets. The chestnuts is brown and generally like the other trotters. They would be bought and sold and traded. They wouldn’t be regarded as a valuable horse by Travellers. That’s all that I can tell you about horses. (John Connors 6th Class)

Smithfield is a fair for horses, goats, dogs, chickens, etc. It is mostly for horses. There are Clydesdale’s and Stueballs horses. There are Connamara, Appleby, and Miniature ponies. You can buy them all in Smithfield. Stueballs are red and white. Appleby are the ones with shapes like apples on their sides. There are dear horses. There do be cheap ones as well. Big horses and small ones.

There are jeeps and caravans do be for sale in Smithfield. If you want a horse come to Smithfield and get one. And that’s not all in Germaines coming back there is often loads of dealing when they are going home. Nearly all the Co. Wexford men that go to Smithfield stops in Germaines in Baltinglass in Co. Wicklow coming back.

I like horse fairs, especially New Ross. I sold a mare in it last year. The fair is only on once a year. And there are a lot of horses there. The day before they would wash them up really well. They would get sawdust and put it all on their legs. And before that they would put oil or sulpher on them to make their hair grow. Before he would sell her he would make sure that she was in foal because it’s the first thing a buyer would ask you.

If a mare is in foal it is better because she is worth more. If there were a mare going to big money she wouldn’t be worth if she had a horse foal as if she had a filly foal. If a man bought a horse he would try to sell her or try to swap her on the same day, if he could, for more money. And the man would go to the pub and sell her there. If not he would sell her back up in the fair. When you are selling a horse to a man you would have to run her up the fair so the man would see the hair on the legs, the tail and the main.

A good mare has to have loads of hair on the legs, along mane and a very log tail. She would be about 12 or 13 hands with a short back. A good stallion is heavier than a mare with lots of hair as well. You have to look at horses’ teeth to see what age they are. (Larry Connors 5th Class)