Equestrian pursuits rivalled by retail at RDS horse show

FESTIVALS AND EVENTS:While horses are still the star attractions at this year's Fáilte Ireland Dublin Horse Show, shopping has become a serious contender for your time and money, writes ALANNA GALLAGHER

INSIDE the RDS, stalls selling cheap chic jewellery sit cheek-by-jowl with the best of saddlery, and everyone is busy setting out their wares. There are grooming products for both horses and humans, with everything from curry combs to clip-on hair pieces in palomino pony blonde and magenta pink. Some of the stranger stablemates include Chinese gilt screens and seaweed cosmetics.

The halls are fragrant with the evocative smell of leather. It feels masculine and reminiscent of riding-stable tack rooms, minus the strong whiff of horse – which no doubt will be come as the show progresses.

Juvi Designs cocktail rings are always worth a look, while Cameo has a selection of interesting antique and vintage jewellery pieces. These stall owners have captured the public’s mood with their pro-haggling stance. But there is a way to ask for a discount, says Dorothy Kenny and Nessa Kilkenny. “What’s your best?” is the most mannerly way to open your line of inquiry, explains Kenny.

Pieces include a 1974 yellow gold ring with tiny emeralds, priced €220, and an 1830 silver-backed miniature of a young Napoleon.

Manners matter, but so do well-priced goods. And the fashion set should make straight for the blue-ribbon stand of Sergio Grasso, a boot company that has shod the word’s greatest horse riders from British showjumping champion John Whitaker to our own Cian O’Connor. On offer is a slick selection of jodhpurs and riding- boot styles from as little as €150 per pair. Made-to-measure riding boots, which you design yourself and come with Swarovski crystal detailing, cost a whopping €1,000 and upwards. More affordable are leather gaiters, which come in different calf sizes to fit like a glove and work as well over fashion boots as the riding variety. These cost €145 a pair.

The weather will play a big part in the sales pitch of many of the items on offer. Holmestead Saddlery has a selection of waxed jackets by the very British brand Barbour. These have graced the festival-going backs of model Kate Moss and singer Lily Allen, but also actually perform the function of keeping the rain off. Prices start from €99 for a child’s jacket.

Weather girls might also like the Welly4U stand, in which Hunter Wellingtons share shelf space with a myriad of spotted, striped and camouflaged options. The busy patterns are enough to make you dizzy but at least you’ll be prepared for the promised inclement weather. Bargainistas will love their fleece-lined monochrome leopard-print welly with ridged heel, also ideal for commuters fed up with getting their office shoes destroyed in downpours. And there are brollies galore with Betty Boo motifs and horse scenes to help brighten up rainy days.

There are some very interesting handbags for sale at factory prices from Florence-based Machiavelli leather goods. A smart black croc-embossed shoulder bag with brass hardware is €100.

The horsey set love their headscarves, and here the Silk Connection’s chic print silk squares cost €10 each. Also on offer is silk bedding, real golden age of Hollywood stuff with silk duvet and sheets available in brash brocades and pastel colours.

From the bedroom to the back door is catered for here. Turtle Mats, favoured by adventurer and explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, has cotton-pile door mats featuring prints by William Morris for €49.

There’s a wealth of antiques and collectables, including an English pewter teapot at Dallpadd, which costs €90 and would make a lovely wedding present. And James Howell’s Rare Books has a copy of Curtius Rufus published in Amsterdam in 1670 for €195. A hand-coloured map of Belgium and Holland by 18th-century map-maker Jaillot is for sale for €450, and Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination, illustrated by Harry Clarke, is €450.

Elsewhere, it’s a motley mix of stands and services offering goods you didn’t even know you wanted. The student art and craft awards exhibition in the adjacent concert hall is also worth a look, with notable works by prize- winners Peter Murray and Dee Walsh.

For anyone wondering what the future holds for the country, there’s astrologer Fergus Gibson, resplendent in red velvet, whose fun-filled forecasts cost €50 for a palm, tarot or crystal-ball reading. His crystal ball can’t read the country’s future, because the readings are personal, explains Gibson. But, he says, we’re definitely coming out of the doldrums. Perhaps the Minister for Finance might like to book a reading at his stand, C22 in hall four?

The Fáilte Ireland RDS Horse Show opens today. www.dublinhorseshow.com