Connacht Tribune
Foaling around!
Lifestyle – Athenry man Noel Lally is willingly depriving himself of sleep for the next four months so that he can ensure the pregnant broodmares in his care will deliver their precious foals safely. Noel and his wife Sharon run Hollow Lodge Stud where that’s just one of the services they provide to horse-owners. He tells MICHAEL GLYNN how their niche business was born and bred.
The likelihood of facing into four months of deprived sleep would be a disturbing eventuality for most of us, but one Galwayman is revelling in the prospect.
The dysfunctional sleeping pattern of Noel Lally of Hollow Lodge Stud in Athenry between now and June will entail heading off to bed at 8pm, rising at midnight and watching a TV screen through the remaining hours of darkness.
But rather than having quirky television-viewing habits, Noel is monitoring live CCTV footage of heavily-pregnant broodmares who are stabled behind his Kingsland home, seeking signs that a birth is imminent.
It’s all because of the mares’ primal instinct is to deliver their offspring in darkness when, their inherited breed-memory tells them, it is easier to conceal foals from predators. As a consequence the majority of foals are born between midnight and 6am.
“The mares also tend to give birth when it is dark because they feel more comfortable and safe during that time,” reveals Noel, who is one of the few people in the county to offer a full ‘midwife’ service to Galway’s growing band of broodmare owners.
“The fact is that most mares will give birth unassisted, but some will have a problematic delivery. It is not always possible to accurately predict these ones in advance, so if an owner leaves a horse to her own devices, they are taking an enormous risk. So much can go wrong and, in a worst-case scenario, it can result in the death of the mare and the foal.
“We had a case here last year where a valuable thoroughbred broodmare, a first-time mother, produced an enormous foal and it took four of us, including a veterinarian, to help her deliver a beautiful filly. It was a long night and it took some effort on her part and on our part, but had she been left alone to give birth, it would not have been such a happy outcome.”
In addition to a foaling service, Hollow Lodge Stud, which Noel owns with his solicitor wife Sharon, also provides full livery and boarding for horses, as well as breaking and pre-training of young stock.
Established in 2002, the stud which stands on 95 acres, also has a distinguished record of breeding successful racehorses including Band of Blood (a seven-time winner over jumps), Raise the Goblet (four wins), The Snatcher (five wins on the flat for Richard Hannon Snr in the UK) and, more recently, the promising triple-winning six year-old Papal Lodge, Dedillon (three wins) and Pink Jazz, a four-time winner in England.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
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Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
