Roisin puts her head down and runs hard at the ruins. Before we even get there though, a chariot thunders past, then another. I lean low over Roisin's neck which is stretched out with all of her strength. She is going as fast as she can go. One more chariot passes us. I recognize Amlaidh at the reins and the Rian Flidais's bodyguard Cormar dancing on the yoke between the horses. Cormar shouts out as they whizz by but whatever he yelled was drowned in the rattle of wheels and hooves.

My spirits sink. We'll never win this race, we don't even have a chariot! We won't give up though. Roisin hurdles the low wall of the burned out hill fort, her heels lightly nicking the top but we get over. Ahead of us is the shadowy woods.

Low hanging branches. Twisty pathways. I regain hope. Not so easy for those flying chariots but very easy for a small pony and her rider.

I ease back and let Roisin find the way herself. Here I will trust my pony's instincts better than my own. I hang off her side and cling close to her neck. Brave little mare doesn't break stride. She weaves a quick and clean path. We come out of the other side of the woods without a single scratch or bump.

Roisin slows down. The spongy bounce of the bog frightens her. I say a prayer that we won't be sucked down into the dark and ancient mud. I've trotted on bogs all my life and the secret is to try to keep moving. So I murmur encouragement to Roisin. I can feel all of her muscles senseing danger. The slogging sound is the worst part. I have to slide off her back and lead her across the bog. The chariots are long out of sight but we keep going.

It is a relief to mount Roisin again and joyfully plunge into the clear waters of the lough. I am so taken with the beauty of the place, how the blue of the sky meet the blue of the lough, the coolness, the gentle tug of the current at our legs. I almost forget that this lough is supposed to be BOTTOMLESS!

Roisin cannot keep her feet on anything solid and she begins to swim. The lough is wide here. How wide? It seems like an ocean. My pony is strong but I don't think she has ever had to swim this far. Nervously I grab onto her main and twist it through my finger. "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming."