TOP OF THE POPS/NOVEMBER 1999

The horse-mad, country-side lovin' SHANE invited TOTP Magazine - and you - to his home town of Sligo for an exclusive guided tour of the family-run stables. Yee haw!

"Welcome to our stables here in Sligo. This is Carlton Diamond, the biggest horse we have. My favourite place to go riding is in a beautiful area called Holywell, just beyond the stables, but today I'm taking Diamond up to the fields to tackle some jumps.
It's a tradition in our family that everyone sits up on a horse at least once in their life. I can vaguely remember being taken for my first ever ride on a pony. I must have been about six and I can recall sitting in my dad's car crying cos I was actually really scared of horses at that point. Dad lifted me up and plonked me on the pony. I could barely get my little legs around its body but Dad hung on to me to prevent me from falling off. Luckily I loved it and ever since then I've grown up with horses. They were like friends to me when I was younger. I even used to chat to them - well everyone talks to their horses when they're lonely, don't they?!
My first pony was called Jasper. Carlton Guy was his showjumping name but Jasper was his pet name. He was a small, grey pony and he had his very own party piece. When he waiting to be fed he's lie down and put his front hooves in the through. My dad would say, 'Look Shane, he's saying his prayers!' I was only young so I believed him! (Shane's dad butts in to tell him Jasper was born in 1971.) Wow, so he's 28 now! Aw, I really miss Jasper. We sold him a few years ago and I think he's living up in Scotland now so if anyone has him, I wanna buy him back.
(Shane pats his tatty hat!) I've worn this old riding hat for six years now - it's the only one that fits my big head! It's quite battered but it's comfy and it seems to be my lucky hat cos I've won tons of rosettes and cups over the years. You only get to keep the cups if you win them two years in a row so I'm very proud of every single one. There's six of us kids in the family who ride so as you can imagine there's a fair few trophies on display in the house.
Nicky's talked about buying a horse and I know he's dying to have a ride on one of our horses. He came over to the stables once before and he was great with them. He didn't ride them but he patter them and they seemed happy enough, so I think he'd make a fine horseman! Ronan was asking me some advice about horses the other day. He's built a new house and he's building some stables there too. He was asking me where he should position them and what kind of doors he should get!
I used to hate mucking the stable out but these days I think it's quite good fun cos all us brothers help out together and have a laugh. Actually Liam, the brother that I'm closest too, does most of the work cos I'm not home that often - thanks, Liam! In fact, I can honestly say the only bad thing about being in Westlife is not seeing my horses much. I love all my horses and I can't imagine living anywhere without them."

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© 2001 Pami

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