The power-washer was in high demand over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Clonmany Show is always on the Tuesday and Wednesday after the bank holiday, and the girls had Rosie, the grey pony, entered in some of the showing classes.

Now, our grey horse is white, but to any of you non-horsey people out there like myself, apparently there is no such thing as a white horse. All white horses are grey. Whether they're grey or white doesn't really matter because every piece of dirt shows up on them.

They take far more cleaning, preparing and minding than a bay or chestnut horse – they're the brown ones, just in case you don't know.

So, Dawn decided that the stables needed cleaning out and power-washing anyway, and sure what else would you be at on an August Bank Holiday Monday? Once the place was sparkling, it was time for a nice fresh bed. The plan was simple enough: wash Rosie until she had been cleaned within an inch of her life, tuck her into her spotless stable the night before the show and, surely, she'd still be clean the following morning. That's the theory anyway. Horses, of course, have a habit of making fools of well-laid plans, but thankfully Rosie seemed to co-operate this time.

I've been working for Inishowen Co-op for almost 15 years, and that's how long I've been coming to Clonmany Show to spend the day in the co-op's hospitality tent, meeting and chatting with customers, clients and plenty of our industry stakeholders. It's a day I always enjoy, catching up with familiar faces and hearing what's happening on farms around the peninsula.

New element

But having the girls and Dawn showing horses over the past few years has added a whole new element to the show for me. Instead of just wandering around between rings and trade stands, I now find myself keeping one eye on the clock to see what class they are in next.

I've been around horses for most of my adult life, but I'm still no judge of one. Cattle and sheep, I wouldn't be too far away from picking a winner, but horses are a different story altogether. Before every class I always ask Dawn, "Have we any chance in this one?" To which she'll usually reply with either, "We might!" or, if she's feeling more realistic, "Not a hope!"

Thankfully, this year the optimism won out. Out of four classes they came away with two firsts and a second. That's not a bad day's work by any standard. Everyone went home happy, Rosie stayed fairly clean, and the power washer can be parked for another while.