35 years ago, the IRA kidnapped one of the greatest Irish race horses of all time and demanded 2 million pounds in ransom. Unable to collect, the horse was killed and later a movie was made chronicling the event.
In the Devon countryside is an amusement park based on a sheep and farm animal theme. It was only a few miles down the road and they advertised the ability to bet on “sheep” races, how could we resist!
The whole place was dripping in bad sheep puns (ewe knew it would be…). They strapped sheep dolls to the back of these woolly runners and we could pick a winner for a pound wager. Of course, I bet on “Sheargar” wearing the green and cheered wildly. I had no doubt of the righteousness of this choice, and soon the rest of the crowd learned of the dangers of betting against the Irish in a sheep race…Sheargar won! I got my picture taken with the winning jockey and a crazy announcer in the winner’s circle!
The luck of the Irish continues and Sheargar rides again…. I love the local culture! Full immersion sabbatical.
2018 Sabbatical Sojourn Stories with TC 
Love this! Looks like a lot of fun and no surprise that you won that bet.
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