COMING from a family immersed in show jumping, getting involved with horses seemed inevitable for Aoife Kirby. From a very young age, Aoife and her sister Sorcha followed in their mother Aideen’s footsteps, sharing a love of horses and competition. They went on to participate in show jumping, eventing and pony club, all the way up to competing at the RDS.

Aoife also had a great interest in the breeding element and the production of horses. As a result, when the opportunity came to be part of the Horse Sport Ireland/Teagasc ISH Young Breeders Programme, she jumped at the opportunity.

“I’ve always enjoyed looking after our broodmares and foals and am now getting more involved in producing our home-bred young horses. My dad, Owen, also has a keen interest in thoroughbreds, we buy a couple foals every year, and my main competition horse at the moment is a thoroughbred that I have retrained to go show jumping. My mum saw the course advertised on social media and encouraged me to sign up.”

Aoife explained: “Breeding and producing young horses has always been an interest in my family. I wanted to further develop my knowledge and skills and this course would allow me to do this. Along with increasing my knowledge, I have to admit I also wanted to get to see some of the brilliant equestrian facilities and businesses around the country!

"I attended these training days with my sister, but would have happily gone alone, as everyone was very friendly and we all had similar interests, so I made some great friends through this programme.

For Aoife, the course offered many benefits and allowed her to expand her knowledge. “The focus of the course is assessing, exhibiting and breeding performance horses. This involves judging horses on certain conformation and athleticism traits. There is also a theory test and in-hand presentation of a horse at national and international competitions.

Supportive breeders

Another great advantage of the course was the access she was allowed to breeding yards.

“We are incredibly lucky to have such supportive and helpful breeders and horse producers in this country who offered their facilities and were very willing to share their knowledge with the next generation.

"It was always worth the early mornings and long journeys for the invaluable experience we gained.

“These industry leaders happily shared stories and answered all of our questions in relation to breeding and producing horses. Many also welcomed us back in the future for a visit or work experience,” Aoife added.

“The course was a big commitment and involved a lot of hard work, but getting to learn so much from industry leaders and making great friends along the way made it all worthwhile. We got to visit the top yards, which included HHS Stud in Kilkenny, Belmont Stud, Boleybawn Stud, Kilconnell Stud, Cooley Farm, Kennedy Brothers Sport Horses and Stallions in Limerick, Hartwell Stud. Tiernan Gill, Philip Scott and Andrew Hughes were also instrumental in our success and offered their knowledge at every training day.”

With such a variety of yards, Aoife felt that this allowed her to gain different insights. “We learned something new every day. Every yard we visited taught us something different, whether that be in the selling of horses and looking after customers, or choosing the right stallions for mares. I also gained an appreciation for assessing our own stock, and the various markets for selling horses.”

Having an open mind was important as she admits that there was so much to take from every visit. “I didn’t have many expectations going into this programme, but I realised very quickly that we could learn something from everyone we met. It was evident that these breeders and producers keep developing their skills as we are in an evolving industry, and I think that is an important trait for all young breeders.”

Training days for the course began in November with one each month thereafter. The National Championships took place at Kildalton College last April, where 10 individuals in both the junior and senior categories were long listed for World Championships training. They had three more intensive training days for this, along with further individual practice days and study, before the team was selected for the World Championships in July.

Championship success

Aoife was one of four on the junior team that represented Ireland in the 2022 World Championships, held in the KWPN Stud in The Netherlands. “This was an incredible opportunity to see how things are done abroad, and we got to meet lots of people from around the world too.

“The competition was held over two days where we had to complete a theory test, assess horses’ loose jumping abilities, judge their conformation, take part in a turn-out competition and present a horse in-hand. There was also an exhibition of some KWPN horses, as well as a trip to the renowned VDL Stud, who showed us many of their stallions and young stock.

“Competition was strong as there were 20 teams from various countries including Canadian, German, French and Swedish studbooks. It was a great honour to represent our country, and to bring home such great results for the Irish Sport Horse Studbook was the icing on the cake.”

Although Aoife is in her second year studying Psychology at the University of Limerick, she does intend to use the young breeders’ course to breed horses with a view to producing them herself.

“While I know it is a long road with some ups and downs, the process of choosing a stallion, looking after the broodmare and producing the foal is made worthwhile when you see them compete successfully,” she says.

The course allowed her access to make great contacts that she plans to use in the future. “I would really encourage other like-minded people to take part in this course. It opened up brilliant opportunities to meet experienced horse breeders and producers, as well as learning lots of practical tips and tricks.

“Anyone can attend this programme; it is not specifically aimed at breeders or even people who compete with horses. There is always something to be learned from these days and I really enjoyed my experience as part of the Young Breeders Programme.”