THE feeding and general welfare of racehorses has become an ever more important factor in their training programme in recent years. Myself and the team at Pollardstown Horse Feeds play a central role in this field and since setting up the business over three years ago, we have grown to become one of the leading suppliers in the Kildare area.

I spent the first 13 years of my life in County Mayo, before moving to Kildare when my dad took over a farm in 1957. Despite the land being right on the edge of the Curragh, we had no involvement with horses - instead running a dairy herd, as well as a small sand and gravel business.

I worked on the farm throughout my teenage years but after finishing in school, I went on and served my apprenticeship as a mechanic. I then progressed to the sales side of the industry, first in general sales and later as a manager with Smiths Motors.

I started out in the early 1960’s, moved to Smiths in 1965 and after seven years, I graduated to management level in the Naas branch before finishing my career in Portlaoise in 1979.

Throughout the period I worked part-time on the family farm and sand/gravel business and when I retired from the motor industry, I moved back home and devoted my full concentration to both businesses.

TALKED INTO HORSES

The late Philip McCarten, who trained just up the road from our home place, was the first man to talk me into getting involved in horses.

He persuaded me to buy a filly named Maid Of The Ring, who despite never winning on the track, turned out to be a rather prolific broodmare.

She bred 28 winners in total, including Ciara Flyer, Profits Reality, Key Partners and Saviour Sand. Ciara Flyer won four races and was placed seven times in my colours. Tommy Carmody had her initially and I later sent her to Eddie Butler.

The three other horses were all sold and went on to win in the UK. I later became involved in a syndicate with Philip (McCarten) and after he was tragically killed in a car accident, I bought out the remaining syndicate members and took ownership of four horses, including Grillidon, who won four races.

Teacher Preacher was a racemare that I bought from Tommy Carmody and she enjoyed success while I had her in training with Christy Roche – after she got hurt I kept her on as a broodmare. I found that I enjoyed the breeding side of the industry more than the racing and aside from a share in one horse with Shane Duffy, I now concentrate on breeding.

BLUEGRASS

About three and a half years ago I was reading The Irish Field when I came across an advert from Bluegrass Feeds, who were looking for an agent in the Kildare area.

I believed that I had a readymade premises in the form of an old disused work shop, which had been set up for truck repairs.

I replied to the ad and the people from Bluegrass came out and looked at what I had to offer and as they say the rest is history. Trading under the name Pollardstown Horse Feeds, the company, which is now run by my daughter Ciara, has become firmly established as the main agent for Bluegrass in the Kildare area.

Aside from feeds, Pollardstown Horse Feeds, have also linked up with Blue Frog, a Northern based company which specialises in the production of dust free shavings.

That product is one of the top sellers on the Irish market at the moment and we are delighted to be associated with the brand. We also sell haylage, which is farmed by Sean Hayden down in Tipperary.

In recent years the feeding and nutrition of racehorses and indeed, animals in general, has become far more technical and one would almost need to go back to school to gain a true education on the advances we have seen!

The old tradition of making mashes is very much a thing of the past and feeds come in all shapes and sizes nowadays, be it in the form of cubes or blocks.

Bluegrass, in conjunction with the Kentucky Equine Research, have come up with a feed for horses that tie up or have ulcers, called Resolve, this is our biggest seller and people drive from all over Ireland to get it.

Pollardstown supplies a number of leading names in the Irish industry, including world renowned trainer Dermot Weld and up and coming handlers Johnny Murtagh and Shane Duffy. We don’t deal exclusively with racing yards, show jumping and other equine enterprises such as Dollanstown Stud are some of our biggest clients.

Mick Munnelly was in conversation with John O’Riordan.