I CAN’T remember my first ride on a pony, but I do know that my late mother was seven-and-a-half months pregnant with me and still riding!

As the youngest of five children, I naturally inherited all the hand-me-downs, from ponies and show clothes, to tack. My saddle was so uncomfortable that I would often choose to ride bareback instead.

After finishing school, I travelled to England, America and South Africa working and competing with horses. When I returned home, I spent 10 years working part-time with a vet, producing and showing young horses, before moving to Enniskillen to manage a stud.

Coincidentally, my parents met each other at the Dublin Horse Show, as did Adrian and I. In 1999, Adrian and I got married and decided to concentrate solely on our own horses, and the rest, as they say, is history.

1. Congratulations, you won the All-Ireland filly foal final last Sunday at Moate. Tell us about your champion?

Tattygare Me Me is an embryo out of our six-year-old prolific winning mare, Tattygare Me Me Me (Arkan). She’s by Grafenstolz, who sired the famous eventer Lordships Graffalo, who made history this year by winning Badminton three years in a row.

This filly has been very lightly shown and is finished for the year, apart from the Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) foal class next month.

We think an awful lot about her. She could be one of the very best we’ve ever bred, we’re struggling to stay as her owners. She has already generated a huge amount of interest from potential buyers, even though she’s only appeared in public three times.

2. Proudest breeder moment?

We’ve been lucky enough to have many of them. Obviously, Moate’s All-Ireland last week is in there, as is her dam Tattygare Me Me Me two years ago in Dublin, winning the supreme hunter championship and making history in the main ring by winning a total of four championships on the one day, being the only horse to ever do so.

We also hold the record for the most wins in the now-discontinued Breeders’ Championship - having won it outright five times.

Only last year, we were reserve champion again with our 17-year-old mare LCC Yoko (Iroko), the dam of Tattygare Me Me Me.

We’ve also won the prestigious Pembroke Cup for the Dublin home-bred champion - the one every breeder wants to win - a total of three times. We’ve won almost every showing championship in the RDS over the years, from young horses, thoroughbreds, broodmares and foals, and ridden horses.

Interestingly enough, it was my late father’s mare, Golden Sunset (Well Read), who won the very first Breeders’ Championship in 1985 for her new owner, Paddy Quirke.

This year, we introduced our eight-year-old mare, Kilbracken Cornet Queen, to the showing world with her Ermitage Kalone colt foal in Clarecastle, and what a debut it was, winning the prestigious Banner Breeders’ Championship. She was bred by last week’s Breeders’ 10 contributor, Donal Cadden, and we bought her as a two-year-old.

Finally, I have to add our home-bred, Tattygare Good To Go (Porsch), who, as a three-year-old in 2013, equalled Rosemary Connor’s record by winning four in-hand championships at the RDS.

Shirley and William Hurst with Kilbrackan Cornet Queen and her Ermitage Kalone foal, the inaugural Banner Breeders Championship winners, plus judges Tim Wilson and Eyleen Nugent \ Bernard Dilger

3. Which markets do you breed for?

We breed to succeed. Things have changed so much in the last few years and performance is a must for any breeding programme. The damline is so important and sometimes can be overlooked.

Our primary ethos is to breed for performance in either eventing or show jumping. Breeding purely for showing has long since ended for us. We aim to breed an equine athlete with perfect conformation, movement, temperament and ability. The result of this aim hopefully and happily results in a ‘show horse’ too.

We strive to use the best sires available in the world in our breeding programme. Last year, we used Grafenstolz and Ermitage Kalone quite heavily and this year we’ve opted for Aganix, Duplexx and Candy Boy. Hoping for the best, by breeding the best to the best.

4. Biggest challenge for horse breeders?

Trying to sell youngstock, particularly three-year-olds, is a big challenge at the moment. Considering the costs involved, from service and vet fees to the fixed costs of rearing them, it is becoming increasingly difficult to make money in the breeding game, so that has to be our biggest challenge.

People also seem to want young horses to be broken and doing a bit before they are willing to buy, which adds further costs and time to the process.

5. Tattygare is yours - thoughts on prefixes?

We love to see our horses going on, and having our prefix makes it easier to follow their careers and performances. It also helps to promote future sales of our horses.

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that, even if you register a foal and give it a name with your prefix, the name will not be changed in the future. When horses are registered with the FEI, their names are often changed, and all the effort that goes into naming them with a prefix can be lost.

6. Internet - good or bad servant?

We believe the internet provides exceptional opportunities for promoting and marketing, but we prefer to get cash, rather than a QR code (if you know, you know!).

7. The standout stallion for you on the current international circuit?

Without a doubt, United Touch S is a phenomenal horse in every aspect and is our number one choice.

But, unfortunately for breeders, to get access to his genetics directly, other than through ICSI, is impossible.

8. It takes a team - who’s on yours?

Adrian and I both work full-time with the horses, while our three children, Adrianna, James and William, do all they can to help between work and their studies, so I think we can safely say the succession is covered.

William has taken on a major role in the showring this year, helping to carry the Hurst name forward and ensuring its place in the future of showing.

We’re incredibly lucky to have Ruth Morrison, Kelly Gallagher and Paula McGovern, who we simply could not do without. We’re also fortunate to have such a fantastic team of vets, farrier and equine physio, who all play a vital role in keeping the show on the road.

Last but never least, the late Dessie Gibson, who passed away just this week. In the last few years, Dessie would invite me up to his place to pick the best horses for the ring. We always agreed; many champions we had. Missing him already, a legend.

9. Breeding horses - would you do it all over again?

Yes! However, now it has become a much longer and more difficult venture. Some years ago, we moved to a more performance-based model and have gone down the route of competing our fillies in sport, confirming their ability before entering the breeding herd, and that takes years of time and financial commitment.

10. Horses or no horses in our lives?

The day we don’t want to get up and feed our horses is the day we should give up. You have to have a passion and a love for what you’re doing, and when you do, it doesn’t feel like a job. So, the show’s not over yet.