SAYING that we had Irish Draughts on the farm years ago is the same as saying your house had a front door. A given. My father was part of the post-WWII generation that went to work in England and then around the world - Argentina, Cyprus, Cuba, Hong Kong, Libya and Nigeria were some of his ports of call while working for the now-defunct BICC Corporation.
He and two British workmates were picked up once by the Argentinian police - ignoring the Buenos Aires nighttime curfew during the Junta regime wasn’t their wisest move. When a British Consul staff member went to bail the trio out of jail, two forlorn ‘gringos’ were waiting in a cell and Peter Finnerty was drinking whiskey with the policemen and teaching his new best mates how to play ’25’ card games.
My mother was a gifted writer; I’m always amused by earnest discussions about genetics, as on a good day I’ve 5% of her talent. On the other hand, my family never bat an eyelid when I announce the latest global tour, ‘will land on her feet, like the auld lad’.
The path from the East Galway Hunt Pony Club to Quentin Doran O’Reilly started with plaiting skills learned at that amazing DC Liz Scott’s rallies. That led to a summer job, turning out horses for Nicholas Power and I still have the notebook listing the shows, several long-gone. As Nicholas was also involved in the Horse of the Fair and Foal of the Fair classes in their golden age, that was another task.
Taking entries, stewarding for commentator Michael Slavin and typing up results on a manual typewriter were part of Ballinasloe Fair. That’s how, after Michael retired from show coverage for the Irish Farmers Journal, he recommended me to Quentin.
On the horse front, one pony was traded up for another until the sale of the brilliant 14.2 Fred to Will Boyle (Ian Stark’s mentor) at Ballinasloe Fair led to the first broodmare. She - Aughrim Dew - was bought on the recommendation of local vet Declan Flanagan, a real old-school horseman and vet, from Leslie Wakefield, a dear family friend.Leslie had already bred two Clover Hills from her; Nicholas bought More Power that went to Graziano Mancinelli; the filly later went to Eyleen Nugent. With the Leaving Cert looming, a year out for the mare called, so ‘excused myself from school’ one afternoon to head off to Ardcroney for the first visit to Philip Heenan. The sale of that resultant foal - Hilly and then her full-brother Miller - funded college, followed by a J1 summer in Southampton (NY). There, apart from a full-time job, six other side hustles, including those plaiting skills, meant a great life lesson: the harder you worked in America, the greater the rewards.
1. Proudest breeder moment?
Not exactly proud; more bizarre, miraculous, serendipitous - all of the above. Hilly, sold at Ballinasloe Fair to Fordie Cathers, qualified with Richard Smyth for Dublin during that J1 summer. Without the range of affordable US flights in 1989 as there is now, I stayed put, but seeing Gem Twist and Mill Pearl compete at the Hampton Classic ‘down the road’ made up for it.
Hilly was sold to Steve Hadley and the trail went cold.
Then, in 1993, I went to Muscat where my sister Kate worked and, during a chance visit to the Sultan of Oman’s Royal Stables… an unmistakable Clover Hill head - Hilly. Luckily, one of the J1 summer purchases was a camera that went everywhere with me, so got photographic proof, even if the gun-toting security guard in the stable aisle was not overly impressed. I don’t play ’25’, so a diplomatic exit was made!
There are others. Pendle Rose bred fillies that were as feisty as herself, while her colts were usually Golden Retrievers. Another Clover Hill bred by Leslie, another Declan tip-off, ‘Rosy’ was a birthday present from my brother Peter.
She bred the Dublin finalist Pendle Watercolour (Colourfield), later the dam of five-star mare Mermus R Diamonds (Mermus R), bred by another great friend, Gary Higgins.
Best described as a highly-strung thoroughbred dressed up in a woolly cob suit, Rosy was a complex and irreplaceable character. Vets, farriers and the foolhardy regularly got seven shades kicked out of them, while she behaved like a first pony around niece Emma.
“A highly-strung thorougbred in a woolly cob suit’ topped by the famous Clover Hill ears - Pendle Rose \ Susan Finnerty
2. Do you still breed horses?
No. We lost Rosy with post-foaling colic in 2010; three nights later, Peter’s lovely Colourfield mare and her unborn foal = three in three days?
That was it. If we had kept a Rosy filly, then maybe.
Her last foal, reared with an uber-patient foster mare, was foaled on Badminton cross-country day, which I thought was a good omen. He’s happily trotting circles at Riding Club level in Scotland with his adoring owner. To borrow and adapt the Yiddish saying, ‘Man plans, God laughs’ = ‘Breeders plan, Mother Nature laughs’.
3. Greatest challenge(s) facing Irish breeders?
Soaring costs, style over substance, hype over common sense, changing weather patterns and the shrinking number of farmer-breeders, the relatable backbone of the Irish sport horse industry, are all concerns.
Those boys (and girls) could bring a just-haltered foal or three-year-old to a show or the Fair Green and have them behave like a child’s pony after 10 minutes. Are we losing that inborn horsemanship?
4. Prefixes, thoughts?
All about marketing, so yes, a great idea. Mum was a Lancashire lass, so Pendle Hill (Hilly) was named after that famous Pennines landmark. Pendle stuck ever after.
5. Internet: good or bad servant?
A double-edged sword. I couldn’t do my job without it; on a personal level, have less time for social media after passing 37 consecutive people ‘on their phones’, while crossing Eyre Square last summer.
6. If you could have bred any famous horse?
The romantic in me says Boomerang (with apologies to the Murphy family in Grangemockler). The business person says United Touch S and his limitless commercial possibilities.
7. It takes a team. Who’s on yours?
Any story always starts with family, including patient siblings Peter, Michael and Kate; our great neighbours, the Trappe and Wakefield families and now I’m running out of wordcount because there are literally too many to mention, but I appreciate every one of you.
8. Breeding horses - would you do it all over again?
I’m going to be the first in this six-year series to answer ‘Not 100% sure’. You can’t write about breeding horses until you’ve lived first-hand through the nightmare foalings, bottle feeding sickly foals, standing on the Fair Green or dealing with tyrekickers when selling.
There were magic moments; there were tough times, which is perhaps part of why I enjoy writing about the success stories, knowing the realities.
Good friends met through the horse world? I’m a firm believer that our paths would have crossed somehow and anyhow.
9. Awards?
Any mention of awards was swatted away. Won Failte Ireland awards as a 20-something “marketing genius” - mission accomplished. ‘Always behind the lens and pen’, was Quentin’s mantra and besides, what I do in the horse world is work.
I’m a firm believer that awards should go to stalwarts, who do what they do as a labour of love.
However, it was a conversation last year with the late Matthew O’Meara that changed that mindset. I would never have lived down this year’s two awards - the IDHBA and Clarecastle Medal - were he still here to entertain us, but he was 100% right. So, thank you IDHBA and the unsung genius that is Michael Slattery.
10. Must-have gadgets? ‘Mac’ with over 100,000 images – those unrivalled photos – and its iPhone cousin.