I GREW up near Riverstick in Co Cork and have one brother, Roger, who has worked and raced in the US for almost 30 years. My mum, Jean, is Robert Splaine’s sister, so needless to say, I rode ponies throughout my childhood and hunted with the South Unions, every Saturday and any Tuesday I could dodge school!

I progressed quickly to show jumping Grade A 14.2 ponies and frequently jumped four or five ponies in each competition, which you could do back then.

Having left school at 15, I firstly helped out with the local hounds and got bitten by the racing bug after several months riding out with Kelvin Hitchmough.

I moved to Killarney to work for Pat Duggan, a brother of Noel C, riding his show jumpers and rode Flesk Bridge, my first point-to-point winner, for Pat. I rode in point-to-points for two seasons while working for Gerry Culley and he strongly advised me to turn professional, which I did in 1990. Gerry supported me with plenty of rides. I was crowned champion conditional jockey in 1992 with 31 winners, a new record that stood for 19 years.

As a freelance jockey, I travelled the length and breadth of the country, frequently sharing lifts with Willie Slattery and Jason Titley. I rode a winner on every Irish race track, except for the Curragh.

My first graded winner came aboard Four Seven at the 1992 Punchestown Festival for the late Paddy Mullins. I also received great support from Arthur Moore, Liam Burke, Eric McNamara, Val O’Brien and the recently-deceased Edward O’Grady. I had some great days out for Pat Hughes and Martin Cullinane and we remain great friends to this day.

I enjoyed a close association with Joseph Crowley, Anne Marie and Aidan O’Brien and rode many winners, trained on the famous hill in Owning. Breda, Joe’s daughter, and I were married in 1996 and have two sons, Hugh and Cian, both apprentice jockeys.

Unfortunately, my racing career ended prematurely having suffered head injuries in a heavy fall at the 1997 Punchestown Festival. I had a couple of point-to-pointers on the go and once I recovered, this became my main focus, along with breeding sport horses and farming.

My biggest career win came aboard Life Of A Lord in the 1995 Galway Plate for Aidan O’Brien. I also won both the Kerry National and Munster National on Propunt for John Joe Walsh who, with his wife Celeste, offered great support to myself and Breda, when my racing career ended. Another great friend is John Queally, for whom I won nine races on Merry People.

Trevor Horgan leading up Derry Rothwell’s Greenhall Diamond Lady in the 2016 The Irish Field Breeders' Championship \ Susan Finnerty

1. Proudest breeder moment?

John Queally gave me a gift of Golden Fantasy, a good-looking correct Shernazar mare, a bumper winner and twice second in point-to-points. I covered her with Kings Master and showed that filly - Queen’s Master - as a youngster. I sold her to the late Ned Cash, another great friend, who bought her on behalf of the Byrne family from Rathoath. She won the riding horse championship at Dublin in 2017, then the reserve working hunter championship there the following year.

2. How many broodmares do you have?

I currently have eight mares covered for the 2026 foaling season; a mix of sport horse, thoroughbred and Connemaras. One is a big, correct Castlecomer Q x The Travellere mare that I jumped to 1.20m and she has a foal at foot by the show jumping sire Lansdowne.

Her second foal, a Lucky Luck filly, placed third in last year’s Dublin three-year old event horse final.

I’m also breeding from her first foal, a Chinook Eclipse mare, who has a very athletic filly foal by Greg Broderick’s young stallion Verbier de Muze.

Back to his Cork roots: Trevor Horgan at Charleville Show \ Susan Finnerty

3. Your new passion?

For the last four years, I’ve been breeding, buying and producing a handful of Connemara ponies. I’m very fond of stock by Rocklawn Elvis, a son of the famous Silver Shadow, standing at Tom and Kieran Feeney’s Summerdale Stud, near Galway.

I find as I get older and have less help, I can manage the ponies on my own.

4. “Fools breed fools for wise men to buy”. Agree/disagree?

I’ve always felt it was easier to buy a nice horse rather than breed one, as, when breeding, you must take what you get.

However, it’s an art to match the right stallion with the right mare and it can be very hard to find exactly what you’re looking for at the sales. I believe this is true across all disciplines. It’s something my late father-in-law understood very well and took very seriously.

I feel that stallions are not miracle workers and your mare must also be of a good standard.

5. Prefixes, your thoughts?

Prefixes are a hit-and-miss affair, in my opinion. In racing, a horse’s name can be changed before he runs but not after he runs, regardless of whether he’s exported or not.

With show jumpers or eventers, any horse’s name can be changed at any time, whether they have a prefix or not. In Ireland, you need to get permission from the breeder or person who named the horse to change the name. However, once he goes abroad, it can be changed freely.

Prefixes are a lovely idea and good way to advertise your business, but there is no guarantee your horse will retain it.

6. To breed a Galway Plate or Dublin winner?

If I still had the mother and a few nice siblings to sell, then the Galway Plate winner would certainly work out a more lucrative proposition.

7. It takes a team. Who’s on yours?

Breda, Hugh and Cian are my greatest supporters and biggest help. Breda manages the bookwork and accounts and helps in the yard. Hugh helps me with breaking young horses and riding out, as did Cian before he left for England to continue his apprenticeship.

My mum Jean is also a wonderful help in the yard and keeps everything shining. Paddy Cotter travels with me to many shows and we have great fun dissecting the results on the way home!

8. Racing, breeding, owning horses. Would you do it all again?

Working with horses and animals is the only life I know. If I could change the past, I wish I could have continued race riding for another 10 or 12 years. The craic and camaraderie in the weighing room is like nothing I’ve experienced before or since and I keep telling my boys it is the softest money they will ever earn.

9. Changes you’ve seen in the last 30 years?

Here’s a famous quote: “The only constant in life is change.” I find this to be so true. At one point, the Traditional Irish Horse was sought-after worldwide and achieved success at the highest level. I’ve always loved traditional-breds and have found them to be intelligent, solid, athletic and suitable for many disciplines. However, the market now seems to demand a higher percentage of foreign bloodlines.

When I started producing point-to-pointers, four and five-year-old winners were roughly worth the same money. If a four-year-old was obviously backward and needed more time, there was no pressure to keep going with him. Nowadays, there’s so much more money involved, that I feel a lot of four-year-olds are put under too much pressure to perform and are not given enough time to develop.

10. The best of times?

I’ve always gotten a great kick out of winning, whether as a jockey, point-to-point trainer, showing horses or sheep. At one point, I had a small flock of pedigree Charolais and Beltex sheep which Breda and I showed for many years. I had both the 1999 All-Ireland champion Charolais ram and Beltex sheep.

Perhaps my favourite memories of all are just family days out at the shows with Breda, the boys and all our showing friends. Win, lose or draw.