Twelve weeks to Christmas and counting, they say. My reply? Start living, and stop wishing your life away.

However like those people who are already choosing this year’s tinsel colour scheme, I too am engrossed in planning; planning my young horse acquisition strategy for the next competition year. Although more a boutique than a bulk-buying approach, my next couple of equine purchases will be influential for the 2015 season.

First, and probably foremost, I am on the prowl for a talented three-year-old (aren’t we all, you say). Anybody perusing the market place will attest to the volume of horses for sale. The difficult part is finding The One with star quality.

Every buyer comes with a preordained wish-list. While I am no different, I do try and maintain an open mind. My philosophy is simple, and relies upon the two cornerstones of talent and attitude. Funnily, it is not always a prodigious talent that wins my affection. A seemingly adequate horse with the heart of a lion can also find favour.

I run an eventing yard, so a horse with the brain to attack all three elements is a given. Assuming a horse moves straight and freely, dressage can be taught. A good cross-country horse needs to be brave and clever enough to get their legs out of the way.

As with humans, bravery is either there or not from the beginning. While a horse’s first face-off with a water complex might well require some kicking and flapping from the rider, one would hope that any successive attempts should be relatively problem-free. Bravery is represented by the horse that will stand up and be counted, rather than fleeing the scene.

The show jumping element of eventing is the one area that relies heavily upon natural talent. A young horse’s technique can always be refined, but a trainer can rarely produce that intrinsic spring off the ground. Sure, that horse while loose-schooling might have jumped slightly to the right, but did you see how much he cleared the wings by? That is natural talent. The rest I can teach.

With the winter months looming, I must step up my hunt for The One. I like them broken and ready for the four-year-old classes in the springtime.

This year my yard is host to only one foal (Nemo) and it is almost time for weaning. You might think in a yard full of horses that securing a weaning companion would be easy. Not so much! The only applicants to date are two boisterous colt yearlings, poised to run the legs (and tendons) off poor little Nemo. I will likely buy another weanling to keep him company.

Tradition predicates the acquisition of another sport horse weanling to be kept and produced to a four year-old but in a break from tradition, Niki and I are considering the idea of pin-hooking.

To those unfamiliar with the term, pin-hooking means buying a thoroughbred weanling and selling it as a yearling at dedicated thoroughbred sales, hopefully for profit. Your choice of weanling is determined by a close study of racing’s up and coming sires, and their progeny. Success hinges upon the supposed ‘next big thing’ proving itself with a number of track champions. It is a process not unlike the buying and selling of shares. In other words, closing one’s eyes, pointing the dart and hoping for the bull’s eye! Should we proceed down the route of pin-hooking, expect to see me develop a keen interest in horseracing.

Although busy tooling up for the months ahead, I remain focused on the last few eventing weekends of 2014. The Kilkenny hurlers had to share last weekend’s war-cry of “veni, vidi, vici” (I came, I saw, I conquered), as the Stellor eventing team served up a game of two halves in Kilmanahan.

For two of my entrants in the one-star class, this was a first outing at this level. My sister Niamh’s Fortmoy Cushla assumed the man of the match role by finishing second in a hotly-contested class.

Unbeknownst to me, I was tying with Aidan Keogh following the dressage and show jumping phases. A clear from us both in the final phase would deem the rider closest to the optimum time the winner. Unaware of our tied situation, I left the start-box trailing in my wake and would have taken home the red ribbon, had I not been too fast cross-country. (Aidan Keogh, I am coming for you!).

Breda Kennedy’s Woodcourt Garrison (Tyson) put on an admirable display in his debut at one-star level and proved just how far he has come since January. He arrived into the yard as a relatively untouched five-year-old with a hugely promising jump. Several successes at Coilog EC and in the FEHL have shown me just how talented a jumper he is, and I believe he will shine next year as a six-year-old.

Fortmoy Tipoki, a six-year-old mare by Watermill Swatch finished her one-star class at Kilmanahan on her dressage score. I really believe this horse to be a jumping machine and her technique just gets better with each outing. The winter months will see a huge input into her dressage phase, as we work on strengthening her topline and her balance during transitions.

My student Ailbhe McGrath earns her second mention in a fortnight as she took a well-deserved second place in the junior one-star class aboard the stalwart Major Furisto.

The very successful Moss Star (Mossy), a well-known campaigner with Orlagh Keenan, is back in my yard for a short while. Mossy really is the living proof that good things come in small packages, as this little horse boasts almost 200 Eventing Ireland points. With Orlagh abroad studying at third-level, Mossy is for sale, and will undoubtedly make a very happy and very competitive pairing with someone in the future. 

Sarah Ennis is an international event rider based in Co Meath where she and her husband Niki run Stellor Sport Horses