IT’s only two weeks before the coveted rosettes are handed out at the iconic Dublin Horse Show yet Sadhbh O’Connor is cool, calm and impressively focused. The 23-year-old rider and producer has nine ponies and horses going to the show, with her name attached to multiple top prospects and her campaign is in full effect.

“I used to get nervous,” O’Connor says. “But now I just think what will be, will be.”

Her mature perspective comes from years of riding, breaking, training and competing. In fact, O’Connor has been immersed in the showing world since before she could walk. Her mother, Aoife, was a decorated working hunter rider who represented Ireland at European level and won multiple titles at Dublin. “She was big into the workers,” Sadhbh says. “But I shifted more into the flat showing - I found it hard to switch between both styles in a day.”

That choice has paid off. Now entering her final year studying Equine Science at University College Dublin, Sadhbh has struck a great balance between the academic and the athletic. She lives at home in Naas, commuting to lectures when university is in session, and returning home each evening to continue her work with her ponies. Her current string includes both long-term projects and new partnerships, with a mix of her own mounts as well as rides for other owners.

Lifelong love

O’Connor’s show career began at the tender age of three. Her first win at Dublin came in 2008, at just five years old, when she took top honours in the lead rein class aboard Hightopps Exquisite. “I was second the year before and the year after, too,” she adds. “So that one really stuck with me and then I went into first ridden, and then just went all the way up.”

Sadhbh O'Connor and Hightopps Exquisite, winners of the Lead Rein class at the RDS 2008

Since then, she has ridden in a broad range of showing classes in Ballsbridge, with standout wins including the 2019 Connemara class aboard Ballylee Castle Prince and, more recently, two wins in 2024 - one with her striking dun Teach Mór Sparrow in the younger Connemara class, and the other with Griffinstown in the Intermediate Show Hunter, impressively in his debut season under saddle. Ballylee Castle Prince returns to the RDS this year with O’Connor’s friend Chloe Lacey.

“Griffinstown’s a real talent,” O’Connor says proudly, “and Sparrow won his qualifier straight out, he’s such a special pony.”

While she counts herself as lucky to have been well mounted by her parents, Sadhbh’s first experience riding for another owner came in 2019, when she took on a pony for Aidan Williamson. “It was completely unpaid,” she recalls. “I just did it for the year and ever since then I’ve been very lucky to have been offered some really nice horses to ride.” Since then, Sadhbh has become a go-to rider for several owners, balancing her own ambitions with theirs.

Nine ponies, one goal

This year, O’Connor’s entries at Dublin span every corner of the schedule. From the lead rein class to Connemaras, coloureds, hunters and even a stallion, the week ahead promises to be relentless.

On Wednesday both the four-year-old Killmacow Major and five-year-old Ballsbridge, owned by Sadhbh, are entered in the small riding horse classes with friend Aoibheann Ruane taking the reins of Ballsbridge. Griffinstown, back for another go, also contests the small hunters on Wednesday. Carrowgar Arion, a lightweight four-year-old owned by Gina Heaps, makes his debut on Thursday while Teach Mór Sparrow, last year’s winner, returns for the four- and five-year-old ridden Connemaras. Her other young Connemara, North Cottage Silver JJ, will be piloted by Jamie Smyth in the same class. Bantrach Michéal, a stallion owned by Gearoid Larkin, will contest the Connemara stallion class and Ashleas Grand Finale, entered in the colored class on Friday, is seeking a second tilt after placing reserve champion last year.

Sadhbh O'Connor and Teach Mór Sparrow won at Dublin Horse Show last year \ 1st Class Images

Finally, lead rein pony Sycamore Fairy Tale will be led by Sadhbh and ridden by young Isabelle Hinde on Saturday. “We had a 10th,” she notes, Lockmore Sambro, “but his rider has dressage commitments, so we’ve had to withdraw him.”

Workload

So how does one person prepare nine ponies for the country’s biggest stage? In O’Connor’s case it comes down to structure, stamina, and a generous support team. “Katarzina helps me during the week,” she explains. “She mucks out and turns them in and out which lets me focus on riding. With nine to ride every day, and my dressage horse, I genuinely couldn’t do it without her.”

Her parents, both working full-time, remain integral to the operation. “Mum’s incredible, she’s great with all the packing and logistics. She makes sure I don’t forget a single thing. Then Sorrell Klatzko trains me for dressage and I’ve definitely picked up on a few things from her that have transferred into my showing riding. Gill Fanning, Chloe Lacey, Ethan Syed and Samira Trimble are great supportive friends who always go above and beyond to help out, the owners too, and mum and dad, everyone’s there to help.”

As show day nears, Sadhbh’s schedule doesn’t stop. “We’ll bring seven up on Tuesday, and the other two on Friday. I teach several girls as well, and I have a dressage horse in training, so the days just kind of roll into one.”

Despite the pace, Sadhbh avoids last-minute panic. “I actually don’t change much in the lead-up. I back off the number of shows to keep the ponies in good condition, especially the younger ones who tend to drop weight from stress. We do some gallop work at Greenogue to sharpen up, but otherwise I keep everything the same. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” Most of O’Connors horses and ponies are home-produced. “I’ve had nearly all of them since they were three-year-olds,” she says. “I broke them, schooled them, brought them out, the whole journey.”

She credits Michelle Sheridan for teaching her the fundamentals of breaking ponies, and her mother for instilling in her a horse-first approach. “You can’t apply the same method to every pony,” she adds.

“Some just don’t respond to long reining, for example - you have to be flexible and work with what you have.

"I don’t buy them to sell, it’s more that I try and get them to the highest level and then when I feel like I’ve done as much as I can with them I might sell them, but I do find it hard because it’s hard to replace them when you have a good one!

“I’d love to do this full-time,” she says, “but it’s probably not sustainable to do it as a full-time job. My dad definitely wants me to have a career to fall back on, which I understand. Ideally, I’d like to have a job and balance both.”And O’Connor is well-equipped to do so with a degree in equine science nearly completed and a home set up that includes stables, arenas, solarium and all-weather turnout paddocks.

Dublin Dreams

For all her accolades, Dublin remains a focal point. “It’s our version of HOYS, really, and every year we aim for it” she explains. “I’ve been lucky enough to win at HOYS as well but since Brexit it’s so hard to travel to HOYS and qualify.

“Dublin feels like the big one now and it’s special because it’s ours. I used to get worked up, but now I just try to enjoy it, if you get nervous it just takes away from the occasion. Everyone wants to win, and of course I do, but there can only be one winner and that’s the judge’s decision.

“It’s not the be all and end all. I kind of go with the motto that once I know they look their best, and they go their best, and I’m happy with them and I feel like our job’s done.

“One year, my only qualified pony for the 15hh show hunter went lame three days before the show. That was it, the whole year of working toward it gone and that was my last year in that class and it was the only thing he had left to win. In a way though that shows you both ends of the spectrum and now I know that even just making it to the ring is an achievement.”

She also relishes the social side of the show. “I love meeting everyone and catching up. I watch the Aga Khan if I get the chance and I try to see the Connemara performance classes on Wednesday. And the shopping, of course!”

And then there’s the Connemara Pony Show in Clifden where she’ll appear just two weeks later, but for now, it’s all eyes on Ballsbridge.