WHEN it comes to producing a Connemara pony, one need look no further than Co Waterford and the busy yard of Pauline Dahill.
Highly successful at producing and competing Connemaras, as well as many other types of young horses and ponies over the past 20 years, her winning record speaks for itself.
At the 2025 Dublin Horse Show, she finished second in the five to seven-year-old performance hunter aboard William Griffin’s five-year-old Hogan’s Charm. Bred by Thomas McCann, he is by Ross Fear Bui, from the prolific performance lines of the dun stallion Templebready Fear Bui. She took fourth in the same class riding Star In The Night (Lightening Star x Rathcoona Cove), who will be campaigned by owner Sarah Maguire this year.
Dahill also finished as runner-up in the four and five-year-old ridden class aboard Carmel Melody’s home-bred Nire Valley Count (Glencarrig Knight x Monaghanstown Fionn). Glencairn Holly and Glencairn Sixpence are two more that have strongly featured over the years, and this is just a small sample of her success.
She took some time last week to speak to The Irish Field about her past, the horses in her yard and the importance of producing animals you can stand over.
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Joan Dahill with a donkey, wining a bet that donekys are trainable
“My mum would have grown up with horses; bringing milk to the creamery in the horse and cart, that sort of thing.
“I was a bit of a wild child, before I even went to school I would have been up around the broodmares, and eventually they began to put me up on them, I’d ride around the field, things like that.
“As soon as I was able, I got my first pony, Cantering Kitty, and that was it; I just flew. My first day’s hunting was when I was five years old. We used to go to Ballyrafter jumping every Friday night and that’s really how I learned to ride.
“Kitty got injured, I can’t remember how, and we had a friend from hunting, Vincent Moloney, who was a bit of a dealer, and he basically came to the Mammy and said ‘I’ve a pony for you’, so that’s how I began riding for him.
“I was put up on the ponies that would keep running to the gate, the ones that wouldn’t turn, the ones that would never go where they were supposed to go.”
Different pony
“Every week he would come with a different pony, I’d get up, and the basic thing of being the one that could stay on and keep it away from the gate was the achievement. I loved it.
“That’s how we got going. I grew up in Ahaunboy, Glencairn, Lismore, Co Waterford and we were very lucky. We were surrounded by some really talented riders like the Beecher family, Gemma Phelan and Paddy O’Donnell. I now know that growing up watching them is a large part of how I learned.
“Our land bounds Beeches Stud, which is part of Coolmore. We’re surrounded; if it is not racing, it’s show jumping. They are great people, you can pick up the phone and they will help.
“My mother had me doing everything growing up; pony club, triathlon, show jumping, eventing, hunting, all of it. I never had the same pony twice, so I had to learn to ride, and I had to learn quick. They were always babies, I never, ever had a schoolmaster.
“With the huge influence of learning in a riding school, things have changed a lot. I see it now in the sales; I hear ‘it must jump 1.10m’ and when I ask what height are you competing at now, they aren’t even jumping 80cm. I think ‘you are going to get killed’. It’s so frustrating. People are buying these very expensive horses and they can’t ride them.
“They have learned to ride only in an arena, if I’m in the arena once a week I’m lucky; it’s roads, it’s fields, it’s the woods; anywhere but the arena.
“A lot of ponies and horses that are sent here with issues to be sorted are arena sick. That is the common denominator between them all. A lot of the kids are arena sick too. I think it is slowly changing back though. People are starting to realise they have to get out.
“My partner Donie was the huntsman for the West Waterfords and we have found that we are getting more and more kids coming out. Paul Beecher then took over from him and it’s the same. We’ve seen those kids come on leaps and bounds by just being out.
“People are starting to see that it’s okay to make a mistake, it’s okay to fall off, that’s how you learn.
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Riabhog (dam Fraoch Og, sire Westside Fred) was Supreme champion at Cork Show and Charleville Show in 2000 to name just two of many
The first Connemara
“We got a Connemara when I was young and my brother brought her on. When it was my turn to ride her, I took her showing and she was unbelievable. Her name was Rí Abhog and she took me everywhere, working hunters, in-hand and ridden.
“She took me to Dublin for the first time when I was about 12 or 13, that was in the year 2000 and she finished third in-hand and fourth in the ridden. That was a great year for us; we won everything we could. She eventually became a broodmare and all our Connemaras go back to that line.
“Her granddaughters, Glencairn Sixpence and Glencairn Holly, both have four-year-old offspring that will compete this year.
“We have about 20 Connemara ponies here to be ridden, all for different owners. Every time I sit up on one, I have to think, ‘I’m preparing this pony to be ridden by a child’, so they have to be safe, that’s the most important thing.
“My job is to get them going. They have to do a bit of everything. I have nothing but babies this year. It’s always busy, but I have great help.
“My mother Joan, (who was inducted to the Connemara Pony Breeders’ hall of fame in 2024) is 80 years of age, but she still does the long reining, helps me with the breaking and all the work on the flat. She is amazing. I would be lost without her. She has a great eye.
“At the weekend, I have Abby McPhillips, she comes and does the yard while we are away. She is brilliant, I don’t know how I would survive without her. This year, I’m lucky to have three local girls, Ruby Hannon from Old Road Stud, Budds and Isolde Tivy. They are all very able riders to help me out.
“We also have Sarah Maguire, who was very successful last year. Last year, she was under my wing, but now she is heading off to compete all over with a pony she bought from the yard, Star in the Night.
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Star in the Night, pictured here winning a Connemara performance qualifier with Pauline Dahill, will be competed this year by Sarah Maguire \ Tadhg Ryan Bit-Media
“When choosing a stallion, I lean towards the ones that go out and compete. You have to be able to see how they are in public, how they are around kids. You can see their temperament and it’s so important.
“At the recent Clare/Limerick show, we went for education and we ended up winning. The ribbon was the bonus for us. We were there for the babies to learn. I just wanted to be sure I could get down the long side without being buried, everything else was a bonus.
“Every year, I’m starting at ground zero and working my way up. People see me coming and sometimes think I’ve got a yard full of winners to choose from, that’s not the case at all. For us, education comes first and, if the judge thinks they stand out, then all the better.
“Glencairn Ivy, who was an accident, was the best mistake we ever made. Her mother Bridee was quite tricky to get in foal. The man that owned the stallion was very keen to put her to him and, on a bit of a whim, we organised to meet him at the crossroads.
“He brought the stallion down in the cattle box, they did the deed and some time later we were surprised when she came back in foal. She was a huge Connemara who went on to win in Dublin as a four-year-old and is currently in England absolutely flying it.”
Bareback
“I usually ride them bareback first. It’s always been that way. Mammy used to say you’re not getting a saddle until you learn to stay on, so it’s what I know. I find it very useful, because you can feel everything. I feel them, they feel me. I get a better idea of what they are thinking. They get to trust me. We never rush. Mammy will be leading me and we will just walk around. If they want to stop for a look that’s what we do. There’s no hurry. They stay calm and understand that there is nothing to be afraid of.
“Then we put the saddle on and we do it all over again. I think with Squirrel (Glencairn Squirrel), I spent a month walking around bareback. I think with the size and power of him, if I had skipped that stage, I’m not sure I would have stayed in the saddle when I eventually put it on him.
“If any one comes in for breaking here, don’t bother asking me for six weeks, it’s not going to happen.
“I won’t move on to the next stage until they are happy and ready. I refuse to. I get plenty sent here that are broken and riding and you can see the stages that were rushed or skipped. You just end up having to go back and fix it. I make sure it is all covered, I don’t like sending out a bad job.
“Once we come out of the small arena and they are happy walking around under saddle, it’s straight out to the road. Then to the woods, either in company or alone. Everything takes time, it’s baby steps. We try to get them to figure it out themselves.
“If I get stuck anywhere, or if they are too nervous about something, I call Mammy and she’ll come out and walk by whatever it is and they think ‘oh okay, she’s not scared’ and they walk on; no row, no big fight, just calm.
“All our horses are looking out onto the arena and the farm, with all the machinery and noise and action. They get to see it all and, when it’s their turn, they remember that there was no fuss made, so they think ‘okay I can do this’.
“There’s cattle facing the pen where the young ones are, and we have land let to a farmer and he is working all the time with all sorts of vehicles, so they see it all. You can find everything here.
“I swear this year’s four-year-olds were just waiting for their turn to be broken in. They had seen so much, they had been watching me in the arena, so they had it worked out already. They barely needed any work, they had it sorted.
“It was comical to break them, they were like ‘this is the next step’, they knew what to do already. I don’t really need to break them.
“We go to shows and do the in-hand, we may not place anywhere, but it’s all learning.
“Tallow Fair is very close to us, just three miles. Some days, we just bring the babies down there and just stand there with them and they get to see all sorts. It’s the best education ever. A day at Tallow Fair is better than two weeks riding in the arena.
“There are all sorts there, stalls and animals. I hack them down and we just park ourselves in the middle of it all and watch the day go by.
“At the end of the day, it’s mostly kids that are going to be getting on these ponies after me, so I need every box ticked.
“These days, people seem to think they are getting on robots, they are not. If I have every box ticked, then we should be okay.
“The more things that are going on, the better for me. I am usually in the middle of it. My arena has wind breaks in it, it has mannequins - you name it, it’s in there.
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Pauline Dahill in action with the West Waterford Hunt from Knockanore \ Siobhan English Photography
“I rely on taking them hunting a lot. I bring them and tip away at the back. The hunt is great, they mind me. They wait for me. I may not stay for the whole day, if they are tired, I’ll take them home.
“I’m not a believer in having fat ponies; I’m a believer in having fit ponies. That’s how you avoid injury.
“We’ve only just finished the unaffiliated one-day events in Kilguilkey and Hillcrest, they are an unbelievable education for young ones.
“At the moment, we potentially have two if not three for the four and five-year-old flat class. We have a stallion for the stallion class, and then there are two for the horse working hunters. I was aiming for the young event horse class, but that clashes with the Connie ridden, so I may do the qualifiers just for education. It’s a big ask and I’ll never rush them going to Dublin. I think at this point, we will have nine aiming for Clifden. It’s busy, but it’s great fun.
“I’m very fortunate with the whole team I have here. The girls, Donie and Mam, the farrier Ian Hannon, the physio Aileen Welsh from Bodyworks Physio, she is amazing.
“For us, it really is true that teamwork makes the dream work.”