BY the early 1980s, renowned agent Clare Ryan had built a growing reputation for sourcing Irish-bred horses, often those rare horses of a lifetime, for clients around the world.

“Capt. Tom and Elsie Morgan entered into my life, as I showed and evented some of their horses, including Night Fox (Carnival Night), Foxes Frolic (Quisling), Dancing Fox (Maculata), Star Fox (I’m A Star) and Dawn Fox (Quisling). The latter won numerous county show championships before going to the States,” Clare said.

“Tom Busteed was riding for the Morgans too. We both so enjoyed their company with their very amusing stories when Elsie was hunting the West Waterford Foxhounds. It was a privilege to have known them.”

One important contact was also built up around this time. “In the early 1980s, I had the introduction to Bea and Derek di Grazia and Denny Emmerson, through Van [de Vater].

“Derek, who was an international rider, and Bea have been back to Ireland many times, buying young eventers or bringing students or clients. He is now very well known as a course designer for Kentucky, Fair Hill and Bromont and has designed the Olympic course for, hopefully, Tokyo 2021.”

International eventing action moved to Punchestown in 1991 when Clare was recruited to assist at another event; the European eventing championships.

“It was my job to drive the press and photographers around the cross-country course. Tommy Brennan’s course was a masterpiece. I felt so proud of this fabulous event, there was a massive crowd attending and to top it all, the weather was super.

“Great Britain won team gold and the three individual medals – Ian Stark (Glenburnie), Richard Walker (Jacana) and Karen Straker (Get Smart) – and Ireland won silver!” she said, recalling the impressive result by the home team of Sonya Duke (Bright Imp), Olivia Holohan (Rusticus), Jeremy Spring (Holy Smoke) and Fiona Wentges (Oliver).

“One special moment will always stick out in my mind and I don’t know if many more people witnessed it. I wonder how many saw Mairead Curran (now Ryan), competing for Ireland on the small Watercolour, take on one of the elements at the Sally Gap fence. It was a mound with a tree trunk on top of the lip, with a huge drop at the back of it, and this combination jumped the whole fence in one, from the base of the mound, survived and galloped on to a very good round. She must have felt she had an aeroplane!”

“After much rooting out in old catalogues, I found out Watercolour was by Darantus and the dam was called Water Lily. I wonder if it was Water Lily who was the little international show jumping mare Paul Darragh rode?”

Piecing pieces of pedigree together and matching horses with the right connections are both second nature to Clare. “It is always an exciting time when one puts a horse and rider/owner together and the match is successful!”

The Rolex Kentucky specialist pair of My Boy Bobby, third there in 2009 with Buck Davidson and Bay My Hero (Cult Hero), the 2014 winner for William Fox-Pitt, are just two of her finds.

And then there’s the unique distinction of sourcing three of the 2012 London Olympics horses for the American, Canadian and Irish teams: Ringwood Magister, Kilrodan Abbott and Master Crusoe.

London calling

Tiana Coudray was one of the de Grazia’s students Clare matched up with an Olympic horse when they visited Peter Leonard’s yard in 2005. “When they brought Finian [Ringwood Magister] out to jog, we were ready to buy right then. He had real presence and quality. He’s been the reason I’ve travelled the world and he’s brought me everywhere,” said Coudray in her ‘California Dreaming’ feature in The Irish Field in 2014.

Ringwood Magister was one of four Master Imps, (High Kingdom, Master Crusoe and Master Rose complete the quartet) at the London Olympics – the only eventing sire with that number offspring at those Games. Bred in Ballina, his official breeder Adrian Bourke was amongst the cross-country spectators at Greenwich. He has always generously credited that noted Mayo horsewoman, Lily McGowan, as the horse’s unofficial breeder for selecting Master Imp and bringing Finn’s Carrabawn View dam, Cloonkeen View to Slyguff Stud.

Michael Hogan, in Nenagh, bred Kilrodan Abbott, the second of the Ryan finds at London. By Clover Brigade out of the Leabeg mare, Gentle Lassie, the John Craig-owned gelding was originally produced here by Frances Younghusband. He was spotted by Clare at the Future Event Horse League (FEHL) qualifier at Scarteen.

Both transatlantic riders sing Clare Ryan’s praises.

“I think Clare’s magic has to come not just from finding special horses, but in getting them to the right people. The world is full of talented horses but only when a talented horse finds their right person, and the person finds their right horse, that’s when they become the horses we remember and talk about for years after,” said Tiana, who reports that, despite being nearly 20, ‘Finn’ “still comes out to work like it’s the main arena at London and everyone is there to see him!”

Kilrodan Abbott, or ‘Eddie’, has since settled into his role as an equine nanny at Peter Barry’s farm, following his retirement ceremony on Canadian home ground at Bromont in 2016. The pair competed at four consecutive Rolex Kentucky horse trials and recorded another Canadian team appearance at the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games at Normandy.

“Clare is a great person with a good eye and patience to observe,” remarked Peter. “She took me to a lot of barns, always with a smile when I wanted to look at one more horse.

“I liked Eddie from the first time I sat on him and never looked back.

“He’s now on a 10-acre plot with a bunch of two- and three-year-olds and seems to be happy with his lot in life. The young ones all respect Ed when he walks over to eat hay and step aside. Once a recipient mare became grumpy with her foal, the foal went to hide with Eddie to eat hay and the mare left the foal alone. He is very content.”

Master Crusoe’s story is another testimony to Clare’s eye for a future star. “Ann O’Grady has been outstanding with so many good horses having gone through her yard over the years. One day I called into Ballingowan with the American rider Phyllis Dawson, who wished to buy Master Crusoe, a four-year-old at the time, but an Irish family had first refusal and they bought him,” Clare told.

“A year later, he was for sale again. Knowing his talent, but also his character, he needed a special rider and when Aoife Clark contacted me to ask if there was a horse out there to suit her, I put the two together.”

Aoife then takes up the story of meeting ‘Paddy’, another horse of a lifetime. “I remember seeing him at Ann O’Gradys as if it were yesterday. He looked small and diminutive in his stable and I wondered what Clare had seen, but as soon as he started moving I loved him. Clare has always had such an eye for an athlete, and, needless to say, the bloodlines! He is Master Imp, Cruising, and King of Diamonds.”

The pair went on to place seventh at London, one place ahead of the Zara Phillips on the William Micklem-bred High Kingdom, another by Master Imp. The following year at Badminton, in one of the events best-ever line-ups, the Irish pair finished eighth.

Gold

“It was a magical moment for me to watch that combination, [Aoife and Master Crusoe] jump a double clear at the 2012 London Olympics and finish with a good placing,” said Clare.

She was on hand later that year to watch his breeders, Phyllis and Michael Doyle, receive a Horse Sport Ireland award for the horse that “contributed the most to the Irish senior event team” in 2012.

“It is so important to remember the breeders, so to see the Doyles being rewarded was special,” added Clare, who also received her own award that night for her support of Irish sport horses. “I was very humbled to receive that award.”

The awards night was held in Gorey eight years ago during the Go For Gold Sale, a venture Clare is closely involved with. “The Goresbridge Go For Gold is very much in my life for the past number of years, having had my arm twisted by Chris [Ryan] to come on board.”

The friendship between the Warlow and Ryan families is a long-standing one. “The winter after I left school, I was spoilt by hunting two days a week with the Duhallow and Thursdays hunting with the Scarteen on a fabulous Connemara pony belonging to Mrs Jean Thompson, Thady Ryan’s sister. The whole Ryan family were exceptionally kind to me, very happy memories!” Clare’s sister, Mary Wilson, reminisced.

“Clare has put so much back into the sport she loves, especially when she had a very big commitment at home. She has enjoyed her part in doing the commentary at events and supporting Chris and Sue Ryan as back-up, collecting all the necessary information. How Clare had the energy to do this with very little sleep, goodness knows. She is amazing,” added Mary, in admiration of her younger sister’s commitment to taking care of her late husband Vinnie, who was paralysed after a hunting accident in 1979.

Clare’s unsurpassed knowledge of pedigrees and instinct about a horse were just some of the reasons the ‘Scarteen Ryans’ wanted her on board the Go For Gold team. “We’ve known Clare for many years, both professionally and as a very close friend. One can only be impressed with her fantastic memory for pedigrees and results of both horse and rider. Together with her genuine desire and gift to get the right horses to the right people, it makes sure her judge’s eye for the future eventer is part of the complete package as spotter, advisor, agent and commentator,” said Chris and Sue.

The selection team for this year’s Go For Gold sale, postponed to December 7th-8th, consists of “Chris Ryan, Sally Parkyn, myself and with Sue Ryan, who is very articulate with all the paperwork, plus Bridget Speirs (ridden) and Nicky Roncoroni (three-year-olds). We all get on well together and we take it very seriously as people’s livelihoods are at stake.

“Martin and Mary Frances Donohoe are very fair and understanding. The production and turnout now is at a very high standard, it has improved so much over the years.

“I really love the assessment days, especially seeing the three-year-olds, which I call the new kids on the block, as so often those horses are gone out of the country by the time they’re four-year-olds. When one puts the seed corn together, it always looks an impressive group.

“As it is a selection sale, one has to be aware of standards but of course horses with little ifs and buts that don’t get in...it certainly doesn’t mean it won’t be a top competition horse of the future. I am a great believer of head and heart and that will only come later on.”

The majority of the horses sourced by Clare were traditionally bred, however, those types are becoming scarce. “Yes, I would love traditional Irish breeding but we move with the times and a good horse is a good horse.

“Some of the warmblood breeding has mixed well. Cavalier mares come up as dams regularly on the results page of The Irish Field,” remarked Clare, who, together with Charlie Ripman, was instrumental in setting up the Irish-bred event horse results pages in this newspaper. “I love the way Charlie, whose heart is right in it, produces that Irish Field feature nearly every week, especially getting the breeders names into print.”

“One stallion’s name comes up again and again on the damline side in this year’s Goresbridge Go For Gold catalogue: Diamond Lad. No less than 10 times. It was a very interesting statistic and the panel hadn’t noticed it until it came up in print in the catalogue. Diamond Lad and Clover Hill are now appearing in the grandam and great-grandam line as the years goes on.”

Galtee views

Carol Gee, Paul Donovan and Shane Breen are yet more contacts in her wide network. “Carol has an unbelievable talent for spotting horses and is also very generous in sharing her super facilities. I have a picture of a very young Paul Donovan, showing a gelding by Roll On. It’s great to see how he has built up his business and has always made me feel welcome.

“Shane was always very helpful and some of his students at the time included Greg Broderick, Brian Cournane, Brian Cassidy and Vinnie Duffy’s teenage sons, Martin and Alex. Not to be forgotten, was a very hard-working Catherine Woods. They all grow up, life moves on and some have gone to great heights! It has been a pleasure to call to these yards and many, many more throughout the country.”

The thorny issue of vetting and X-rays crops up in many producers and breeders conversations. “Sometimes the veterinary results can be a nightmare, usually X-rays to the States, and many animals have failed for me. I followed those horse’s journey for years afterwards, watching them compete at top level. I do feel a sensible vet can talk one through what has being seen and come to an understanding.”

Her attention to turnout traces back to her own show ring days. “For as long as I can remember, I had been showing ponies. So I was brought up to have the pony and one’s self turned out to be the best as one could and to bring that ring craft forward to the dressage arena and the sales ring.

“Most of the sales horses put forward now are produced to a very high standard. Some plait really neat and well, and it sets off a good neckline. Some leave the forelock unplaited, which has now become a fad for quite a few years.

“So why plait at all and leave it all not plaited, which, if the mane is neatly pulled and lying nicely, will look super too? Otherwise, it appears to me that the animal may be head shy or one is just lazy. I’m afraid I am old-fashioned!”

Old-fashioned or not, gratitude is another of her traits. “I feel my life has been so blessed with kind neighbours and wonderful, dear friends, some magical horses and dogs, plus I’m so lucky to be living in this beautiful country of Ireland! When I have a horse now, I just enjoy riding up in the mountains, especially the Galtees, on my own or with friends like Faith Ponsonby, Sue Perry, Irene O’Meara, Claire Faulkner, Mona Croome-Carroll and Cola Fox.”

And her judgement and eye for the right one are always in demand. “Shane [Breen] phoned this afternoon, wondering if I knew of a quiet, all-round pony for his oldest daughter, Lorna. Those types of animals, be it pony or horse, are worth their weight in gold.”

As are the Warlow sisters, Mary Wilson and Clare Ryan, on their never-ending quest to preserve Irish Draughts and promote Irish horses.