THEY say lightning doesn’t strike twice but Rebecca Monahan, who has led two Dublin young horse champions in Notalot (2015) and Carrowgar Herald (2019), believes more in the power of making your own luck.

If she was to subscribe to any motto, it would be “The harder I try, the luckier I get”, a quote attributed to the famous US golfer Jerry Barber, a seven-time PGA Tour player and Ryder Cup team member.

“I would say I am a perfectionist and perhaps I inherited that from my mum, Sigrid, who is German. My dad, Peter was from Wexford and sadly died in 2011,” said Rebecca who spent many memorable childhood summers in Germany with her grandparents.

“I still love going back and smelling delicious breads from the bakeries and watching the New Year’s Eve fireworks in the snow, sipping a cup of gluhwein.”

While her parents were out walking in a country lane near their Co Clare home, they spotted a dun 12.2 pony looking over the hedge. That chance sighting resulted in Rebecca’s first pony. “They didn’t come from horsey backgrounds but just liked the look of this pony. I was six years old when Peggy arrived home.”

Renamed Ballycasey Nutcracker and affectionately described as “a total nutcase”, Rebecca continued with her weekly lessons at Burke’s Riding School in Newmarket-on-Fergus. “All my friends were into ponies and that’s where I first sat on one, learning the ‘up-down, up-down’ on a pony named Appetite and taught by the famous Kevin Burke.

“For the next seven years, I went there every day after school and competed this mad pony [Ballycasey Nutcracker] to progress into a Grade A. As I was always very tall for my age, my next pony was a 14.2 which I called Lilly Marlene.”

The Co Clare Pony Club and annual camp, then held in Smithstown House, near Shannon was part of every summer and then, almost by default, showing took over.

“I always had an interest in dressage as my grandparents lived near a dressage yard in Germany and I used to ride there whenever I was visited. Dressage back in the early 1980s was not very popular in Ireland so I decided to try showing. We contacted Tom and Theresa Frost who lived nearby and asked if Tom could look at our pony and advise if she had showing potential.

“The day I brought her over there was the day I started my showing career,” said Rebecca, one of the showring’s most distinctive exhibitors with her trademark tan hat and cream cravat.

Brilliant run

Soon educated by Tom in the finer art of showmanship, such as the perfect figure-of-eight and standing up a pony correctly for the judge, Rebecca also made a longtime friend in his daughter, Margaret (now Jeffares).

“Margaret was home at weekends and gave me the confidence to compete in the RDS in 1987. I came third in a hot class of 28 ponies. My Mum, who was off cigarettes for nearly a year, was so nervous that she asked a complete stranger beside her if she could finish his cigarette!” Rebecca recalled.

She next started showing youngsters in-hand and ridden hunters for the Frost family as well as her own successful foray into owning show champions. “Back in 1999, I had a horse by King Of Shannon and he was second in a strong middleweight three-year-old class in the RDS. The classes were split in two then as there were huge entries. He won the famous De Valera Cup at Ennis show that August too.”

Her first taste of All Ireland success happened the following year when she won the yearling filly final, hosted that year in Scarriff, with Brilliant Chat, bred by Galway couple Michael and Ena Furey. “She was later sold as a five-year-old to the late Paul Darragh and was a successful international showjumper.”

This cross between the Geoghegan family’s Swedish-bred stallion Brilliant Lad (out of an exported King of Diamonds mare) and the Entrechat dam, Chitt Chat, so impressed her that she ended up buying two more of Brilliant Chat’s full-siblings. “One of them, Six Hills Sapphire, is eventing in the UK and at present, I’ve a three-year-old filly, another by Brilliant Lad, so hopefully she will have a big future ahead.”

What about Notalot, the one she describes as her ‘horse of a lifetime’? “Most people will have one of those and I really think she was mine.”

“Back in 2012, I received a call from Jim Wallace and asked if I could take a look at a filly foal he was trying to sell. The following Sunday morning, myself and my husband Ray drove back to Cranny to take a look at her. He brought this small bay filly out and walked and trotted her up the road for us. Ray whispered, ‘She will win Dublin one day.’

“We bought her there and then and this was our famous Notalot, by Lancelot out of a Cavalier dam. She had this huge presence and ‘look-at-me’ factor for a small filly foal. I have a method to measure a foal and know what height they will be at maturity so I was never worried about her height.”

History maker

“Many commentators have said that she was probably the best show filly ever in Ireland and it’s hard to argue against that. She made history in the showing world. In 2015 she won the All Ireland three-year-old final at Bannow & Rathangan, the only filly to ever do so, in front of renowned judges Tiernan Gill and Timmy Wilson.”

Three weeks later Notalot became the first filly to bring off the All Ireland and Dublin double when she added the Owen Ryan and Laidlaw cups to her formidable collection, as the champion filly and overall champion young horse at Dublin.

“The previous year she also won the filly championship and was reserve overall champion in the RDS,” pointed out Rebecca, who then sold her multi-champion to her good friends, Margaret and Des Jeffares to join their Ballykelly Sport Horses mare herd.

“She went on to win the Stepping Stones young event horse league as a four-year-old and has now produced three smashing colt foals in a row. Notalot has a five-star home and that is what she deserves.”

Next came the similarly-named Notabother. “The first thing I do when we bring home our purchase is to spend time giving the horse an appropriate name, as they are now part of our family for the time they spend here,” said Rebecca.

Rebecca Monahan and Notabother winning at the Dublin Horse Show in 2018 \ ES Photography

“She was another filly by Lancelot and bred by the Donnellan brothers, back in Kildysart. She really was a black beauty and won everything as a yearling filly for me, including the All Ireland final and her class in the RDS. My good friend Richard Gildea approached me to buy her and I’m privileged to be able to sell a horse to very good friends and know that they are delighted and happy with their progress.

“I prefer to buy direct from the breeder than at sales, because you not only come home with a foal but you also make good friends.

"It’s nice to keep in touch with the breeder as they are very proud people when red rosettes are won. I’m very lucky to be sponsored by Top Spec so the youngstock are put on high quality feed from day one and let out in the fields as much as possible.”

What does she look for when buying youngstock? “It has to have presence, be a nice model, have good quality with an attractive head and rein, clean limbs and have a good, straight walk. If they can walk, then they can gallop. The trot can be worked on and improved. The percentage of blood is not a big issue for me.

“Being an ISA judge myself, I believe a show horse is the model in front of you on the specific day. Breeding is only a second criteria in my eyes. Unfortunately, due to rules and regulations, not all horses are allowed into All Ireland finals, even though they have all their breeding recorded and born in Ireland.

“This, I believe, should be changed to allow any horse with recorded breeding who is deemed good enough by the judge on the day to qualify. These horses also have the potential to pass a five-stage vetting and perform, for example, in eventing at a top level,” said Rebecca, giving her opinion on the Irish Shows Association eligibility rules for their All Ireland finals.

All hail Herald

The second taste of Dublin success came last year when she showed Gina Heaps’ home-bred pride and joy, Carrowgar Herald, a three-year-old Herald III gelding out of Gina’s much-loved Flagmount King mare, Equine Connect Monchie.

“I met Gina and Emelyn Heaps through my good friend Niamh Harney, who helps me break the young horses. In 2016, Gina asked me to show ‘George’ as a foal in the RDS and she led his mother. Even then he was impeccably behaved.

“Two years later, Gina hurt her arm in Dublin and asked me to lead him again in the Pembroke Cup as a two-year-old and after the class, I remember saying to her ‘If you decide to enter him next year, I would love to take the lead’. So with a plan in place we started 2019 with a nice young horse championship in our first show in Newmarket-on-Fergus and then on to win in Balmoral.

“I don’t think he ever put a foot wrong last year and probably was one of the best-behaved horses I have ever dealt with. The morning before his class, I brought him into the international practice arena at 6am when there was no one around and he was electric.

“When I came back to the stable, I said to Gina and Lucinda, her good friend and our top class groom, that this horse is on fire and we will give this class a good shout,” is her crystal-clear recollection of that Thursday morning.

“When you go into the class in Dublin, you need to own the ring in your mind and so does the horse you are leading.

"He needs to be alert and ready to show off for the full 30 minutes while the class is in progress. But little did we know that he would win his class, stand champion three-year-old, then win the overall champion Laidlaw cup and the Pembroke [exhibitor-bred] cup.

“Gina could not get into the ring quick enough to stand beside her winning ‘George’, she was a very proud owner and breeder. I could hear the ‘Banner Roar’ from the corner of Ring 1 when they announced his number. The judge even said to me while presenting the rosette, “You have a very large fan club over there!”

“This was also special as my two boys Cillian and Joshua, my husband Ray and my Mum were among the cheerleading crew. The brandy was already opened, celebrations had begun and for once, Emelyn was speechless!

“George was sold that day to a very nice couple from Lancashire who had spotted him in his first class. He found a really nice home with the Hatherns and they are very happy with him. He was ready for ridden hunter classes this summer but unfortunately will have to wait until 2021. Gina has a few more siblings at home and hopefully she will have something out next year.”

Cancel the quarter pounder

Their show horses are now out in the fields. “I had two nice three-year-olds ready for Newmarket-on-Fergus but this was all put to a quick halt, due to Covid-19. Plan B has to come into effect now.

“I also broke into the thoroughbred industry as we bought our first yearling filly and hopefully our luck will continue when the yearling flat sales open up again. In this game, breeding is number one.”

Another sale she has earmarked is the planned show horse sale in September. “At present, I have five horses and I’m busy breaking and schooling them. I always have a nice horse or two for sale which are geared for the eventing, show jumping or ridden hunter markets. Following a great idea from Michael Lyons, Showing Ireland and Goresbridge September sales have teamed up to run a special sale for show horses and hopefully this will be well supported.

“The small shows will be greatly missed as it was always exciting seeing who has what for the year and listening to the sideline judges and enjoying the banter. Cillian (13) and Joshua (9) can both ride but are not that keen yet. I’m still working on it!

“I would love them to get involved in the young handler classes as this is a great incentive to experience the showing world. During this pandemic they will mostly miss ordering a quarter pounder and chips at shows around the country!

“Ray, an astute judge and my second pair of eyes in the horse world, is kept busy keeping the garden in top shape and listening to me moaning about no show outings! All we can do is stay safe. We just need to appreciate this lockdown as it gives everyone time to think, enjoy the little pleasures in life and set up new goals for the year ahead.”

Re-evaluating

Re-evaluating goals and profit margins has been forced on retailers above most during this current pandemic. Take the decision by several retails chains, notably Debenhams, to close their Irish stores. In North America, where ‘brick-and-mortar’ businesses were already battling online sales, giants like Macys and Nordstrom have escalated store closures and just this week, the upscale Neiman Marcus chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Rebecca has experienced the pitfalls of retail trends too. “In 2014 I decided to open a small ladies fashion boutique in Ennis, called Monsai. I ran this successful boutique with my Mum and it was a huge learning curve for me, one that gave me huge experience in this business.

“I saw it a little like buying horses, quality was number one when buying stock. Last May, I sadly decided to close, due to increasing overheads. In a way, I am happy now with my decision as during this challenging times it’s hard to see how small retailers will get back on track,” she reasoned.

Fashion runs in the family. “I am very lucky at Dublin Horse Show but my Mum has also had good luck there. Back in 1985, she made herself an outfit and entered the best dressed lady competition.

“We travelled up by train and came back that evening when she got a call at 10pm to say she had to be back in the RDS by 9am the following morning as she was in the final eight contestants. Our dog Zara had already eaten half her hat when we got home...

“The next morning, up she went. I watched on telly at home and there she was the proud owner of a new Citroen CV car having won the competition!”

Another example of Jerry Barber’s philosophy.