THE footpath outside Rosaleen Keane’s newsagents shop on Society Street for a radio interview during Ballinasloe Horse Fair. Thinking back, that was when and where I first met Tom Conlon, working part-time then for RTÉ and now the assistant director at the National Forensic Mental Health Services; and a keen event horse breeder and judge for good measure.
Horse-mad from a young age, his school years in Swinford involved switching seats on the school bus to catch a glimpse of every horse along the route and watching and re-watching a Mary King video.
“It covered her training of event horses and her big international wins. If I’ve watched it once, I’ve watched it a million times,” he said about six-time Olympian King’s video, a gift from one of his school friends, Suzanne Malee.
“Suzanne’s grandfather was our family GP and her parents [Padraic and Susan] owned Carrabeg Stud, just a few hundred metres from school. I was lucky as Suzanne had numerous ponies and we did everything together on them.
“Carrabeg stood thoroughbred stallions such as Triggerero, Ardent Lodger and Primo Pageant, as well as a few Draughts, so it was then that my love for the thoroughbred and interest in event breeding started.”
Memorable days
Breeding show jumpers was more the norm in the west. “The stud had a range of show jumpers but I was definitely drawn to the show and event type horses in the yard,” he said, before listing Susan’s RDS wins with horses such as Corran King, Rakish Paddy, Carrabeg Gold and Carrabeg Apollo that all fuelled his interest.
“Even back then, my year revolved around Balmoral, Westport Horse Show and the RDS. Westport was usually an indicator what everyone had for the year and the standard was always exceptional. It was in these early days the dreams of breeding a Dublin winner started.”
Recruited in 1997 by local breeder Paddy Maloney to help show his Collagh Lass, he has fond memories of the Triggerero - Kingsway Diamond mare. “She was a beautiful mare, bred by his neighbours the McNicholas family and bought by Paddy when she was just a few hours old.
“I’d many memorable days with Collagh Lass. We qualified multiple times for the RDS Breeders’ Championship, each time on the first attempt and we were always in the ribbons. We never managed to get a big win there but it never stopped me dreaming about it.”
A visit to the National Forensic Mental Health Services, as part of his Mental Health Nursing studies at Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, moulded his career plan, just as his years in the Malee’s yard shaped his sport horse breeding plans.
The term forensics conjures up images of crime scenes and TV shows like CSI Miami, how does it apply to mental health?
“Forensic Mental Health is a specialised branch of psychiatry which deals with the assessment and treatment of mentally disordered offenders in the criminal justice system, secure hospitals and the community. Patients are admitted to the National Forensic Mental Health Services at a range of therapeutic security levels because they have a history of serious violence or pose a serious or grave risk to the public,” he explained.
“Once I completed my degree in Mental Health Nursing, I decided I wanted to work in Forensics and completed a Masters in Forensic Mental Health at Trinity College Dublin in 2010 and then went on to study Clinical Leadership at the Royal College of Surgeons.”
Full circle
Just last year, Tom was appointed to his Assistant Director post and while his career path continues ever upwards, there was one element missing. “I knew the horses had to be put on hold. So I sold all the horses, only keeping Fizzy, my sister Gemma’s pony that I bought for her as a kid.”
He was thrown an equine lifeline though. “Prior to moving to Dublin, I met Paddy Joe Foy at Westport Show and we got talking. I told him about my new job, Paddy Joe asked about the horses and where was that going to fit in? I was unclear and it was at that point, he suggested I should apply for the Irish Shows Association judging panel, that it would be a great opportunity for me.”
“I took his advice and that led me down the path of judging. My judging role with the Irish Shows Association kept me in the loop. Like my professional role, you could call it a vocation!” he said with a smile.
As in his day job, he was quickly promoted within the judging ranks and has already judged a number of All Ireland finals, including the FBD broodmare championship at Ennis, the yearling filly final at Scariff and two-year-old filly final at Kildysart.
“And last summer I judged the Red Mills All Ireland two-year-old colt/gelding championship at Tinahely with Rachel Bennett. I’m a believer that every day is a school day and judging alongside judges such as Rachel, Walter Kent and Ruth Brown certainly added to the way I conduct my role in the show ring today.
“I’ve had the pleasure of dealing with Michael Hughes, Dorothea Lazenby and most recently Jim Harrison, always so welcoming and nothing is ever a big deal,” he remarked about the ISA team. “In terms of furthering my judging role, I hope to sit a few exams in the UK and hopefully get selected for a few panels there.
“While I was studying in Mayo, I’d the opportunity to work part-time in RTÉ on the Brenda Donoghue Show. One of the pieces to cover was the Ballinasloe Horse Fair and Show. A number of years later, I ended up judging at the show so it’s funny how things go full circle.”
Pedigrees and horses were the main headlines during that Fair day’s conversation and Conlon is as keen as ever on analysing bloodlines. Eventing bloodlines.
“My career was well on its way but I was missing the horses,” he said about his return to the fold. “In 2013 I decided to start looking for a broodmare. It took much longer than I thought as I was sticking to my criteria.”
Two years later he received a phone call that Preci Spark Event Horses were selling some blacktype eventing mares and didn’t waste much time following up the tip-off. “The following morning I flew to Leicestershire and purchased two broodmares; Trewins and Trelissick.
“Trelissick is 98% thoroughbred with no warmblood in her pedigree and her damline goes back to Carnival Night and Menelek. Trewins is full thoroughbred and out of a CCI4* Irish thoroughbred mare by Riot Helmet. Both mares are by the famous thoroughbred stallion Hand In Glove and their dams were bought in Ireland in the early 1990s by Vin and Liz Jones of Preci Spark Horses.
“I’d found exactly what I was searching for – performance-bred mares with a high percentage of thoroughbred blood.”
So what’s his breeding goal? “My goal is to try and breed sound quality horses, underpinned by a high percentage of thoroughbred blood. It’s not that this formula is the golden rule but more one based on personal preference and an interest in the thoroughbred horse.”
Go for Gold
Both mares’ British-born progeny have already made their mark. “To date, the offspring of my Hand In Glove mares have won all over Europe with the eldest [Tregilder, by Royal Concorde] winning the four-star at Blair Castle in 2018 with Oliver Townend.
“Andrew Nicholson has also had top placings this year with a Jumbo daughter [Tregellis] of our mare, Trewins. Between the two mares, their offspring have competed and won in every division in eventing up to four-star.”
Lisbrogan is his prefix and the first Mayo-foaled offspring of both mares are already showing potential.
“In 2016 my mother Bernie became ill and my dad Gerry retired after 30 years of working in construction in New York. Dad, like so many back then, immigrated in the 1980s to find work and support their families. Mum’s illness was life-changing and had a big impact on our family, especially dad, as he became Mum’s full-time carer.
“Shortly after that, my childhood friend Suzanne returned home after studying veterinary to become our local vet. In 2018, Dad started farming and we decided to produce one of the two-year-old fillies, Lisbrogan Gold, for the RDS. It was dad’s first time getting involved with the horses.
“Part of Mum’s recovery was to walk to the yard each day, which is about 50 metres from the house, feed Lisbrogan Gold some carrots and walk back. I’d phone each day and ask how the walking was going and how many carrots were left. That summer, I headed to RDS under strict instructions from Mum to bring home a rosette.
“I remember being pulled in second in the initial line up. I started to get flashbacks of the Breeders’ Championship some years back where we got pulled top and dropped to fourth,” he said, recalling that morning in Ring 1 with his imposing chesnut filly by LePrince des Bois out of Trelissick.
“I got called forward to do our show and I remember, as I came up that centrepoint of the ring, Lisbrogan Gold was in my hand and moving like I know she can.
“When we moved round the top bend and down the back, I could see the entire lineup looking round to see her go down the back line. It was at that point I knew it was going to take a great show to beat her.
“The judges looked at each horse, then came back to me and requested that I go to the top of the line. This wasn’t the usual format so I was still unclear if I’d won. The steward sent us all back out and we did another two laps before I got the winning nod.”
What was his first Dublin win with his home-bred like? “A dream come true winning the RDS with a home-bred. Lisbrogan Gold went on to stand reserve champion filly. It was an emotional week, not just because she was a home-bred, but for the role she had played in Mum’s recovery.”
Tom Conlon's Lisbrogan Gold was the reserve champion in the Youngstock championships and the champion home-bred exhibit at Balmoral Show in 2019 \ Anne Hughes
Marketplace
Not to be outdone by her stable companion in 2018, Trewins also produced a champion in Lisbrogan Grace. “A few weeks later, I took one of our foals to compete for a place in the Horse Sport Ireland eventing foal championship, a bay filly foal by the Kylemore Stud resident stallion, Tyson. We won our qualifier in Tubberbride and went on to win the final in Cavan that October.”
Breeding event horses is a slow burn process, however Tom has found a ready market for his foals.
“The Hand In Glove line has been a lucky one for me and the offspring from these lines are in big demand. I’ve been mostly fortunate around sales since getting back into breeding, each horse I’ve bred has either been sold to America or mainland Europe, most notably Alan Waldman, based in The Netherlands, Mimi Falb and Margo Bentsen in America.
“Alan made contact with me enquiring about my Hand in Glove mares and bought two fillies from my breeding programme in 2018. He has produced many top level 1.60m show jumpers, including Big Star who won gold at the Rio Olympics.”
2019 started off on a promising note. “Another successful year, some beautiful foals born in the spring and Lisbrogan Gold had her biggest wins, winning the three-year-old filly class at Balmoral, champion filly and reserve champion young horse. She arrived in great form at the RDS but, unfortunately, gave herself a knock in the stable and went lame the morning of her class. In all aspects of life, you have to take the highs with the lows,” is his pragmatic take on the result.
Lisbrogan Gold spent last winter in the UK being broken by producer Danielle Heath, “but due to Covid-19 I made the decision early in the spring to bring her home as the running of shows was so unclear. She’s currently being produced by Edward Walsh in Ballina.”
Covid-19 impact
“2020 has so far been a challenging one,” said Tom, whose workplace moves shortly from Dundrum to a new state-of-the-art facility. “The current service was the first established secure hospital in Europe in 1850 with 84 beds. The new National Forensic Mental Health Service will move 22km from Dublin city to Portrane and will provide in-patient care for 170 patients, including a Forensic Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service and an intensive care rehabilitation unit.”
If there was one silver lining about the timing of the pandemic in Ireland, it hit at the ‘right’ time of the year. “It’s going to be a long winter” is now a frequently-heard comment and so from his professional viewpoint, what impact has the pandemic had on the population’s mental health?
“From a mental health perspective, the main impact to date would be elevated rates of anxiety and stress but as measures to deal with Covid-19 are introduced, it affects people’s normal activities and livelihoods. Continuity of care and access for people with developing and mental health issues are currently a real concern.
“Reviewing the most current research, I find it worrying in terms of how diseases spread faster in periods of lower humidity during winter. The Spanish Flu pandemic surged during the winter months, which could be an indicator of what’s in store for the current pandemic. It has yet to be determined the relationship between seasonal change and the spread of Covid-19.
“There are many factors that challenge our ability to reduce the spread of Covid-19 but we certainly all have a personal responsibility to at least try.”
Lockdown earlier this year meant none of the usual visits home to Mayo. And foaling season. Fortunately, help was at hand. “My youngest sibling Gemma returned home from New York last year after having worked there for a number of years. Her return has certainly made my life easier, especially in terms of managing our breeding programme.”
“I’m looking forward to 2021, we’re already making plans at Lisbrogan Horses.
We’ve retained two fillies since Gemma returned so we’re really looking forward to producing them. We have a nice colt foal by Shannondale Sarco this year out of Trewins and she is back in foal to Canturex for 2021.
“Canturex is a new sire standing at Shannondale Stud, he is by the successful stallion Canturo out of a mare who jumped at 1.40m level. Canturo also sired the eventing stallion Upsilon so I think he’s an exciting eventing sire for the future.”
And the siblings even managed to get in a day’s judging. “Gemma and I recently judged at Saintfield Show and nothing that needed discussion got past her keen eye. The show was so well organised and everyone was so responsible in terms of adhering to Covid-19 guidelines.”
No sourdough or cake recipes required for either Conlon household as horses and that rare day’s judging are instead part of their lockdown strategy. “Judging offers me time away and doing something completely different. I try to live a balanced life and one of the most important pieces of that balance is looking after my mental health.
“Without doubt, the most important aspect of breeding and showing horses is the people I meet and the friends that I’ve made. I’ve really missed that this year but hopefully we will be soon back out on the showgrounds together.”
And who knows, perhaps one day the family will be at Badminton or Burghley to watch a Lisbrogan-bred compete there.