THE Judge household in Ahascragh was like Grand Central station over Christmas and the New Year with visitors calling to see Arthur, his partner Dandan Huang and their baby son William over the holidays. The couple met when Arthur went to work in China, where he met the multilingual business consultant Dandan with the master farrier’s Chinese venture featuring in The Irish Field’s Year of the Horse series back in 2014.

Since then, he has taken up a new post in South Korea with the family facing 16-hour flights back last Sunday. Dressage and show jumping are the focus at the Balios Equestrian Club, which opened in 2015 and where Arthur is now based.

His in-demand skills, which saw him shoeing Hickstead and Cedric on the Florida circuit, still see him flying back to China on a regular basis to do work in Beijing and around the provinces.

Tuam native Austin Melia, also home for Christmas from China, was amongst the callers to catch up with the family, while Arthur’s mother Patricia and sister Louise flew to Incheon to meet the adorable William when he was born this summer.

The pair of intrepid travellers had previously travelled to China when the couple lived there, taking in famous sights such as the Great Wall of China. Arthur’s namesake father may yet be persuaded to make a trip to the Orient!