NINE Dublin Horse Show Championships – two of which were won in 2025 by two siblings; six European Championship medals, and two World Championship medals. That is some haul of accolades, and that is only touching the surface of achievements from this remarkable family. It is fair to say very few families in Ireland have a show jumping record compared to that held by the Foleys from Ballyloughan in Co Carlow.

Ever since Jack, now 27 and the eldest of the five boys, set foot on the RDS in 2011, the family has been an absolute force on the Irish show jumping scene.

Jack has since made a successful move into racing, but his siblings Jason (24), Max (21), Ruben (16) and Harvey (12) have made their name in the sport and rarely leave a show at home or abroad without a win.

Not surprisingly, 2026 has been another good year thus far, with the quartet set to contest the Dublin Horse Show with a string of top-class horses and ponies.

Thanks to loyal employers, owners and sponsors, Jason and Max have been jumping at senior level for several years with huge success. Ruben has made the smooth transition to horses this year. Harvey, meanwhile, is still in ponies and is the only member of the family now competing from their home where it all started.

Harvey Oscar Foley and Mayfly Green Peter, winner of the 138cm final at the Dublin Horse Show 2025 \ Laurence Dunne jumpinaction.net

Ger, who is a sales rep for the family’s hugely supportive sponsor Red Mills, recalls his background. “My family had hunters and thoroughbreds but had no show jumpers so our kids are the first generation in the sport. My late uncle Tom Foley trained the legendary Danoli.

“Jack was only around 10 when he started riding. He wanted to go hunting so we got him a pony. Then Jason started and they both did a bit of hunter trialling. The first gymkhana was at Urlingford. We didn’t live here at the time. We moved here around 17 years ago.

“There was no show jumping arena in Carlow for them, and there still isn’t, so you’d have to wonder how you took it up as a sport.”

Despite the lack of local facilities, the boys’ interest in jumping continued to grow. Their incredibly proud mother, Sorcha, who together with her husband Ger has been the driving force behind their success, continues this exceptional story. “When we moved here, they initially had four stables and no arena. They were riding around a field with two chase fences in it. Then came a clay arena but if it rained you could not use it. We slowly built it up and put in a block of stables and a proper arena.”

Arctic Fly and Jack Foley winning for owner Brendan O'Sullivan and trainer Willie Mullins at Punchestown in 2023 \ Healy Racing

First outing

Jack remembers clearly his first outing at the RDS at the age of 12. “That was on a 128cms pony called Twilight Dancer and I made it into the final in the Main Arena on my first attempt,” he said.

Jack liked the show jumping, but always had his sights set on becoming a jockey. He had his first ride as an amateur in November 2020. He went on to be champion conditional in 2021/2022 riding 44 winners. Between 2020 and 2024, he rode 65 winners in total before retiring and taking out his licence as a dual-purpose trainer. He has trained six winners to date. “I did my trainer’s course in March 2025 and I am now based in Wexford and training for a few owners.”

Many of the ponies acquired by the Foleys in the early days were novices and produced up the levels. These include Remington Steal, Parc Giggles, Kiltormer Hero, and Sparkel.

“We had ponies that were affordable to us,” Ger said. “We have been lucky to bring on ponies behind the scenes to sell to be able to afford to keep the others. We sold Remington Steal to keep Sparkel. Then we sold her to buy The Silver Legend.”

Jason was just 10 when he first jumped at the RDS. “I had the 138cms Kiltormer Hero and the 128cms Remington Steal there that year. ‘Steal’ was third in a qualifier and second in the final.”

Commenting on these super ponies, Jason added: “In fairness to my father, he must have had a good eye as we never bought or started with a made pony. We always brought them along ourselves. I picked up when Jack stopped. I have ridden at the RDS practically every year since.”

As Jason continued up through ponies, he was always in the ribbons. In 2013, he won two pony qualifiers in Simmonscourt and placed third in the 128cms final with Remington Steal. Two years later he won both a qualifier and the 138cms title with Kiltormer Hero.

In fact, a quick glance at the SJI results from Dublin over the years saw him and his brothers accumulate no fewer than a dozen wins in Simmonscourt - not to mention the dozens of rosettes for finishing in the top three. Consistency has been their motto.

In 2016 Jason won a 148cms qualifier; was placed in three others with two different ponies and finished second in the final with More Clover.

In 2018, a year after joining Castlefield Sport Horses, he had a career highlight when winning individual gold and team bronze at the European Junior Championships riding Castlefield Vegas. He followed this up with team silver at the young rider equivalent in 2021 riding Clyde VA.

At the RDS in 2019, he won the six-year-old horses’ qualifier and then the final riding Dawsons Flex. Winner of the Broodmare Futurity, Rockwell RC also provided him with a runner-up spot in the five-year-old championship. That year would prove to be one of the most successful to date as the then 18-year-old became one of the youngest ever to win a medal at the FEI WBFSH Jumping World Breeding Championship for Young Horses at Lanaken when taking home gold with the talented mare by Kannan.

In 2021 he landed another Dublin title in the eight/nine-year-old championship with D’Amour Du Nenuphar.

Jason was back on the Lanaken podium in 2025 when winning bronze in the five-year-old decider with Tysons Lady Lux. “I really want to thank Ger O’Neill from Castlefield,” he said. “We have had a great partnership for nine years and he has given me lots of opportunities.

“More recently I have been riding horses for Ellie Guy and last year was probably the most exciting at the RDS when I got to ride in the five-star classes and the Rolex Grand Prix riding Cute Face, owned by Chedington Equestrian.” The same combination recently won the two-star Grand Prix at Mullingar.

“Ellie has supported me for several years now and in 2025 I was also on the winning Irish team on my senior Nations Cup debut in Abu Dhabi with Chedington Hazy Toulana.”

2025 Dublin Horse Show Speed Stakes winner Jason Foley on MBF be Blue \ Lorraine O’Sullivan

B>Priorities

Like his older brothers, Max was not too keen on school or extracurricular activities for that matter. His mother Sorcha recounts the day he was due to make his Holy Communion. “Typically, it clashed with the RDS qualifiers in Ennis. We had to change parish so he could make it the following day!”

It was well worth it as Max qualified both Tiger Lily and Sparkel, with the latter taking sixth in the 128cms final. He had turned eight that same week. The following year he returned to the Main Arena with Sparkel and came a close second.

When the 138cms Connemara gelding Mayfly Green Peter joined the Foley team in 2013, after being sourced from Miriam O’Donnell, they knew they had something special.

With Max in the saddle, the bay gelding jumped at Dublin three years in a row and won two of the qualifiers in Simmonscourt, but much more was to come from this phenomenal pony as time went on.

Max was just 14 when he won the 148cms final with the late French-bred Connemara stallion Pumkins Pondi. He was also leading pony rider of the week. In fact, the Foley siblings have won numerous leading rider titles, too many to mention. “We’ve had some great people help us coaching the boys, in particular Jason Higgins and Jonathan Reape, and we are most grateful to them,” Ger commented.

Show jumping has always taken centre stage in the Foley household and by the time Max had completed primary school, he was done with his education. Jack and Jason also finished up before their final exams.

A freak accident in 2020 saw Max suffer a shattered shoulder blade, broken femur and ankle. It happened during Covid and he had to be airlifted to Tallaght. “I didn’t ride for a good while as a result. When I did return to the RDS in 2023, I won the 1.30m young rider final on Hermes de Cavalier. I am most grateful to owners Michael and Aoife O’Neill who got me back in the saddle. I was offered a job with Marion Hughes and Miguel Bravo after that.”

Max Foley and Illusion de Hus winning the Top Spec Equine international speed stakes at Balmoral \ Anne Hughes

Max qualified four horses for the RDS in 2024 and won the young rider bursary that year. “I got to spend two weeks with McLain Ward in Wellington and got to compete there which was fantastic.”

The year 2025 proved another good one for Max Foley when he won team silver at the European Young Rider Championships in Germany and later earned a place on the coveted Young Riders Academy – following in the footsteps of his brother Jason who had also been selected in 2020.

Founded in 2014, the YRA is a programme for young talented show jumpers who gain enormous benefit from mentoring and work placements.

Since joining HHS, Max has gone from strength to strength. “I would like to say a big thanks to Marion and Miguel. They have been very good to me since I started in horses, and this year has been my best year so far.”

International wins picked up already this season include an impressive six at Vejer de la Frontera and two at Balmoral, where he was crowned leading rider.

Unique record

The second youngest of the family, Ruben Foley holds a unique record as one of the few riders to win all three pony finals at the RDS. In 2021, on his show debut, he picked up the first of the treble in the 128cms championship with The Silver Legend. It followed a fabulous few months on the Grand Prix circuit with six wins, and the rider also crowned national champion at Mullingar. It was fitting that the pony got a special recognition award at the end of that season.

In 2022, Ruben landed the 138cms title with Mayfly Green Peter, who also finished a close second 12 months later. In 2025, Ruben and his younger brother Harvey completed a unique double with him winning the 148cms final on Wineport Q Junior and Harvey landing the 138cms equivalent with the ever-consistent Mayfly Green Peter, who currently boasts over 1,500 SJI points.

Ruben Foley and Wineport Q Junior, winners of the 148cm final at the Dublin Horse Show 2025 \ Laurence Dunne jumpinaction.net

“Just a week earlier I had ridden the mare (Wineport Q Junior) at the European Championships and won team silver,” Ruben explained. Later in 2025, the pair won the Grand Prix at Southview in the UK and qualified for the London International where they placed a creditable sixth in the Mini Stakes. “I would like to thank Michael O’Sullivan for giving me the ride on her,” added Ruben who also won a European team bronze medal in 2024 with the 148cms Cracher.

Ruben recently completed his Junior Certificate but has been working with Michael Condon and Mary Kehoe since late last year. “They were looking for a rider, so I was hunting there a few days a week. I am now jumping horses for them and have qualified a five-year-old.”

Mayfly Green Peter is 19 but shows no sign of slowing down. “He has been in the family 13 years altogether,” commented Ger. “We’ve sold him and bought him back a few times when the boys were ready for him.”

Young gun

Still only 12, Harvey Foley will be making his third appearance at Dublin. “I qualified both Mayfly Green Peter and The Silver Legend in 2024 (they won a qualifier in Simmonscourt that year) but just went for a ‘look around!’ They are both qualified again for this year’s show, as is Yuki for the 138cms young pony class.

This season Harvey is also campaigning the Connemara mare Bearna Rua Jenny for her owner Eugene Hannon. “Eugene dropped the mare over to us 10 years ago to be produced. He has been a huge supporter of the boys ever since,” Ger said.

At 24, and possibly the oldest pony on the scene, The Silver Legend has been with the Foleys over eight years. He has been an incredible servant to them and many other children and has truly lived up to his name with over 2,600 SJI points to his credit.

“He’s the best-known pony in Ireland and the UK. We may just retire him after Dublin this year. Maybe they’ll honour him!” joked Ger who together with his wife Sorcha and family are eagerly looking forward to their annual holiday in Dublin 4.

“There’s no show like it. We get to meet people we haven’t seen all year. There are shows abroad where you’d be rushing for the ferry when it’s over. In Dublin at least you get to enjoy the wins,” he concluded.

This article is taken from The Irish Field’s Dublin Horse Show Magazine 2026. Order your copy HERE