AS part of the Showjumping Ireland National Training Bursary for Young Riders, Barry O’Connor hosted an information day in his stables at Blackwood House, Malahide, Co Dublin recently. The young riders travelled from all parts of the country to avail of the opportunity to partake of the workshops and explore the fantastic facilities.

These young riders had been selected through an assessment day to receive a residential three-day intensive training bursary with their horses, which was hosted Maryville Stables in July, and the information day was a follow-on.

Barry O’Connor during his workshops encouraged the young riders to “train your young horses correctly with particular attention to the basics. Master the basics – the top riders in the world concentrate on doing the simple things really well.” These basics were expertly demonstrated by Philip McGuane during the masterclass.

O’Connor also spoke about seeking help from other professionals in the business. “Your farrier, your vet, our top show jumpers, our course builders, our feed merchants can all help give invaluable advice if asked. We Irish are particularly good at helping each other and are exceptionally good at networking – don’t be afraid to ask,” he said.

Barry conducted a walk-around of his facilities and talked about the improvement and expansion of his yard at Blackwood. Athletes had the opportunity to check out the Aqua Equine Treadmill and discuss the benefits. They picked his brain for advice on setting up their own yards or buying young horses and Barry, as always, was generous and frank with his advice.

Performance Coach Poppy Blandford, who had given workshops during the July Clinic, also caught up with the young riders. Poppy’s down to earth and practical advice always strikes a cord with the riders and they were looking forward to expanding on her previous workshops.

Drawing on research during her recent trip to Sweden, and building on the business theme of Barry’s workshop, Poppy also touched on the importance of looking at and analysing the current situation, identifying problems and then planning and acting on solution.

Susanne Macken, International Judge and FEI Steward was also on hand to give a talk about ‘International Participation’, the pitfalls that offen occur when attending a foreign show, and how to avoid them.

In a nutshell, she said: “You’re Irish, be proud of it. As a competitor you are the Person Responsible (PR) – so be responsible”

During the day, three representatives from the Canadian Federation called to O’Connor’s yard. They were on fact-finding mission to look at the Irish model for training and producing young riders. Among them was Chris Sorensen, who rode for Canada at top international level.

Chris was very impressed at the standard of our young riders, and spoke briefly about his journey to the top. “Work hard – don’t get too complicated, but do what you do really really well and avail of opportunities that open up,” he said when offering advice to the youngsters.