FORGING her own path in what is largely a male-orientated profession, producer Gemma Phelan is a highly motivated individual.

An acknowledged magician in the saddle, Gemma has the ability to conjure the very best from horses of all abilities and is a rider you would underestimate at your peril.

As a result, she regularly makes the headlines at Goresbridge and Cavan, but is equally recognised on the international and national show jumping circuits.

Possessing an astute business brain, together with an eye-watering work ethic, Gemma’s equestrian passion stemmed from her late father Jim who, from the family’s home in Dungarvan, Co Waterford, was a successful breeder and producer of point-to-point and National Hunt horses.

Through this connection, the feisty young Phelan rode racehorses on the gallops from the age of eight, progressing to produce a number of notable jumping ponies.

“I started them all off from just backed, and most were quite hardy,” she recalls. “Not all were talented when they started, but they manged to go up the grades and some turned out to be very good,” Phelan added, explaining her start in the sport.

Among the most prominent was her own RDS winner Kilcannon Explosion, who in later years was a medal winner at the European championships with Niall Flynn.

The Byrne family’s well-known campaigner Some Man For One Man was another, winning the six/seven-year-old class for Phelan at the RDS.

Such was Phelan’s natural talent, this early success was achieved without any formal training, and it was not until much later in her young rider career that she won a bursary to attend a three-day training clinic in Necarne. Trevor Coyle was one of the coaches, and his input made a lasting impression.

“He was very good - especially working with the horse’s brain and understanding the way the horses were thinking. He stood out for me and was the one person who I can say has been a real influence on my career.”

Uncanny ability

Having had a taste of top-level pony jumping both home and abroad, Phelan enjoyed the buzz of competing, and managed to juggle this with her blossoming dealing business.

She became known for her uncanny ability to get the best out of tricky or even average horses, including her own 1.50m partner Kilcannon Brigade and her first national 1.50m Grand Prix ride, Royal Muskateer. The latter, who went on to event with Neilus O’Donaghue, she describes as “unbelievably quirky but the best I have ever sat on.”

Building on the wise words of Trevor Coyle, Phelan worked at getting inside each individual horse’s head. “The amount you learn from each one is unbelievable, although you probably don’t realise it at the time. You could never learn it from a book and no one could ever teach you.”

It is by no means only tricky horses that benefit from Phelan’s touch, as she is equally adept at producing ones that were, on first appearance, moderate. One very good example of that is GRC Acapella, who is currently competing in classes up to 1.50m with Greg Broderick and American rider Kerry McCahill.

A son of Luidam, he was a winner of a 1.50m TRM/HSI New Heights Champions Series Grand Prix under Phelan, but people weren’t convinced of his ability.

“All the time people condemned him for having no style, but he would leave the fences up and to me, he felt very good. He improved the whole time and as the fences went up, his technique got so much better. And when he was at 1.50m and had the pace, his technique was actually quite good.”

Thriving business

From her mid-teens Phelan juggled competing with her dealing, but the real lure of trading memorably began when she turned over her first horse at the age of 15. “I got great satisfaction out of breaking it and producing it,” she said.

“When I bought it at the sales, it was a horse nobody wanted, and within six months, I took it to back to Goresbridge and made money - it was good craic.”

This sowed a seed which grew into something of an addiction, as well as a financial necessity, and over the past decade the astute Phelan has built a thriving business in what is an extremely tough world.

“The reason I do both the sales and the shows is primarily to keep the business on the road and I always like to keep developing the yard.”

Standing out among her many sales successes, both for owners and herself, are the Buck Davidson-ridden five-star event horse Copper Beach, who headed the Goresbridge Go For Gold sale at €48,000 in 2011; as well as the Holly Smith/Harry Whall-ridden Puissance specialist Quality Old Joker, and the mare CSF Olympic Lady (1.50m).

“It is rewarding to see them all go on. And equally so when people get up and try the horses and like the feel of them - I find that satisfying and proof of a job well done, regardless of the ability of the horse.”

In recent years, her show jumping pursuits have developed further, due largely to opportunities presented by a small group of show jumping owners. Among them is Rory Costigan, whose many home-bred representatives include the Phelan-ridden Lanaken campaigners GRC Tadmus and GRC Acapella, as well as the Irish Nations Cup horse Loughnavatta Indigo.

“Gemma always believed in Indigo and now he is ranked the number one Irish horse in the world on the WBSFH rankings (2019),” stated Costigan proudly. “She’s so gifted and brings them on so gently. I aim my horses for the long term, not for the four and five-year-old classes, and Gemma’s quiet way of producing them compliments that,” he added.

Loyal owners

It’s a partnership that undoubtedly works both ways, as Phelan explains. “Rory is a very loyal owner. We have a good understanding of each other. When he hands you the horse, he hands you the trust. That is so important because it does take a while to get to that point.

“The selling of them is very important because that’s the end goal for us both and especially for him as a breeder. The aim is always to sell, from my own business and personal perspective, it’s the victory and the satisfaction. I’m just delighted to have brought him and his family success, both in competition and in sales.”

Gemma Phelan and RVS Lui Fortunus on their way to winning the five-year-old final at the 2015 Dublin Horse Show \ Laurence Dunne Jumpinaction.net

Others loyal owners include Noel Ryan, Gerard Burke, Jim Roberts, Gabriel Mullins and Baden Powell. Ryan, in particular, has had numerous horses in partnership with Phelan, most notably RVS Lui Fortunus, who won the prestigious five-year-old class at the RDS before booking his Lanaken ticket the following year.

Sales ring

In the sales ring, she has been equally successful for Ryan, and notably when his four-year-old by Diamant de Semilly realised €31,000 at Goresbridge in October 2017.

“I’ve had some great days with Noel, both topping the sales and winning at the RDS, and I was delighted to have been able to do both for him,” she added.

Riding for Jim Roberts, she produced the CCI3* winning event horse Limestone Romeo to top the 2016 Goresbridge May Select Event Horse sale at €30,000, while last November she piloted Baden Powell’s smart grey Curraghraigue Womanizer to realise €25,000 at the Go For Gold.

She has been similarly successful for show jumping enthusiast and thoroughbred pinhooker Gerard Burke, who said: “I have tremendous respect for Gemma and I’m in awe of the job she does - it’s a tough business.

"She’s a great athlete, wonderfully talented, honest and ambitious. She loves to trade and is a great judge.”

As good as she is in the saddle, Phelan does not confine her skills to the ridden horses, and is a noted three-year-old producer. She always features prominently in the end of year sales returns, while a real feather in her cap was winning the RDS loose jumping competition last year with William Buckley’s Cappa Quadilou.

Changing times

Sourcing these youngsters however, has become increasingly difficult. “Dealing wise, things are changing. I used to buy a lot of three-year olds. Rough, blank horses and that was working out well for me. Now however, it’s too hard and you can’t buy what you want to buy.

“Horses are harder to find because people are trying to breed a better type of horse - which is good, but they are also keeping and producing them themselves rather than putting them up for sale (or either selling at the elite sales).”

Gemma Phelan consigning Baden Powell's four-year-old Curraghraigue Womanizer to last November's Go For Gold sale, where he was sold for €25,000 \ Goresbridge Horse Sales

As a result, she is currently buying foals and rearing them, putting in place an ethos that has stood her well. “I look for correct limbs, a nice outlook and something that I think that when it’s worked and looked after, people will want to buy. If money wasn’t an object however, I’d be buying them at six turning seven to go jumping.”

Phelan freely admits that it is tricky to run the sales and the competitions horses in tandem.

“Last year I didn’t really have sales horses until later in the year and you have to have a certain system in place. This last year the jumpers have taken precedence but they finish in September so then I press on with the sales horses.”

She has done particularly well at the specialist event horse sales in the autumn, and often retains horses for them.

“If I think I have a particular horse or two that I think will suit, I might aim them for that but they have to have certain attributes.

“They have to be careful, have really good minds, and be rideable and straightforward.”

A typical example was the well-produced GRC Cu Chulainn who, realising €39,000 in 2017, was sold to an amateur rider in America. Owned by Phelan together with Noel Ryan, the son of Clover Brigade was out of a Flagmount King mare and was undeniably short of thoroughbred blood.

“It’s hard to get the balance right, and it has become hard to buy the horse with enough blood,” she admits.

“Personally, I prefer to have more jump than blood.

“Thoroughbreds that move, jump and have the temperament for the job are hard to find.

“However, I do try to buy a more blood type because I’d sell more eventers than jumpers. Jumpers need to be near top class, and how many of those are you going to get?”

The day-to-day running of the yard is not for the fainthearted with, normally, in excess of 20 horses in work. With the help of just one member of staff, Phelan rides about 10 horses herself each day. How does she sustain the motivation for this unrelenting workload?

“Looking forward, I can see myself cutting down on the numbers because it’s very hard to maintain the interest in the ordinary run of the mill horses and financially it’s tough.

“I have always aimed to improve myself and to reach the next rung on the ladder, but just at the moment I’m a bit unsure of which direction to take. I’ve jumped, I’ve had sales toppers and produced Grand Prix jumpers, all of which is great, but I’ve also ridden a very large amount of untalented horses – and the interest in them is nearly gone.”

Diversification

It is undoubtedly a tough business on her own, and although she never complains, Phelan speaks candidly of long days jumping, when she has to do the yard work in the morning, then drive six horses to go to a show in Galway (with help if she’s lucky) and return to finish the yard again late at night.

“I live at home with my mother and brother, but they have no interest in the horses, and it can be hard when I return home and no one asks me how the day went - good or bad. And it’s then that the loneliness of the job, and the lack of support, hits me,” she admits.

“Despite having great neighbours who are always there to help whatever the problem, it can be very lonely and as a result, it’s sometimes hard to stay motivated. That’s why it’s hard to know where to go next.”

Another influencing factor for possible diversification is that the top end world of show jumping is so expensive. “I’ve not gone out looking for them, but I do feel that nowadays to continue and achieve in the jumping world you need wealthy owners, and sponsors.”

One option on the path to change direction could be to extend her thoroughbred interests. Having inherited her late father’s love of breeding and racing, Phelan already has three thoroughbred mares, one of which hails from the immediate family of the 2005 Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Take A Stand.

In fact, it was her late father Jim who bred the son of Witness Box who, initially bought by Tommy Wade, was subsequently trained by Peter Bowen in Wales to win 16 races under rules.

Having previously treated the racing as a hobby, Phelan now relishes the challenges of possible new beginnings in the industry and reveals modestly that the selling of her foals is “working out ok”.

On occasion, she has retained a filly to run, and when the home-bred and home-trained Dr Cuddles trotted up at her local point-to-point track at Dungarvan, Phelan relished the moment.

“My point-to-point winner gave me a real buzz and was really exciting, which makes me thinks that this may be the direction I might take.”

Who knows what the future holds for this talented, measured, individual, but thing is for sure - she will not be out of the headlines for long.