GROWING up on a sheep farm in Crossabeg, Co Wexford, an interest in animals and breeding was instilled in me from a very early age. My first pony Ebony Jade arrived on the farm when I was nine years old. Having produced her from a three-year-old to Grade A level, we decided to breed from her after I outgrew her.

Her first foal, a filly by Cult Hero named Saoirse, was sold in Goresbridge as a four-year-old. She went to the UK and we subsequently lost track of her. You can imagine our surprise and delight when many years later we received a call from a family friend Deirdre Bowler, who was watching the European pony championships in Millstreet. She happened to recognise the name of the dam of one of the ponies competing in the Nations Cup. How lucky it was that Saoirse (or Saorsie as she was registered as in the UK) had ended up in the yard of up-and-coming pony rider Jessica Mendoza, and how sweet that first taste of breeding success was for us.