TIPPERARY has produced more than its fair share of extraordinary horsemen who found fame and fortune on the world stage but none more so than Tommy Wade and his son Alan. While Tommy was Ireland’s – or possibly Europe’s – most famous show jumping rider, sweeping all before him on Dundrum, Alan has gone on to become one of the world’s leading course designers whose work is to be seen in Grand Prix arenas wherever horses jump at the highest level.

Only those who have lived through that period (and I am one of those) can have any concept of the fame and hero worship enjoyed by Tommy Wade and Dundrum back in the sixties. With only one TV channel and all major showjumping featured on prime-time coverage, the pair were nothing short of national heroes. I vividly remember the hushed tones of BBC commentator Dorian Williams as Dundrum approached the HOYS Wembley wall at 7ft 2’’! What must have only added to the story was that the pair were underdogs, frowned on by the Irish showjumping elite who, at that time, were dominated by McKee Barracks and the army jumping team.