AT the beginning of this month, I started a new role as Manager of Farriery Ireland which is based on the RACE campus in Kildare Town. As someone who comes from a sport horse background but has spent her working life in the administration sector, the job affords me the perfect opportunity to combine the two. I am very much looking forward to working with the Irish Master Farriers Association and other industry stakeholders, to help develop the highest standards of Farriery training.

My father has bred sport horses for many years, so I was immersed in the business from childhood. Although I went to school in Baltinglass, I learned how to ride at an equestrian centre in Castledermot, before joining the Carlow Pony Club. We always had our own horses at home, as dad used to break three- and four-year-olds before selling them on.

As I got older, I competed on some of those horses in SJI competitions throughout Ireland. My secondary school had no showjumping team, so it was mostly pony club for me up to 14 or 15, at which time I began hunting with the Carlow Farmers. I also competed in Working Hunter classes at various local shows, such as Tullow and Tinahely.

After finishing in school, I went on to work for Beverly Smyth & Sons Ltd. The company is well established as the leading removal, house moving and storage service providers in the country.

I spent eight years working in an administrative role, overseeing everything from Department of Foreign Affairs staff moving to Brussels and/or the United States, to expensive antique furniture being shipped abroad.

Compete

Throughout those years, I continued to compete in SJI competitions, reaching 1m 10’ as I got ever more serious about my sport. At this time, I met my future husband, Derek McConnell, a professional showjumper and Level 3 HSI coach.

We set up our own business at home in Rathangan, where we train young horses from four to 10 years old; bringing them through the different grades before selling them on. Horse Sport Ireland runs leagues for each of the different age groups from four through to seven, with part of the prize being the opportunity to represent Ireland at the World Breeders’ Championships in Lanaken in Belgium.

Our horses have been selected on a number of occasions over the years and it is always a great privilege to represent our country.

I moved jobs in the early 2000s, taking on the responsibility of PA to the Managing Director of RFL Steel in Naas. Over the next 16 years, I fulfilled that role as well as continuing to develop as a showjumper in my own right.

I qualified for the amateur section at the RDS on six different occasions, even attaining a place at the Dublin International Horse Show. With only four qualifiers from approximately 150 entrants in each qualifier, only eight go through from each one, so placing is an achievement I am very proud of.

I am now currently competing at 1m30 level successfully. I also attained Level 1 HSI Coach qualification, sat on the Leinster committee of SJI and ran the training committee for a year. Breeding sport horses is another passion, something I have always had a strong interest in. Last year, I took an embryo from a mare that we won the HSI 6Y0 League in 2018, and I put her in foal this year.

Thoroughbred

With trainer John McConnell and Naas-based vet, Kevin McConnell as my brothers-in-law, it was perhaps inevitable that I would take an added interest in the thoroughbred side of the horse business. While I had always been a keen racegoer, that has become a bigger part of my life in recent years.

I love to attend the Punchestown festival or Leopardstown over Christmas and from a female perspective, it’s great to see Rachael Blackmore and others doing so well.

As soon as I saw the advertisement for Manager of Farriery Ireland, I knew it was the perfect fit for me. I had long been aware of RACE and knew that the Farriery School shared the same campus. With a long career in administration, I felt that I had strong skills to bring to the table in that regard but my connection with horses was a huge factor.

On a personal level, it is very exciting to be employed within the equine industry for the first time. The Irish Farriery School takes in eight apprentices for each course which runs for four years. So, with no more than three different courses operating at different stages, the overall student body is quite small.

The apprenticeship course has seven different phases; two, four and six are in the school itself, while stages one, three, five and seven see apprentices learning on the job with their Master Farrier.

Aside from the SOLAS apprenticeship course itself, the Irish School of Farriery runs upskilling courses for farriers and a series of lectures and workshops for horse owners. I am very much looking forward to building on the work which has been done in the school by previous managers. Part of my role is outreach to people thinking of farriery as a career. I will work to promote apprenticeships and I hope we can attract female farriers to this career.

Sharon McConnell was in conversation with John O’Rirodan