I GREW up in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. There wasn’t really a direct family connection to horses or racing. My great-grandparents on both sides were farmers, and my father grew up above his parents’ pub in Fethard, which was very much an agricultural community at the time.

Dad was a ship’s captain and master mariner and sailed around the world twice. He also drove lifeboats throughout my childhood. We spent a lot of time sailing growing up, and we still do, so I think that’s probably where I developed my love of travelling. My mum and I used to go to the Dublin Horse Show every year to watch the Aga Khan Trophy. My own passion for horses came about when I began riding lessons at about eight. From then on, I was completely horse-mad. I spent many happy hours riding ponies around a field in Rathmichael in all sorts of weather and went to pony camp every summer.