I’M from Kilnacarrow, a small townland one mile from Ballinalee village, renowned for the Ballinalee Connemara Pony Show, and seven miles from Granard, where the prestigious agricultural show takes place.

My parents had dairy [cows] for many years, then got into sucklers. By 1996, they purchased their first horse: a six-month-old Irish Draught colt by Glenagyle Rebel (exported to Zimbabwe). My family was bitten by the showing bug and what a world we were lucky to become part of, having made lifelong friends along the way.