"When I see the 100-year-old saddle and I think of the history behind it, I find myself imagining what those women would have been talking about out on the hunts 100 years ago. I think about how many bottoms have sat in it, and who these women were.”

That 100-year-old saddle, full of provenance, was first used for competition at the Dublin Horse Show 75 years ago to the exact day that Sadhbh Gannon (26) will compete with it at this year’s show.

Sadhbh is an extraordinary equestrian.

Extraordinary not just in that she has qualified former racehorse Dingle Bay (Floyd to his friends) to the Racehorse to Riding Horse class, but because she has also qualified him for the side saddle class, having taught herself from YouTube with some help from equestrian neighbour Janet Harvey.

Sadhbh is also extraordinary in that Floyd is the first horse she has ever owned, after, despite the thoroughbred’s best efforts, he didn’t quite make the speed for flat racing.

And one last extraordinary thing? Floyd, the handsome steel grey dappled gelding, is a gift horse, given to Sadhbh by racehorse trainer Michael Flannery.

“It’s really special to me to be a part of that story of the saddle, and to take it back to Dublin,” says Sadhbh.

“The saddle and habit [traditional dress for side saddle] belonged to my neighbour Janet’s mother-in-law, Pearl Harvey. Pearl’s daughter, Anne Harvey, competed in 1949 with it.

"Anne’s daughter also took it to the RDS for an Irish Pony Society show once too. It’s just so special to be able to sit on that saddle and to wear the clothing that belonged to one Irish family for a century.”

For the uninitiated, the habit originated for the hunting field and is made up of a waistcoat, jacket and apron.

Women in habits caused quite the commotion when they first gained popularity in the late 16th century as they resembled the masculine military uniform of the time.

“Whoever wore it before me must have been a tiny little woman because I’m only a five foot one myself, and I have to keep my elbows in – if I even blink too hard, I’m going to rip the arms off it,” says Sadhbh.

“When I hold up the little waistcoat, it’s just gorgeous. It’s like a little artefact. It’s a lovely tiny wool waistcoat and the colour is beautiful, it’s kind of a mustardy yellow colour.

“The jacket is wool and silk lined, it’s beautiful. When you look at the way that the arms on the jacket are made, they’re shaped to how your arms would sit, they’re not just straight down. I don’t know anything about making things, but I thought that was really exquisite – just the art behind it. It’s really heavy and it’s really hot and it’s tiny, but it’s beautiful.”

Work life

Although no longer working full-time in racing, animals remain at the heart of what Sadhbh does.

She still rides out for racehorse trainer Michael Flannery in Ballinrobe and when she’s not doing that, she works at a doggy day care centre.

It was thanks to Michael gifting her the thoroughbred that Sadhbh and Floyd have been together almost four years now, and by all accounts it was love at first ride.

“I would have been riding out loads of other racehorses, but I always looked forward to riding him. I think it’s just he was a lot calmer than the others, so you wouldn’t have to be holding on for dear life on him!

"He’s like a big rocking horse to sit on when you canter, it’s so big, but you can just sit into it. He always moves up after the judge rides him – he just gives such a nice feel. The judge for the RDS class said to me afterwards: ‘I want to take him home’.”

Sadhbh was not from a horsey family and owning a horse was never on the cards. “I never believed that I’d be able to have my own horse,” she says.

“I have to remind myself that he’s actually mine a lot of the time. When I was younger, I would imagine what kind of horse I wanted – he’s it.”

A natural self-starter, Sadhbh has found some less traditional routes to the side saddle.

“I actually just kind of watch other people. When I trained to be a jockey at the Racing Academy and Centre of Education (RACE) in Co Kildare, they used to say, ‘pick somebody who’s like you and just try and copy them’. So I watched a lot of videos. Even the other ladies at the shows, I haven’t been afraid to ask them, they’ve all been so generous with their advice.”

Sadhbh is an impressive young woman to talk to, she possesses a natural drive. She had decided she was going to be a jockey well before she’d done her Leaving Cert and she put the hours of physical training in to reach optimum fitness.

“To transition from riding out every day for a year and then change over to trying to ride a dressage test took an awful lot of work. I had to retrain all the muscles in my body. I ended up going to America and working for eventer Timothy Burke in West Virginia, and that’s what I focused on instead. Racing was a great grounding for me though.”

Transitioning between the rigours of the athletic racing isn’t just an adjustment foir the rider, the racehorse must also face a physical and psychological shift.

“I keep Floyd up in a lovely quiet little livery yard, it’s so relaxed. That yard automatically took him out of such a go-go-go kind of life. I think that really got him into a different kind of routine.

“He obviously had racing habits, like even getting on him – they’re gone as soon as your foot is in the stirrup – but he’s just so willing. Racing is a great grounding for horses too.”

The Dublin Horse Show has a big atmosphere with thousands of spectators. For some former racehorses the collective electricity can rev them up a little.

“I’ve never had a doubt about him handling it,” Sadhbh says. “I brought him to a lot of shows over the years, and never worried about his behaviour.

“I kind of always knew I trusted him, that he’s not going to go off his head. The only time I felt this horse could explode was at a Ballinrobe show last year on the race course he trained and had raced on. That was the first time he was on his toes. He knew where he was. He grew about a hand on me.

New goals

“I do know that his classes are popular classes. I’m a little bit apprehensive to see how he’ll take it but I’m planning on getting there good and early the day before.

"He’s going to be ridden twice that day, and I’ll just try and let him take it all in. Hopefully, he’ll take it all in his stride. At the end of the day he’s an animal: you don’t know what he’ll do, but fingers crossed.”

Sadhbh admits that qualifying Floyd for Dublin is the pinnacle for her, but true to form, there are new goals she is working towards.

“I definitely would love to do some eventing with him. We did a bit of the Western Region Eventing Ireland and he was just brilliant. I love eventing, that’s probably my thing – so maybe next year I’d like to try and focus on getting him out to a couple of events.

“It’s really embarrassing to think of when I would ride Floyd up the road and imagine what it would be like for the steward to point at me and Floyd to qualify for the Dublin Horse Show. I’d always imagined what would I think and how would I feel?

"Just to be in the position of qualifying after having imagined it so many times, I actually don’t think I have the vocabulary to put into words what it means to me to do that. It’s a dream come true. It’s nearly too cliché, because it’s more than that, it’s absolutely everything to me.”

The Dublin Horse Show takes place from 14 August to 18 August in the RDS.