How did that photo happen? Well, I’d have to start at the beginning. I’ve always loved horses but after my eldest son Denis was born and I had a bad fall, I lost my nerve and didn’t have a horse again until my late thirties.
I really wanted a horse again but was just so nervous, so after doing some research, I found that the Irish Draught was recommended as a docile breed. I trotted along to the 2008 Draught show in Mullingar where, through a comedy of errors, I met the one and only Timmy Sullivan, a fount of knowledge about the breed. He fuelled my affection for the Irish Draught and along with the real love of my life, my husband George, I started breeding Draught and sport horses.
Jumping for joy
We own a small farm in Ballymackey near Toomevara and one of the first foals we bred was Meadowlands Barbossa (Harlequin dú Carel x Castana). Brian Kennedy from Midleton in Cork bought him when I advertised a foal for sale in the Irish Farmers Journal.
By coincidence, my first real encounter with Susan Finnerty – and first Farmers Journal photo - was when Brian showed him as a three-year-old at his local show in 2014. I was there at the ringside when Fintan Flannery and the late Frances Cash made him their young horse champion.
Susan took a photo of us all after the championship and I remember feeling so pleased and delighted for Brian but Susan was also genuinely happy for us both. Brian had only brought him out for a bit of education and it must have worked because the same horse went on to become the Millstreet Futurity loose jumping champion.
My first encounter with Liam Lynskey, also pictured in the ‘Jumping for Joy’ photo, was at the Wicklow IDHBA branch show. I remember seeing Liam’s Lady In Red Star and thinking how beautiful an animal she was. Silver Bard (Tiger Hill), a full Irish Draught filly I had bred and sold to Pat Wafer, won the two-year-old class that day. And again, I went along to watch her.
Two years later, she was third in the young Draught mare class at the RDS.
I started doing some stewarding because I loved seeing the horses up close. I was stewarding at the Draught Show in Punchestown and chatting to the exhibitors but Liam was so focused. I came to learn later that he took showing horses seriously and like all good sportspeople, he focused on that.
The first real chat with Liam was after I became the IDHBA chairperson in 2019 and he rang looking for sponsorship for the West of Ireland Foal Show he runs in Mayo. I’m a big believer in putting your money where your mouth is, so I told him I would personally sponsor the Irish Draught classes. When my term as chairperson ended in 2021, Liam rang later that year and asked me if I wanted to get involved with the Traditional Irish Horse Association (TIHA) which I absolutely love being part of.
George and I both work for Irish Rail but he always loved farming. He grew up on a small dairy farm and after we got married, he got into purebred Charolais and sucklers. My eldest son Denis went the engineering route but David, my youngest, decided he wanted to study agriculture in Waterford.
He came home one day and announced he wanted to do dairy farming. After long discussions, I realised we weren’t going to change his mind, so we started the change from beef to dairy.
Brian Kennedy with his Midleton young horse champion Meadowlands Barbossa, with his proud breeder Jennifer and judges Fintan Flannelly and the late Frances Cash. \ Susan Finnerty
Birthday celebrations
Last autumn, as the farm changeover was taking place, David’s 21st birthday was on 13 September and he wanted his party at home. I nearly cried but as a mother, what do you do, so I agreed. But with the changeover, work and horses, I completely forgot that the day David picked to celebrate was the day before the TIHA performance championships in Mullingar.
So, as all mammies do, I told myself I could do both and after four hours sleep, rolled out of bed at 8am, cooked breakfast for the 18 pals who slept anywhere they could find a space, got myself ready and headed off to Mullingar to help out at the show.
Everything went off well and at the end of the day, I spotted Susan lining up Liam and his fabulous kids, Katie and William, for a photo. I don’t know if it was the adrenaline from the day and night before or the fact that I was going to be 55 on 13 September myself, (yes, I had David on my own birthday) and wanted to see if I could still jump that high off the ground or what! I couldn’t resist, so ran in behind them and shamefully photo-bombed Susan’s and Liam’s lovely picture.
So many people commented about the photo each time it was in the papers, that photo has given us so many laughs since.
How did that photo happen? Well, I’d have to start at the beginning. I’ve always loved horses but after my eldest son Denis was born and I had a bad fall, I lost my nerve and didn’t have a horse again until my late thirties.
I really wanted a horse again but was just so nervous, so after doing some research, I found that the Irish Draught was recommended as a docile breed. I trotted along to the 2008 Draught show in Mullingar where, through a comedy of errors, I met the one and only Timmy Sullivan, a fount of knowledge about the breed. He fuelled my affection for the Irish Draught and along with the real love of my life, my husband George, I started breeding Draught and sport horses.
Jumping for joy
We own a small farm in Ballymackey near Toomevara and one of the first foals we bred was Meadowlands Barbossa (Harlequin dú Carel x Castana). Brian Kennedy from Midleton in Cork bought him when I advertised a foal for sale in the Irish Farmers Journal.
By coincidence, my first real encounter with Susan Finnerty – and first Farmers Journal photo - was when Brian showed him as a three-year-old at his local show in 2014. I was there at the ringside when Fintan Flannery and the late Frances Cash made him their young horse champion.
Susan took a photo of us all after the championship and I remember feeling so pleased and delighted for Brian but Susan was also genuinely happy for us both. Brian had only brought him out for a bit of education and it must have worked because the same horse went on to become the Millstreet Futurity loose jumping champion.
My first encounter with Liam Lynskey, also pictured in the ‘Jumping for Joy’ photo, was at the Wicklow IDHBA branch show. I remember seeing Liam’s Lady In Red Star and thinking how beautiful an animal she was. Silver Bard (Tiger Hill), a full Irish Draught filly I had bred and sold to Pat Wafer, won the two-year-old class that day. And again, I went along to watch her.
Two years later, she was third in the young Draught mare class at the RDS.
I started doing some stewarding because I loved seeing the horses up close. I was stewarding at the Draught Show in Punchestown and chatting to the exhibitors but Liam was so focused. I came to learn later that he took showing horses seriously and like all good sportspeople, he focused on that.
The first real chat with Liam was after I became the IDHBA chairperson in 2019 and he rang looking for sponsorship for the West of Ireland Foal Show he runs in Mayo. I’m a big believer in putting your money where your mouth is, so I told him I would personally sponsor the Irish Draught classes. When my term as chairperson ended in 2021, Liam rang later that year and asked me if I wanted to get involved with the Traditional Irish Horse Association (TIHA) which I absolutely love being part of.
George and I both work for Irish Rail but he always loved farming. He grew up on a small dairy farm and after we got married, he got into purebred Charolais and sucklers. My eldest son Denis went the engineering route but David, my youngest, decided he wanted to study agriculture in Waterford.
He came home one day and announced he wanted to do dairy farming. After long discussions, I realised we weren’t going to change his mind, so we started the change from beef to dairy.
Brian Kennedy with his Midleton young horse champion Meadowlands Barbossa, with his proud breeder Jennifer and judges Fintan Flannelly and the late Frances Cash. \ Susan Finnerty
Birthday celebrations
Last autumn, as the farm changeover was taking place, David’s 21st birthday was on 13 September and he wanted his party at home. I nearly cried but as a mother, what do you do, so I agreed. But with the changeover, work and horses, I completely forgot that the day David picked to celebrate was the day before the TIHA performance championships in Mullingar.
So, as all mammies do, I told myself I could do both and after four hours sleep, rolled out of bed at 8am, cooked breakfast for the 18 pals who slept anywhere they could find a space, got myself ready and headed off to Mullingar to help out at the show.
Everything went off well and at the end of the day, I spotted Susan lining up Liam and his fabulous kids, Katie and William, for a photo. I don’t know if it was the adrenaline from the day and night before or the fact that I was going to be 55 on 13 September myself, (yes, I had David on my own birthday) and wanted to see if I could still jump that high off the ground or what! I couldn’t resist, so ran in behind them and shamefully photo-bombed Susan’s and Liam’s lovely picture.
So many people commented about the photo each time it was in the papers, that photo has given us so many laughs since.
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