Mayo’s man of the horse

Paddy Joe Foy of Westport said: “When I was 10 my father sent me harrowing with an Irish Draught and I have been at the horses ever since.” Indeed he has. Stud owner, breeder, fair and show organiser, national chair of Irish Shows Association, elected Irish Horse Board member, judge, carriage driver – Paddy Joe has done them all.

You might find him in striped suit and bowler on a Sunday judging a show class of mares and on a Monday he could be at Westport Mall with a horse and gig giving rides to visitors around the historic town or driving a bride and groom from St Mary’s to their honeymoon.

Lines from Patrick Kavanagh’s poem Inniskeen Road come to mind: “A road, a mile of kingdom, I am king of banks and stones and every blooming thing.”

Paddy Joe is driven by love of place, of nation and of the Irish horse. As he said himself: “I long for the day when every horse born in Ireland has a beautiful green passport that proudly says to the world ‘I am Irish.’”

SHOW AND FAIR ORGANISER

Since Paddy Joe could walk he has been involved with Westport Horse Fair. He recalls a Mr McCutcher who would buy three rail wagon loads of foals there, and remembers a Mrs Cashman driving a back-to-back trap through the fair buying as she went. He also tells me that this grand old street fair has been running without fail since 1741.

Last year proved challenging, with adverse weather conditions and only one foal turning up for the sale. However, that foal was sold Paddy Joe declared in triumph. He went on to note that the sale will take place this year on 12 October.

“I appeal to all owners to bring out their horse for a few hours down by the Mall. We have a vintage day and festival going on at the same time. So come out and keep it all going.”

Westport Horse Show

“Keeping it all going”, is a motto with Paddy Joe. He was part of the committee which started the Westport Horse Show back in 1967. Over the next 22 years, until 1989, it attracted top entries from all over the country and was reported on in Horse and Hound. However, by 1990 the rent of the venue at Westport House became too high for the fair to continue. Instead of letting it fold up Paddy Joe invited the Westport Fair committee to run it on his family lands at Drumindoo Stud free of charge and it has survived there ever since.