Burke's bigger picture

We almost didn’t get to London to see Banks Timber (Tim) win at Olympia because of the drone scare at Gatwick. I was working in Dublin with Pieta House the day before, I was watching the news and thinking ‘should I be going if I can’t get back for Christmas?’ Then they alerted us that we were on the first flight back into Gatwick.

You can never really expect to win because the standard is so high, you’re hopeful more than anything and you don’t mind if they go for a different breed. I was over the moon when Tim won the Mountain and Moorland supreme ridden championship at Olympia with Sandra Burton. She’s taken our stallions for the past 16 years and she won in 2012 with her own Connemara, Fly The Last Flute.

The Cuddy final at the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) was another highlight. Dad, Sandra and I made plans for showing Aniar Cashel in-hand in the UK to hopefully make this dream a reality. Tim comes home for the covering season each year but not before Sandra surprised us with a phone call to tell us that he had qualified for the ridden class at HOYS for a third year, at the very first HOYS qualifier. The decision was made to take him to the Northern Ireland Festival and try for the Cuddy qualifier and low and behold, Tim didn’t disappoint.

We’ve been lucky enough to have our ponies shown at HOYS for more than 20 years but this was my first time qualifying them. The pressure was off to qualify Aniar Cashel but not to be outdone, we qualified on our first time out on English turf too. Both were side by side in the ring at HOYS for the Cuddy in-hand final. I was literally beaming with pride, I chose to show the home-bred son, which was the icing on top.

Tim was bred in Denmark and is a full-brother to Banks Vanilla who Sean Dunne brought over and later sold on to Noel Noonan. We got Tim as a two year old and brought him out for inspection as a youngster.

I’m going over to Sandra in three weeks’ time to bring him back for the covering season. We’ll have five Class 1 stallions this year: Tim, Aniar Cashel, Currachmore Cashel, Drumbad Fletcher Moss and Manor Duke.

The ponies are between my dad Eamonn and I. We’ve always been lucky enough to have ponies and it’s always been Connemaras. Dad grew up when ponies were used to deliver milk and do all the jobs. We did Pony Club and everything else with Connemaras.

We live in Castlegar just outside Galway City. I’m the only one to carry on with the Connemaras. My brother Tommy helps our uncle Tom with his Irish Draughts and I get drafted in to help show whenever there’s a foal.

Family connection

I love showing. It is competitive yes, but I think that makes everybody raise their game. You look in the ring and see a sea of white ponies, they all look worthy winners but that’s when you have to start looking closer. You have to be aware of how you’re standing the pony while you’re being judged and also, while you’re not.

I learnt all that from dad, he would have his own list of credentials, as he likes to point out to me!

I’ve been so, so lucky showing the stallions for dad, he handed me the reins in Dublin 10 years ago to show Currachmore Cashel for the first time. I’m glad they kept on the stallion parade at Dublin, it’s an incredible showcase and people literally fly in for the day to watch it. It would be lovely if they brought back the in-hand classes for Connemara mares too.

I studied Auctioneering Studies and probably qualified at the worst time to graduate! So I took a year out and went to France for six months. Currachmore Cashel and I left the house here and I drove to France. At Olympia, I was just thinking ‘I drove through the Dublin, London and Paris traffic with a pony. What was I thinking!’, but it was like following your dream.

We stayed at Elevage de Seguret with Stephane and Isobel Jault and while we were there, Currachmore Cashel had stud and showing duties, he won the French national and European pony championships.

When I came back, Olympic Saddlery were looking for somebody so I worked there for a couple of years. I learned so much there, obviously you have to keep up on all the feeds and you end up talking to everybody and picking up information about other disciplines, you can never stop learning.

We were so lucky to have Eileen Lundon as a boss, she understood that I’d need days off for shows and we were such a great team really.

That’s where I met Grace Murphy. She shows Kilmeen Jane, who belonged to the late Breda Horan and Jane is by Cloonisle Cashel, also the sire of Silver Shadow.

Pieta House

I work at the suicide prevention charity Pieta House, there are two local centres in Galway and Tuam. It began when my mother and sister did a big fundraiser as we just felt it was a really good cause. Then a position came up as a fund-raising co-ordinator and I applied for it and got it.

My job involves fundraising events and going to schools and businesses to give presentations.

I’ve been working there for three years and my goal is to keep going as long as possible. Showing and ponies are an amazing hobby and to have and I suppose my job puts it all into context.

Some days at work can be tough and then you come home to 10 stables with 10 antidotes inside. One supports the other.

Joe Burke was in conversation with Susan Finnerty.