Simplicity is key for Joseph O’Brien

The Kilkenny sun shone down on Joseph O’Brien’s yard just under two weeks ago for a visit organised by Irish Country Living editor Amii McKeever and the Agricultural Science Association (ASA). O’Brien welcomed everyone to Carriganóg Racing and headed straight to the hill to watch the third lot of horses of the day work.

The famous hill gallop is seven furlongs long with a steep bend and incline for the final quarter. O’Brien explained how he maintains a very simple routine for all of the horses he has in training.

The horses are worked on the gallop six days a week and only go to the top of the gallops once a week, every other day they go three quarters of the way up. “Horses like routine so we keep things the same as much as possible,” explained O’Brien.

The scale of the operation is obvious from the minute you enter the yard, there are 180 horses is training and according to O’Brien he is only limited to this number because he currently doesn’t have any more stables but it wouldn’t be a surprise to hear he is extending in the near future, he said: “When we can afford to build another stable block we will.”

The yard is also a great source of employment in the area with 112 people currently working there. O’Brien knows all of the riders by name and as they are walking the horses off he checks in with each rider to see how the horse is feeling.

PLANNING FOR EACH HORSE

O’Brien is very humble and relaxed about his success. He considers factors such as the ground, how each horse gallops, their breeding and rider feedback when deciding what race might suit them.

When talking about choosing where to race horses he came back to the importance of simplicity and treating each horse as an individual. “I try to keep it as simple as possible and get them to the races safe and fit.”

As a trainer O’Brien doesn’t set goals for himself, he said: ““I don’t ever set targets we just do our best with the horses we have in. Setting targets only sets you up for a fall.”

Carriganóg Racing is part of a bigger operation and is not the main source of income for O’Brien who explained that selling horses is the only way to make money.

After watching two lots work on the gallops O’Brien brought everyone down to his schooling strip and other parts of the training facility.