Dun by design

Horses have been my passion since I was very young. My Mum Joan Ahern always rode and Dad’s family always had a horse or two on the farm as he was growing up, so there was always a strong affinity with animals and horses.

They sent me for riding lessons from the age of four and I remember being led around with my legs barely reaching the end of the saddle flaps.

Angel was my first pony when I was 11 years old – an opinionated little chestnut with a big white face and this 11.2hh taught many Carbery Pony Club kids across her career. My great admiration for duns probably began with the 14.2hh Coco – we did very well on the show and dressage circuit and had many fun days out. The next horse that holds a special place in my heart is the chestnut mare, Caramiah, by Clongish out of a Carnival Night dam.

She was Mum’s great dressage and show mare and I began to steal her when I hit 15 or 16. I’d be in one ring doing the 148cms show pony class on Coco and then run to the next ring to ride Caramiah in the lightweight hunters.

Caramiah had a great record, winning the Dublin large riding horse class, as well as the side-saddle class and numerous working hunter class wins at Cork Summer Show.

She also gave me the opportunity to represent Ireland in young rider dressage at Blarney Castle dressage festival and at Addington Manor in the UK. Another UK outing was at Royal Windsor Show when she was invited to compete in the British Isles Riding Horse championship.

We also won the Dressage Ireland Young Rider Silver Spurs national championship, all the time under Mum’s careful eye and tutelage. She was part of the family for 22 years, from the age of three to 25 and her last Dublin win was at the age of 21. I remember the vets at the Animal Arrivals scratching their heads when they saw the date of birth on her passport and then looking at the sprightly animal in front of them!

Design

I studied graphic design in college and worked in London for a few years, but I always missed horses. Having obtained my BHSAI, I also freelanced as an instructor at Kingston Park and Trent Park riding centres and then the draw of horses became too strong again. So I moved to Nottingham where I worked as a dressage rider for Judy Bradwell, learning lots and gaining valuable experience riding and competing young dressage horses.

When I returned home, I continued to work in the design field with a local company called SouthWestern and I am still there, albeit under the new umbrella of Capita. I am lucky to work with such a large, progressive company and still base myself near home, which allows me to spend time on the horses.

Special venue

Dublin Horse Show has always been a special venue for me and I’ve been lucky enough to produce and ride some wonderful horses there across a broad span of classes, from Marie Symington’s Ballingowan Glance, placed in the young event horse five-year-olds and my own Lissangle Lux The Business. She was the reserve champion riding horse and also competed in their small event horse class.

Another very special chestnut mare was Brian Mangan’s Aquila, who took the 2007 hunter mare and ladies hunter reserve championships at Dublin and also was third in the working hunter, an unfortunate pole down keeping her out of a higher placing.

Lissangle Lux The Business, Aquila and my other great small and working hunter campaigner, Lissangle Quilos Diamond were all bred by our great friends, Paul and Jan Turfery in west Cork. They are also the breeders of Lissangle Cavaletto B, winner of the CIC3* (now CCI4*S) at Ballindenisk.

Lissangle Quilos Diamond, Lissangle Lux the Business and Carhue Hill all combined eventing with showing which gave both of us a really good all-round experience. Carhue Hill gave me some great outings in Dublin, winning the working hunters there as a four-year-old and again the following year, as well as placing second in the ladies hunter class under side-saddle. I evented him up to EI110 level, culminating in the CIC1* (now CCI2*S) Young Horse class at Camphire International and a top-three place in the prestigious Micheal Leonard memorial class at Ballindenisk.

I don’t have any eventing horses at the moment, but still keep a good interest between mum who is an International FEI eventing judge and my husband Enda O’Gorman, who with his great thoroughbred campaigner Tallen is flying the flag for all the hard working amateurs and holding his own at CCI4* level.

Privileged position

Those BHS qualifications are still in use as I give some private flatwork and showing lessons. It was during one of these lessons that I met Fiona Leahy and her beautiful Totally Dun. I asked her if she had ever thought about showing him and that started the ball rolling for some great days in the show ring. Fiona has a great eye for a horse and Totally Dun is one of the most correct horses I have ever had the pleasure of showing.

In 2018 he was crowned riding horse champion in Dublin and he came back this year to take the reserve championship in the intermediate side-saddle class, having only been introduced to side saddle a few months earlier. He is the most obliging and positive horse and I feel privileged every day that I get to ride him.

I am truly grateful for all of the opportunities that I have been afforded from day one, with my parents supporting my horsey passion, to the great friendships (and marriage) that have come about as a result of a shared love of these wonderful animals.

I’m just looking forward to what next year and onwards will bring.

Rosemarie Ahern O’Gorman was in conversation with Susan Finnerty.