Growing up in Toomevara, where his family stood Milestone (ID), Pinzari (TB) and Prefairy (TB), the wheel has turned full circle for dairy farmer Matthew O’Meara who is now back in the show ring.

“I can remember standing under a ditch at Nenagh Show at about nine o’clock in the morning, with my father Jim standing on a butter box throwing the plaits into a grey Prefairy filly, back when the horses had to be walked to the shows.

“I thought it was lunacy at the time!” begins O’Meara.

“It all started again when Jennifer Haverty, who’s involved with the Draught Society, came and asked if I’d be interested in putting up a cup in honour of ‘the Milestone’ at the [IDHBA] Draught show.

“I said I’d put up a cup in honour of my parents. Mammy [Sheila] had Milestone for two or three years after my father passed away. So Jennifer started if all off,” O’Meara explains.

“If you could make Moylough Bouncer chestnut and put a hind sock and a star, the size of a matchbox, on him, that would be Milestone,” O’Meara continues.

“I always liked having a Draught mare so I bought a Merry Mate mare in Waterford. Jennifer looked up her pedigree and it turned out she had Milestone and Pinzari breeding, which were two stallions that my father had. She wasn’t in foal but when I saw Barbara Hatton’s horse with his Prefairy breeding, I thought sure we’ll cross her with Golden Master and then we’ll have all three bloodlines again.

“We had mighty craic showing her and her Golden Master filly this summer.”

THOUGHTS ON SHOWING

“As far as I’m concerned, when you go into the show ring, you have to be prepared to take your beating. If you’re not prepared to take your beating, you shouldn’t be going out showing.

“The person inside the ring might or mightn’t like your foal and you have to go with whatever they say, but I do think there should be two judges in the ring, for the simple reason you have a better balance by having two people.

“One year at Nenagh, the judge brought in two yearlings and there was a toss of a coin for the class, that will tell you how close it was. I thought it was very fair and it very nearly happened to me this year in a foal championship when the judges said ‘We don’t know which way to go’.

“And I said ‘As far as I’m concerned, all through the years the colt would get it, as he’d have 2% more of the vote.

“So you can work away because I’m prepared to take reserve as good as anybody’,” said a proud O’Meara.

PHILIP HEENAN

“There is nobody that I know of in this world that could compare with Philip Heenan.

“He was a born genius and had a lovely way with animals.

“Philip was involved with Nenagh for a good number of years, collecting money at the gate. The Maguire brothers from Wexford would come to the show, then go look at Philip’s foals and then on a given date, they’d arrive and all the foals would be loaded up.

“We had a horse ourselves by Prefairy that won the three-year-old championship in Ballinasloe, I can still see the cup.

“Phil Hayes, a great friend of my father, was champion there in the 1960s so the two of them celebrated the whole way home and my mother, Lord have mercy on her, wasn’t too pleased at the cut of them when they dropped the ramp in the yard!” exclaims O’Meara.

DAIRY FARMING

“Dairying is absolutely brilliant at the moment, only for the weather!

“I got over 40 cents a litre for my milk last month, I think this time last year it was only 23 or 24 cents, so anyone who says he’s not making money may get out.

“If you were to write down everything you spend on a horse, you’d be frightened. It has to be a hobby as far as I’m concerned.

“James, one of my sons, was made a whipper-in to the North Tipps, he’s big time into hunting, both hunting and hound-mad. I’ve two brothers in America, David in Colorado and John, who owns Milestone Farm in Kentucky.

“Liam O’Meara, no relation, also lives in Toomevara, I don’t think there’s a young fellow in Ireland that has the patience of Liam with young horses.

“Dick Jennings should have been canonised. He had an eye for a horse. Jack Powell would be with him when the nominations were on the street in Toomevara and once he gave a nomination to a mare owned by Ned Gilmartin. There was war over it!

“She was a handy bit of a mare but a terrific mover. Dick said ‘If I live to see it, she’ll breed a nice horse’.

“Sure enough she did, three by Prefairy that went to Max Hauri in Switzerland. It just goes to show you what the likes of Dick Jennings could see.”