John McGoldrick was a well-known competitor in stone wall jumping competitions, which attracted competitors and spectators from miles around at the height of their popularity.

“How did we manage without mobile phones. There were no riding caps, no riding britches back then. Very few riders even had a saddle; you’d even have to get the loan of a saddle from another lad. They’re all beautifully dressed now.

“Thinking back on the riders, there was Tom Cusack, James Greene, John Cusack, PJ King, Patsy Kelly, Baby Murphy, Tom Murphy, Gerry Burke, Kevin Burke, Michael Brew, JJ Callanan, James O’Brein, Joe Lahiff, Joe Mungovan, the Costello family from Ennis of course, and Josie Kerins, since deceased, was another back then. I wonder am I leaving anyone out? I’d like to have them all in.

“The open jumping that took place before the stone wall was very popular too,” John says.

“The stone wall was the local puissance back then and would start off at 5ft 6in. The prize was £12 and the cup, the William O’Keeffe cup, was for the stone wall jumping; you’d have to win it three years in succession or four years in all to keep it.

“Once you lowered the height of it any way – even the one stone – you’d be out of it. It mightn’t go very far at all, they might nearly all get knocked out in the first round. I won it one year with just one jump with a horse called Mountshannon.”

DUBLIN PUISSANCE

“With another horse Papa, I competed in the puissance at Dublin. When you went into the arena there for the first time, it was a different world. There was great colour but my horse was brave enough – he’d face any colour.

“You’d also have to jump the banks in Dublin; he was great to jump the single bank. The single bank was narrower, you’d shoot it and they’d go straight through, but for the double bank you’d have to land on top of it. And then they took away the bank.

“I wasn’t [at Dublin] last year. I don’t think I’ll go next year. I’ll see the Aga Khan on Friday and the puissance at home on the telly.

“There used to be a bank and water jump in Ballinasloe too. I got knocked on the flat of the back in the water at Ballinasloe with my mare. I drove her so hard I thought something will have to happen but she spotted the water and didn’t she go into the middle of the water on top of her head. I won the stone wall after that.

“I was in the jump-off for the stone wall championship there one year with a man called Johnny Daly, from Lough Mask. Johnny was riding a horse called The Quiet Man and he won the wall. I was riding a pony of only 14.2,” John says.

CHANGE

“You bought these horses at fairs and shows. I have no horse now. I’m retired – I’ll be 91 in October. There’s a lot of memories, a lot of changes in the horse world: great changes, good changes and bad changes. A lot of people that we knew are dead and gone. People come and go. That’s life.”

Born in 1926, John is of a generation that has seen more changes than any other, particularly since the dawn of the internet age. Perhaps the irony is how much support there was in his competition era for local sporting events, such as show jumping and GAA sports, even with limited transport. Now, while the GAA has become a corporate giant and the Aga Khan is still tuned into by Irish households, has show jumping kept pace with the general public?

A very happy 91st birthday John McGoldrick.