I RODE almost as soon as I could walk. My younger sister and I both rode ponies. We broke and produced young ponies for pony club, showing and working hunter.

In our early years, right up to our late teens, Mum would drive us all over the country competing in Royal International, Hickstead and HOYS qualifiers.

Racing came about when I was 13 or 14. An owner in our yard bought into a young pony, which he decided to send pony racing. Before that, apart from an occasional trip to the races on Boxing Day, I had no exposure to the sport.

I started off on his pony and caught the bug, we had a few ponies from Ireland and had a successful couple of seasons pony racing. At 16, Mum and Dad bought a maiden point-to-pointer, which was put into training with Marie McGuinness in Somerset.

The following year, I trained from home. We bought a couple more horses and I both trained and rode three horses, and eventually rode my first winner! That number doubled and I continued to do both roles up until I was 24. During that time, I rode 10 winners in point-to-points, while also training over 20 winners.

Qualified

After doing my A-levels at 18, I went straight into work in an accountancy firm. Having qualified on the job, I practised for a few years, followed by some bookkeeping for small businesses and the agricultural sector.

Throughout those years, I continued to produce young horses and ride/train point-to-pointers. I stopped race-riding at 24, using established jockeys such as Will Biddick on my horses instead.

However, I didn’t really get the same buzz and excitement from training as I had done when I was riding myself. Although I continued to have the odd horse to run in point-to-points, I diversified in the yard.

I went back to competing in eventing. In 2020, I came over to Ireland to work full-time as an event rider for Jane O’Flynn. Racing had always been a big part of my life; I think when you become part of it, it never really leaves you.

Two years ago, I went to work for Ross O’Sullivan as racing secretary. My role basically just evolved from there. As well as looking after the office, I ride out, feed in the mornings and check all legs, and assist Ross in any way that I can.

Thrived

The yard has really thrived in recent times, we had a fantastic Galway Festival, all the horses are running great both on the flat and over jumps. I’m delighted to be involved in such a growing operation.

Back home in England, we would always have advertised both horses or ponies for sale. While the bloodstock industry is well catered for with auctions and sales, the sport horse industry has sales too but there is a large market outside of that where deals are done privately.

The idea came to me that there was a need for a specific platform or website that offered the facility for both buyers and sellers.

About eight weeks prior to the RDS, I approached Vimar who were able to build a website at an affordable price in a specific timeframe.

Launched

On August 14th, www.horsesonthenet was launched, with 40 initial advertisers. Sport horses and ponies are our primary market, the site is divided up into different categories such as dressage horses, eventers, PC ponies, Connemaras, foals and youngstock.

The site also covers transport and equestrian services.

The main objective is to offer a higher class of horse, irrespective of which discipline that involves.

The response from within the industry has been hugely positive in the initial stages, so hopefully we can continue to grow and develop the platform in the months ahead.

Sarah was in conversation with John O’Riordan

THE week of the Dublin Horse Show, www.horsesonthenet.ie went live for the first time.

A brand new platform for equine sales and services in Ireland. Horses On The Net may have only launched in August 2024, but has already established itself as a trusted resource for buying and selling horses in Ireland, proving popular both with Irish and overseas visitors, including America, UK, Sweden, Greece, Italy and The Netherlands just to name a few.

With a user-friendly platform and a comprehensive range of horses for sale for all budgets and goals. A focus on quality, trust and community, Horses On The Net is set to make waves in the Irish equine industry.