Equestrian experience:

I started out in Pony Club when we lived in Wicklow and was a member of the Wicklow PC for many years. I also did a lot of IPS and SJI. When I finished my Leaving Cert., I went from my last exam to the airport and flew to the UK, where I worked for Carl Edwards for a summer, this was the year after he went to the Sydney Olympics with team GB. From there, I came home and started the Equine Studies course in Enniskillen. After completing my first year, I began my industry year, spending the first six months with Trevor Badger in Bridge House Stud and then the second half with Sneezy Foster.

When I went to Enniskillen, I was very much a sport horse person and, as such, gravitated towards that side of the course. As part of the course, we did have to complete a module in Racehorse Care and, to do that, we had to spend time in the college’s Racing Yard with David Christie, who was there at the time. He was short of riders one morning and asked would I ride out; after a bit of convincing, I said I would and he put me up on one of their experienced point-to-point horses. I rode on the gallops and then he took me in to school over hurdles. I firmly placed my GP saddle on a rack that day, I was absolutely hooked with all things racing.

When I did my year out, I couldn’t bring myself to go back to college and stayed with Sneezy Foster for another year, after that I headed to MJP O’Brien’s in Naas and started riding out there, I shared head person duties with Joe O’Brien and quickly became very involved in the day to day running of the yard, with his assistant trainer, Denis Cullen. I was lucky to hold my amateur license while I was there and rode in a number of bumpers for him. It was while I was at Beechcourt that I developed a huge interest in helping the vets look after any injuries. This led to a conversation with Mark MacRedmond one day, while we were scanning a tendon and he asked if I had ever considered Veterinary Nursing. And so that part of my career began.

I spent 10 great years with Anglesey Lodge Equine Hospital on the Curragh, they put me through college in UCD, where I graduated and then was invited back as a guest lecturer for the equine nursing modules for a further three years. While I was there, I worked closely with all the vets, but mostly with Marie Harty in surgery, and later with Turlough McNally. I learned so much while there and had the opportunity to scrub in on various surgeries. I also had the absolute honour of getting to work with the late Ned Gowing; he was amazing as both a person/mentor and a vet. Ned taught me two things that I carry through to my work now: common things are in fact common (it doesn’t always have to be a complex reason for something going wrong) and to keep it simple.

After 10 years, I really wanted a new challenge and a slight change in direction. I was lucky to join one of the biggest feed companies in Europe on the equine supplement side of the business. This gave me a whole new direction, while being able to use all the knowledge I had gained through the years and I also gained invaluable experience travelling the world with them on their technical sales team. Following four and a half years with them, I decided I wanted to develop my commercial skill set more and took up a role with Forte Healthcare as a Territory Manager. This involved getting back to my roots a bit and focused on pharmaceutical sales. Following a period in this role, our CEO, Richard Young, approached me about looking into launching another sector to the Forte Group and ARKequine was born over a cup of tea!

I have been immensely lucky to have had the opportunity to work under some incredible people over the years and I can say each of them shaped me in a little way to what I have now become. Two that absolutely stand out were Marie Harty and Sneezy Foster, two incredibly strong and successful ladies, who showed me that, in a man’s world, it is absolutely okay to stand out as a woman. And, of course, my now CEO, Richard, who has given me an unbelievable opportunity to build a brand in a way that I feel benefits the industry and puts our customers and their animals first.

Tell me a bit about the company, ARKequine?

Launched in 2021, ARKequine™ is the specialist equine business from leading animal healthcare company, Forte Healthcare Ltd. Forte Healthcare is a producer and distributor of a number of niche novel and innovative animal healthcare products. It has teams in Ireland, the UK and Poland, and a global network exporting to over 18 countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The company is primarily a horse nutrition business, our range of high quality, veterinary-formulated feed and supplements all have one thing in common. Alongside our nutritional range, we also offer a selection of topical horse-care products to support common skin conditions, as well as unique hygiene solutions.

Does the company cater for professionals and the amateur market?

Yes, very much so, we have a varied client base. A good proportion of our customers are from the TB sector, but we are growing our Sport Horse customer base weekly. We also have a number of trainers from the harness racing world, including some high-profile UK-based yards.

Do you think this is a growing business?

I think it is a growing business, but probably not in the traditional sense of people using more supplements with their animals. We are the only company to offer a varied portfolio of products to support horses; yes, we have feeds and supplements, but we also have water treatment systems, hay steamers, disinfectants, technology solutions, such as foaling systems and non-invasive temperature monitoring devices.

To launch a feed and supplement business into a pretty saturated market would have been naive on my part, I knew we needed to offer more, we needed to stand out and, most of all, we needed to be agile to the market and its needs. We are fortunate to be owned by a pharma company and our business plugs into a bigger engine. We have four vets on staff, who we can utilise, a full regulatory department and a full admin and logistics team; this is what has made us different. We can offer services to our client base, as well as products.

We have the capability to do on-site water testing, we have invested heavily in a Faecal Egg Count System, which is proving hugely popular and we utilise the Irish Equine Centre for all our other testing needs. Alan Creighton and his team are fantastic and we work well with them. Our advisory service is free and we don’t charge for our time or our advice, this is how we support the industry. We give solid advice and solutions to help, I am hugely proud of what we can do and what we have achieved in two and a half years in business.

What do you enjoy most about the job?

Oh God, so much, the list of what I don’t enjoy would be shorter! I love dealing with trainers, riders and breeders directly, building relationships and becoming part of their support services. Seeing them do well is so rewarding. I would also be lying if I said I didn’t love the buzz of selling, it’s addictive.

The biggest challenge you face?

As with any new venture, there are plenty of challenges! However, they are, for us, always opportunities. We are great supporters of many aspects of the equine industry, as can be seen by our sponsorship with our ambassadors, especially young and emerging riders and trainers. Sometimes the biggest challenge is deciding how and what we should sponsor in the industry to support, give back and, of course, grow our business.

As a sponsor, the reason we collaborate on specific sponsorships is based on how that relationship can be mutually beneficial and we like to see them as long-term. Our sponsorship with Naas Racecourse, for example, has been hugely successful. We are the stable yard sponsors and support the cost of every meal for the stable staff – the real unsung heroes of racing! We have developed a tremendous partnership with the amazing team at Naas, led by Eamonn McEvoy, to ensure everyone is catered for.

In 2023, we launched the “Diversity and Inclusion initiative” at Naas, where we support diversity and inclusion, catering for all dietary requirements, be they dictated by lifestyle, health, religious or cultural choices. This association has developed incredibly well and we have received huge support from the racing community and our brand recognition has increased because of it, so a real win-win.