BORN and bred in Borris, Co Carlow but living in Cullohill, Co. Laois, I’m a wife to Don, mother to Charlotte (7) and Lucy (nearly 6), primary school teacher, part-time farmer and secretary of Side Saddle Ireland (SSI).

1. Lifelong interest in horses?

We always had ponies and had a very happy, carefree childhood, spending hours in the saddle helping dad on the farm. I was a member of Kilkenny Hunt Pony Club and hacked to local hunt meets in Goresbridge and Borris. Nowadays, I have a beautiful thoroughbred riding horse by Presenting and two ponies to keep me busy.

2. Favourite horse/pony?

Dad bought me a traditional half-bred mare when I turned 18. She was by a thoroughbred and out of one of the last King of Diamonds mares. A complete all-rounder, we had a great time together for many years.

3. How did you take up sidesaddle?

I saw a side saddle in a friend’s tackroom and when I asked if she would ever give me a lesson, she took it down then and there and legged me up on her hunter. I was hooked straightaway and started to look for my own. Someone put me in touch with Susan Oakes who helped me to source a saddle.

4. How did you get involved with the SSI?

I signed up as a member as soon as I bought my first side saddle and supported classes at local shows, like Tullow and Ossory. I felt that it would be lovely to involve more riders, so with the help of Gina Galvin and Julie Brindley from the Side Saddle Association, I organised a side saddle hack at Mount Juliet in Kilkenny.

The day was a huge success with 14 attendees and everyone jumped the majority of the Tommy Brennan-designed cross country fences. From then on, I helped Julie running the association and a couple of years ago, she handed over the secretarial reins to me when she became chairperson.

5. Any particular reason for the increased interest?

I firmly believe that social media had a huge part to play in the resurgence of the art of riding side saddle. One Facebook page – Sidesaddle Riders! – was set up by a lady in America and quickly grew to thousands of members, all with a common goal in promoting and preserving this historical and ladylike way of riding.

The RDS didn’t run the side saddle classes in 2013 so, in its place, we were allowed to run a side saddle display to promote both the art of side saddle and association. We showcased showing, hunting, dressage, show jumping and Concours d’Elegance in that display and through my commentary, we explained about the history of side saddle over the centuries and how to get involved.

There was a huge ringside crowd for the display which turned very exciting when Jonah Wragg went off script and took her hunter for a good gallop over some of the hunt chase fences and off the famous bank. Luckily we didn’t get into trouble! There was an explosion of interest in the association afterwards and we ran three very successful ‘Have a Go Days’.

From that point, the number of ladies and juniors just grew and grew. Dublin introduced side saddle qualifiers and now qualifying places for each class are absolutely coveted, which makes for a very high standard.

6. What is the aim of SSI?

The overriding aim of the Side Saddle Association of Ireland (now Side Saddle Ireland) is to promote and preserve the art of riding side saddle in Ireland. We aim to achieve this through a strong membership, all competing for various trophies at our annual points awards.

7. Current membership?

On average, we have between 50 and 70 members. We would dearly love to have more junior members as they are the lifeblood of any organisation and have forged links with the IPS to do this.

8. Would you like to see more side saddle classes?

Generally, about 30 shows affiliate their side saddle class to SSI each year. I would love to see these affiliated classes well supported as it will encourage more shows to run classes.

9. How are side saddle classes judged?

In ladies hunter classes, the horses are judged on the basis of elegant appearance, excellent conformation, perfect manners and the ability to give the judge a smooth ride. It goes without saying that the rider must be elegant and immaculately turned out to present a beautiful overall picture. Junior and intermediate classes are judged from the ground, wherein the way of going, manners, conformation, movement and rider ability and turnout are all adjudicated.

10. Is there an ideal type?

The ideal horse or pony must have excellent conformation, movement and manners. With these three boxes ticked and a good rider on board, they easily and happily adapt to a properly fitted side saddle.

11. Where are side saddles sourced?

Along with a British and a Canadian friend, I run a Facebook group called ‘Side Saddle Buy and Sell’ which is the ‘go to’ site for buying a vintage saddle. There are several saddlers, most notably in the UK, which make bespoke side saddles on new trees also. We have a classified section on our website too for saddles and habits.

12. Favourite horse/rider combination?

I absolutely loved watching Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro in dressage. She makes it all look so easy!

13. How did you deal with lockdown?

My husband worked from home during lockdown so it was lovely to have three family meals a day together. We started every day with a couple of hours school work and then either went riding, cycling or running within two or 5km. The time flew past for our little family.

I remember thinking my horse had never looked as well from all the hill work up Cullohill Mountain and not a show in the country to go to! I had a great chance to get my girls riding as I had all the time in the world to dedicate to them. We built a polytunnel but the strawberries are no sooner ripe than they magically disappear! I found it very difficult not to see my parents and sisters but apart from that everything was ok.

14. What does a typical day involve?

I get up very early to feed the horses, organise the kids for school and then head on to my own school. I have to be very organised with planning, correcting and assessing lessons. School can be very busy but I adore it. I’m generally a taxi service for gymnastics, Irish dancing, taekwondo and swimming lessons, and squeeze in horse riding whenever I can. Laundry and dinners have to be done with military precision or otherwise nothing would get done!

Whenever I get a chance, I slip down to Borris to go farming with dad. We have a lovely herd of crossbred Angus/Limousine suckler cows and I will take over the farm from him when he retires. We are going to start Pony Club next year so that will be another activity to squeeze in but as they say, ‘If you enlist then you must soldier.’

15. Do you have set hours for SSI duties?

I’m easily contactable by e-mail or WhatsApp. This year has obviously been extremely quiet but we are hoping to have some clinics and hacks before the summer ends. Generally I make a ‘To Do’ list, set the kids up with a DVD and then work through my list, whether it’s updating the website, answering queries or corresponding with shows.

16. Favourite hobby?

Hacking up the mountain or going for a walk with a pony and small child on either side of me.

17. Social media – yes or no?

I use Facebook a lot, probably too much! I run the Preloved Tack Ireland site which has just passed 20,000 members and the SSI site generates a lot of interest for our society too.

18. Inspiration?

I watched Grace Murphy from Galway ride in an RDS side saddle qualifier a week after having a baby. I remember thinking she was a superwoman and will be asking her to source a nice Connemara when the time comes to get into mother-daughter shares.

19. Must-have gadget?

Sadly, I can’t live without my phone, it’s so overloaded with photographs and videos that it doesn’t work properly anymore.

20. Favourite side saddle memory?

I was at the National Sport Horse arena to see history being made the day when Susan Oakes and her horse Atlas jumped 6’8” over the Puissance wall to set a world record. I don’t think anything will top that.