“OKAY, I think I better go…” Aisling Byrne says discreetly as the airplane she is on is about to depart the runway at Dublin Airport.

Her destination is Florida where she will work, play, and then work again, juggling her job as an international show jumper and managing director of a travel company.

Life is busy for Aisling Byrne.

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Savvy is the word that pops to mind when describing the Co Longford show jumper, business woman and model.

She has many strings to her bow. Last Monday she walked the catwalk on TV3’s Xposé, and when we spoke on Tuesday she was heading on her first trip of 2018 to the horse show in Ocala, Florida, where she is competing, then to the Winter Equestrian Festival, before going to New York to attend the New York Times’ travel show in the Jacob Javits Convention Centre.

She is blonde and beautiful, which earned her a top model place at Celia Holman Lee’s modelling agency in Limerick, but there is much more to Aisling Byrne than strutting the runway. Anyone who attended last year’s Horse Sport Ireland Marking Symposium will know that.

Many in the industry were not aware of her business status, and she stole the show when lending advice on marketing and customer relationships, an area she has vast experience in.

Almost eight years ago, Byrne stumbled upon Journey Through Ireland, and since then she has made it her very own. Aimed at the American and Canadian market, the company organises customised vacations for tourists around Ireland.

“It (Journey Through Ireland) kind of happened organically. We are involved in coaches and that escalated and I delved into the American market.

“There was a company in existence but the guy was retiring and it needed to be rebranded, starting from scratch with new brochures, new website, everything was done from scratch. So it kind of just happened, it’s not that I had huge knowledge in the tourism sector but I learned on my feet and kept going from there,” Byrne explained.

Not resting on her laurels, in 2015, while running a growing business, Byrne decided that she wanted to give the show jumping a serious chance and she up and left, basing herself in mainland Europe.

“I was based in Ireland and then decided to give it a proper go. I kind of realised it was now or never and I’d regret it if I didn’t.

“I actually ended up getting concussed that summer and missed the whole summer of shows. It was a blessing in disguise really because it meant I went to Vilamoura at the end of the year and I just loved it,” she said.

“We didn’t have huge expectations but we picked up loads of rosettes and places and wins and that kind of spurred me on further.”

From there she was invited to the inaugural Liverpool International Horse Show where she won the Amateur Grand Prix and got the pleasure of driving a Mini Countryman for a year. That was another boost for the Newtownforbes lady, who was awarded the January The Irish Field/GAIN Equine Nutrition Star of the Month for January in 2016.

Last year was another standout year for Byrne. She won an amateur class at the five-star Royal Windsor Horse Show with Celeste SPB Z, a 10-year-old mare who “keeps improving”, and competed at the Global Champions Tour in London, where she placed third in a two-star 1.35m class.

BALANCE

Travelling Europe with a bunch of horses and fulfilling your role as managing director of a company seems like quite the task, but the time difference between Europe and America allows Byrne to make the best of both worlds.

“The time difference definitely helps me out,” she says with a laugh as she explains her hectic work schedule. “Most people find it inconvenient but I love it. I can clear my emails in the morning and I will have responded to everyone who has written to me through my night.

“Then I can go and get the horses worked and exercised, and then I am back in by the time they have responded to me. So they don’t even realise that I am not in the office, which is great,” she explained.

“It is a little bit of a struggle at shows – I just have to make sure that I am organised and I do a lot of late nights to make sure I catch up on everything. Last year I ended up doing all-nighters during the sunshine tour, but anyway, we got there. You do what you need to do and in the end we had a great year.”

Byrne is now based at the stunning Bolesworth Castle in Cheshire, England, which makes it easier to go home to her Mullingar-based office during the show circuit.

Being away means she doesn’t have as much time for modelling these days and she is missing a couple of gigs with TV3 this month.

Byrne was spotted by Celia Holman Lee over 10 years ago when she was crowned Miss Longford and competing in the Miss Ireland competition. “I do whatever I can and always take the opportunity when I can. I did a good bit before Christmas when I was home, there was a nice bridal show in Adare Manor and a shoot for the Irish Independent. It is always nice to do them.”

FUTURE

Her best known horse, Wellview Classic View (ISH), has picked up a slight injury and is out of action at the moment, but Byrne has recently added a very recognisable face to her string in Bronson de Reve, the former Grand Prix-winning mount of John Floody.

“I am really looking forward to getting going with him, I have big shoes to fill, but he’ll be a lovely one to have and compete this year.”

She is an advocate of Irish Sport Horses, citing their great mind and attitude as so important. Byrne has a soft spot for her seven-year-old Wellview Lucy, by Wellview Cedric.

“She has been very successful throughout the last year, winning and placing in a lot of six-year old classes throughout Europe and she was placed fourth and fifth over two days at Liverpool International Show.

“She is a competitive, fast mare and I have a special soft spot for her as Wellview Classic Dream is her grandam. She has a lot of similar traits to her which I love,” she added.

With her new top mount and a number of promising youngsters, Byrne will be heading straight to Vilamoura, Portugal, when she returns from the USA.

Although she has no plans to return to Ireland permanently any time soon, Byrne’s favourite show is still on Irish soil.

“I return to compete at Mullingar International Show every year which I really enjoy. It is great to see the improvements that the Fagan family make each year as they are always coming up with new and innovative classes and ideas.

“Even though I travel to many different shows throughout the year, it is one of my favourite shows of the year to compete at. The people being so friendly and welcoming sets it apart, like nowhere else in the world.”