ROBYN Moran is continuing a rich legacy of producing quality horses, which began with her grandfather Michael Moran many years ago.

Robyn’s father, Brian, was a jockey for many years before a career-ending fall in 2002. He trained and rode many winners, including the Maryland Hunt Cup. In more recent years, his focus has switched to half-breds and he, alongside Robyn, break and produce youngsters from their yard in Askeaton, Co Limerick.

The trophy for the National six-year-old champion, The Michael Moran Memorial Cup, which is presented at the Dublin Horse Show every August, is named after Robyn’s late grandfather. He was well-known throughout the country as one of the best producers of young horses, as well as famous for his horsemanship.

He competed successfully in Dublin many times, as did his wife Jill, who competed nationally and internationally and, most well-known for her partnership with Clover Bishop, still keeps a close eye on the sport.

21-year-old Robyn spoke to The Irish Field earlier this week: “I began riding when I was about three. Horses and ponies have been a part of my life since I can remember. I started with lead rein and working hunters and all that growing up. My dad trained me from the beginning.

“I got my first jumping pony when I was nine and that’s where it began I suppose. I was a bit slow starting, but we began to accumulate a few more ponies. I had one 128cm pony named Two Socks and I won a lot of 90cm and 1m classes with him. We then began to get a few ponies from other people for me to ride, and that’s where that started,” Robyn explained.

“My dad has been breaking horses all his life. He actually broke Dougie Douglas (the British and American team horse, who competed successfully at 1.65m and was sold at the Supreme Sale of Show jumpers in Goresbridge for a record price of €1.4 million in 2015).

Success

“I did the 138cm and 148cm divisions on ponies mostly owned by other people, and we had a couple of young ponies that we owned ourselves. I had a good 138cm named Western Oreo. I began working with him when he was five or six and brought him the whole way through to the highest level. I competed in Dublin and we won a good bit together. So, I suppose that was the start of my producing career, if you like.

“The first ponies I got from an owner would have been John McMahon in Co Clare, Eoin and Conor’s father. I was jumping 128cm and I would have gotten a chance to ride the ponies the boys had grown out of. After that, it was a number of different people.”

Robyn continued: “In 2018, I won the 148cm six and seven-year-olds in Dublin with a pony stallion named Colesgrove Cavalier, which again I had produced from a youngster. He won the Discovery Final as a five-year-old.

“Funny enough, when I moved into horses, he measured up out of ponies and I competed with him in horses and we won the 1.30m young rider final in Dublin in 2019.

“In my second last year of ponies, a lady named Vera Griffin asked me to ride one of their ponies, and then when I moved into horses, that would be eight years ago now, she bought a horse for me and I currently have three horses for her.

“She is my long-term owner; we’ve been together a good while. She trusts me with them, and is very patient. I’m very lucky to have her.”

Make a name

“We break some of them here, and we also buy them broken as youngsters. We have 17 boxes here and also some loose boxes for the youngstock,” Robyn said about the yard she runs at home.

“I won my first Munster Grand Prix, while I was still in ponies, riding Coolminga Inspector Royale. I got him when he was seven and we did the young riders in Dublin when I was 15. He was quite green at that time, so we were both getting experience at that level together.

“I remember well, my dad saying to me when I moved up into horses, ‘you know you’ll have to make a name for yourself, if you really want to do this’, so I was always really competitive and always wanting to win.

“We had a few four-year-olds the year before that were bought for me to produce and I managed to get two of them qualified for Dublin, I was just 15 at the time. One was Fortside Trend, who we also bred and went on to win the 1.50m Young Rider championships.

“The other was Fortside Candy Crush, who was sold to America as a five-year-old. A couple of years ago, we saw a sister of his in the Mayo/Roscommon Breeders’ Sales catalogue, we went to see her in Glenamaddy and I liked her, so bought her.

“She went on to do both the four- and five-year-olds in Dublin. She then went on to finish third in the five and six-year-old Breeders’ Classic Final. Her name was Fortside Obsession and she was sold to the Army Equitation School earlier this year.”

Sliding doors

“It was like when one door closes, another one opens when we found her. We just went up to look at her really; I was surprised no one else had followed up on her, but I’m not complaining, she was great for me.

“I had a horse we got in my first year, more just as a fun horse, to get experience, named European Cruise. I did a lot of 1.10m and 1.20m with him and, after three years of competitions, we had won over 100 classes together. He was pretty impressive. He was like a rocket.

“I also had Cushlas Fryday for Vera Griffin. He was six at the time and, when he was just seven, we won the Munster Grand Prix league. When he was eight, we won a National Grand Prix and had a top-10 finish in a two-star Grand Prix in Mullingar.

“We have 17 in full work at the moment. I ride about nine or 10 each day and my dad will help with the rest. It’s pretty busy. But, if you have a good one, it’s very rewarding.”

Robyn decided college wasn’t for her and is concentrating on horses full-time. “I always wanted to follow in my grandad’s footsteps and produce horses, so when I left school, I tried college for a year and decided it wasn’t for me and now I do the horses full-time.

Robyn Moran and her grandmother Jill at the Irish Horse World Awards

“I went away for three winters to get a bit of experience for myself in producing and selling. I went down to Marion Hughes to learn the way they do things.

“The following year, I went out to Germany to Katrin Eckermann. I was there for six months with two horses, so I got to see so much at such a high level. I learned a lot there.

“Last year, I went out to James Chawke in California and got to see how it works in the States.

“I got to see how he rides, he is so successful, and made some good contacts. This year, I’m staying at home, we have a lot in work, so I don’t want to leave it all on my dad.

“I have a relatively new owner in Brian O’Malley, who I met when I bought a horse from him in 2018 named Fortside Clever Candy. He’s nine now and I’ve brought him up to 1.50m.

“Brian came to us, five or six years later, and asked me to ride two young horses for him, and now we’ve had about 10 horses from him. It’s funny how, even after that length of time, our paths crossed again.

“I have a five-year-old half-brother to Clever Candy named Clever Quay (Orestus x Lux Z), who I half-own with Brian. I think he is really talented and am looking forward to seeing him progress.

“My plan now is to do Cavan and then give them all a bit of a break, myself included. I think it’s good for your mind when there’s no competition to take a complete break, we have about 52 acres here, so I can turn a lot of them out, which is good for their minds too.”