WHEN I first visited Ashford farm in 2015, I thought it was one of the most charming and beautiful stables I had ever been to. It is nestled in the middle of the Belgian countryside, in a town called Bocholt, 35 minutes from Eindhoven and just over an hour from Brussels.

It felt like it had always been there, but in reality, it was an old pig farm that was carefully restored into a red brick horsey haven by Galwayman Enda Carroll after he bought the 17-acre plot in 2014. Fast forward 10 years and every aspect of Ashford Farm is bigger and better.