FAMILY reunions are one of the best parts of Christmas. For the Hickey brothers from Clonmel, theirs already took place last weekend at West Gate Farm in the suitably snowbound surroundings of Sweden, 3,300 kilometres from the North Pole.

The story behind this little corner of Clonmel in Björklinge, north of Uppsala, goes back to their Tipperary roots, a Clover Hill mare named after the town’s famous landmark and their love of horses. And there was work to be done too as all three – John, Jim and Eamon – provided a one-stop seminar last Saturday at John’s farm, where he breeds and produces show jumpers with an element of Irish backbreeding.

“The seminar feedback was lovely, a lot of people thought it was great to see the three brothers back together because John and Eamon’s name are pretty big here and the interaction between us. Eamon, who does a lot of what you’d describe as horse whispering, came up and joined in too, so we all contributed,” said the middle brother.

Jim has already been booked for another similar event in Sweden, a country where the horse industry contributes up to 50 billion Swedish kroner to the economy and employs up to 30,000 people.

For John, his brother’s input added to the event. “Jim is very humble in what he does but he has an incredible strike rate with riders of all ages and sports, from children to amateurs and then some of the biggest names in the industry, including top professionals who went on to win medals and podium finishes at world level in different disciplines.”

Sweden is home to John and Eamon for years; their part at the gathering involved horses. For Jim, a Galway-based sports and business coach, it’s more about harnessing the power of the rider’s mind.

Working hard was second nature to the family growing up. Eddie, their father, was the third generation to run Hickey’s Bakery and along with their mother Margaret and sisters, Aileen, Siobhán and Nuala (who now runs the family business), it was all hands on deck for the brothers. Especially at Christmas time.

“I got to understand business from a very young age. I worked in the bakery, managed the vans and the teams. When I was 17, I went straight into it after leaving school. Christmas time, it was non-stop!

“The bakery came first. Everything had to be done on the bakery first, then the farm, then the horses so the horses were our reward. We’d be the last stop for the vet. Dad, thankfully, built this small indoor and we’d be guaranteed to be riding the horses at 10 or 11 o’clock at night and so the vet would always say, “I’ll call to Hickeys last!’”

Although the family were long established in their bakery, horses became a second business thanks to the three brothers’ interest from an early age. Jim recalls them wearing white pants, as makeshift jodphurs, tucked into their wellington boots and making their own ponies.

“We had the best days of our lives going round to the shows. I was in Sweden a couple of months ago and John, Eamon and I had such fun and laughter and memories looking back. We did Pony Club for years with the Tipperary Hunt branch, we were on show jumping teams – the Tipperary team was made up of us and Seamus Hayes – we did triathlon. We had great times.

“Christmas would be full of craic and jokes, you’d have horses for hunting or if you didn’t, you’d follow the hunt and you might end up in the pub afterwards! We were so lucky.”

Luck came their way too in the form of a young Clover Hill-Milan-Middle Temple filly, bred by Ralph Hayes, near Nenagh. That was West Gate.

Grand Prix era

John recounted the story of finding her on their proverbial doorstep in The Irish Field breeding supplement in 2019.

“She ended up literally 15 metres from our gate, just across the road. I’d see her every day. She was there with another mare and I thought the other mare was nicer, they belonged to a farmer named Kennedy, a friend of my father’s. ‘That mare is good’ he’d say, ‘Would you buy her for IR£1,000?’ and we’d say ‘no’.

“So we went down to Millstreet that year and the Clover Hills won everything, so my father said, ‘We’d better buy that horse!’.

John and West Gate went on to compete successfully on the national Grand Prix circuit here. “She was very tricky, very hot but she was so brave, if you steered her at a car, she would have jumped it. It was Michelene Croome-Carroll who got her to come good, she was a very, very good trainer.

“I did all the Grand Prix classes around Ireland with West Gate: Cork, Galway, Eglinton, Balmoral. As an eight-year-old, she did all the big classes. It was unbelievable then to be jumping in the same class as Eddie Macken, James Kernan and Harry Marshall and follow them from one show to the next.”

Some 21 years ago, John found his way to Sweden.

“There was a job in the middle of the woods here, I mucked out and rode 10 horses a day for the first year there. I started helping people with the little bit of knowledge I had and made my way here, helping people,” John explained.

“Then about two years later, my father sent West Gate over to me and that was a turning point because I was able to get into the bigger classes. I was in Belgium once and I remember Marie Burke rode West Gate for me and, of course, Chipmount. That’s how I got to know Willie Boland, a lovely chap.

“Then I brought West Gate back to England and trained for three months with Ted Edgar. When I had left for Sweden, Jim rode West Gate and he did very well with her. He did the Grand Prix classes at Millstreet and had his own very good show jumping career too,” added John, who was later joined in Sweden by youngest brother Eamon, yet another Irish expat to have worked at Max Hauri’s yard.

Eamon, who excels in breaking and producing youngsters, was also involved with breeding Albfuehren’s Bianca, Steve Guerdat’s individual bronze medal winner at the 2018 World Equestrian Games.

With John in Sweden, Jim was next to take up West Gate’s reins and their third place in the Millstreet Grand Prix still rates with him as their best result together. Once retired, she went on to become the foundation broodmare at the farm named after her.

“I competed West Gate for a year when John left. Black Forest Gateaux was another I finished up with.”

Clonmel and Hickey’s Bakery branding galore appeared in many of their horses’ names. “And there was Irishtown, Piece Of Cake, even Clonmel. It’s natural to name the horses like that, we grew up with it. I’d even say to riders now ‘What’s your prefix?’ To me, it’s great marketing.

“Your horse could be sold, whether its eventing or show jumping, but the prefix or theme is there and the horses are branded.”

Back to the early days when his own experiences shaped his approach as a coach.

“I struggled with my own confidence without the right animal. The right animal is very important. The first pony I got when John and I started out was a 13.2 called Irishtown Boy, a name again going back to the bakery! I knew going out every time I’d jump a double clear. John was unlucky, his pony would have fences down.

“We were both very competitive, then John got lucky, the next pony he got was Killegar Lady that went on to be on European teams with Eamon. The next pony I got was very careless and my confidence went down.”

The right fit

Jim applies that experience when working with clients. “When I work with people I always check, ‘Is your horse the right fit for you?’ Because you could have all these ambitions but the horse isn’t right, the whole package has to be right.

“The horse or pony has to have the right ability for that level, whatever trainer you have. Back when we grew up, we had no trainer, we’d get lessons in the Pony Club or lessons every so often. Nowadays the training is fantastic.”

Jim had, by this stage, started his career as a coach and author of three books. “Business has been a part of me since an early age.”

Which part does he prefer most, dealing with businesses or the equine side?

“My passion is horses. When it comes to horses I light up but I work with people in all walks of life, in all different businesses and I never advertise. It’s all word of mouth, it’s all organic, it’s completely confidential.

“I’ve been working with people in business for years too. I do like the business part, the edgy part, because it’s in me. I work with the leaders of a business, the owners and entrepreneurs, and then that passes on to the team. But I love working with riders.

“I work with all different levels and in different countries. Take amateurs, they have businesses, they might have one or two horses and they love being involved in the sport. It’s just a full package in how to get on.

“I’ve been very privileged and lucky when people come to me to improve their lives. It’s a decision people make before they come to me that they want to take their life to another level, whatever that may be.”

He has also worked with groups and riding clubs. And those Swedish workshops.

What was the format at last weekend’s seminar at West Gate Farm?

“What I did was I introduced myself and asked them all what problems and issues they had when they came to jumping so, throughout the seminar, we worked through all their answers because a lot of the fears that come up are what people think: who’s watching me in the arena, fears that they’re not good enough, the mindset, the fear of falling.

“Some people had a fear of overthinking and that ‘rushing mind’, others felt they were lacking in confidence, so throughout the whole seminar I gave them the tools for confident, consistent clear. It was a lot of fun as well, lots of good energy.

“Communication is so important. I never tell anybody to do anything, I’d ask. I believe instruction interferes with learning, so when you ask the question, the person takes ownership and thinks it through for themselves, rather than telling them what to do. When we tell somebody to do something, there’s a tendency to freeze, it’s like horses. You keep asking rather than telling. That’s a huge part of my philosophy.

“I really wanted people to enjoy the seminar. The feedback was great, they all went away with two pages filled with notes to work on. We also worked out what their season ahead is, lots of people don’t plan out what the year ahead will be.”

Time at Christmas

While many of us tend to wing plans, the affable Hickey’s advice is to have a daily plan.

“Make a plan every night. I do it myself, every night write down your list for the next day. Your subconscious mind kicks in as you sleep, it’s really powerful. There’s a science behind it. To programme the subconscious mind, you have to put out what you need and what you want. You’ll find that, for example, somebody called before you called them. It’s because you put it out there.

“A lot of people have the best intentions, say, ‘I’d like to jump a double clear in that class’ but they have to put a plan together and prepare.”

Tips for horse people

With Christmas upon us, any tips on how to spend any rare downtime for people working in the horse industry?

“Look back on the year and think of all you’ve accomplished. Most people are hard on themselves and pick out all the negatives. Make sure you look back and pick out something that went well, write it down and be proud of it. Be proud of your accomplishments. Take time out with no guilt and try and just chill.

“I call days off ‘paddock time’. We have to chill out and relax too, just like the horses out in a field. A lot of people think they have be go, go, go the whole time because they’re in a routine, do just draw your breath. Call somebody you’ve been meaning to call for a while but you hadn’t time to. Reach out. Just pick up the phone and call them.”

Do we tend to wallow in nostalgia at Christmas time, thinking the past was better?

“I think things were simpler then, simpler because there was no technology. I think technology is good, if you use it to your advantage, but I believe you have to be disciplined when it comes to social media.

“Say, if you want to improve your riding, watch riders you admire. Watch your role models and step into their job and picture riding their horses. That’s very important but not to get caught up into hours of just flitting through social media.”

On social media, his own Instagram and Facebook pages are always brimming with positive posts.

“I just put up messages each morning! They’re uplifting messages about life but they’re always to do with horses. We’ve a choice in each moment, we can look at things negatively or positively and I just believe that we’re not aware enough of this and we have to catch ourselves with ‘Is that a negative thought or a positive thought?’ Ultimately all we want is that inner happiness and peace.”

Especially today.

Next week part 2: New Year Resolutions and Solutions