IT was sad to hear of the passing of Andy Lynch, a dear friend of my family, particularly my late father, Pat.

Andy and my father would have known each other as kids, going to national school in Dunshaughlin. Andy was very instrumental in getting my father hunting with the Ward Union in the late 1960s.

At that time Andy’s job was full-time working in the kennels and as a professional whipper-in with the Wards. He went on to hunt a full 40 seasons.

Andy made sure he was present when Dad bought his hunters, making sure he bought the best available at the time, and one most suited to Dad’s riding style and ability. He never bought Dad a dud.

Away from the hunting field Andy also enjoyed success in the show jumping arena during the 1970s, on a horse owned by Dad, named Geata An Uisce, which translates as Watergate!

When this 15.3hh chesnut gelding revealed he had a serious jump in him, Andy suggested switching from hunting to show jumping. It was agreed that Andy would ride him and the aim was to qualify for the 1977 Dublin Horse Show.

It all came down to the qualifier in Dunshaughlin where the horse had to finish in the first four to get his ticket to the RDS.

The Dunshaughlin circuit had a water jump that year, which was most unusual for the time, but Andy had a cunning plan.

At 4.30am on the day of the show, Andy and Dad tacked up ‘Geata’ and walked him the 500 yards from his stable to the Dunshaughlin show grounds. An intensive schooling session ensued and, though it didn’t start well, by the end of it our star was clearing the water jump with ease. He was back in his stable with his breakfast eaten before the show organisers opened the gates.

A total of 48 horses turned up that day trying to qualify for Dublin. Only one of them had ever seen a water jump before and only one of them put in a clear round. We were going to Dublin!

Ireland won the Nations Cup that year with a golden age team of Paul Darragh, James Kernan, Capt Con Power and Eddie Macken. Older readers may recall there was a viral infection doing the rounds in ‘77 which threatened to call off the entire show.

Unfortunately Geata An Uisce came down with a cough and runny nose, so our dream ended there.

However, we did sell the horse to the royal family in Morocco for a handsome profit, so the story had a happy ending.

Thank you, Andy, for some great memories. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hAnam.