CIARA Mullen doesn’t have far to travel to the Dublin Horse Show from her home in Malahide and, every year, she does her best to make sure at least some of the silverware remains in the capital.

Heading into last year’s show, she already had six Dublin titles to her name, earned over the previous decade, but she outdid herself last August, claiming a further three wins: Champion Connemara, Champion Ladies’ Side-Saddle and Champion Coloured Horse.

This week, she spoke to The Irish Field about her career with horses so far, her plans for the future and why she thinks the preservation of the old-fashioned Irish-bred is so important.

“I grew up here in Malahide, Co Dublin. My parents (Rufina Shiel and Paul Mullen) always bred Irish Draughts and showed them in-hand and as foals. When I was younger, we would probably have five or six foals every year,” Ciara said.

“I first got a pony when I was four years old. I think my parents found it in a field in the Curragh and paid €400 for him, and I used to go to John Carey in Kinsealy for lessons.

“I got my second pony, High Star Flyer, from John. I bought it with my Communion money. She was the first pony I brought to Dublin, and we finished fourth. We did all the normal Pony Club things with the Ward Union branch; the Robbie Bailey, Minimus etc.

“We went on a family holiday in Clifden and came home with a Connemara pony called Black Bobby Sparrow who, I suppose, started my love for showing.

“I had him, and a pony named Pontoon Lad, at the same time. Black Bobby Sparrow jumped and Pontoon Lad did the flat classes, and they both won in Dublin.

“I went to HOYS on Black Bobby Sparrow and that was where it all began with the Connemaras and I’ve had one ever since,” Ciara continued.

“Black Bobby Sparrow was four and was just backed when I got him. He was sharp and was not easy. I remember our first show I did a working hunter class; we did five laps of the ring before eventually stopping him by running him into a tree to pull up.

“But, eventually, the penny dropped and he became one of the best ponies we ever had. He won Dublin in 2013 in the 14hh workers, he also qualified for HOYS that year. Then in 2014, I became too big for him, I took him to a Louise Bell clinic and she bought him then and there.

“We bought another pony from Colin Finn in Co Wexford, which is where we found Black Bobby Sparrow, he was a 15 hander and we also won in Dublin.

“When I was about 16 or 17, we had a home-bred Irish Draught by Crannagh Hero named Madame Stella, who I went into intermediates with and small hunters.

“As a six-year-old, she qualified for HOYS and the Royal International. Unfortunately, she never won Dublin; she was second seven times... always the bridesmaid.

“She introduced me to horse classes and we had years of fun together. She measured out at her last measuring, when she was eight years old, by 1cm.

Overseas travels

“When I finished school at 18, I went out to America and worked for Darragh and Sarah Kerins for a while. I had a great time and learned loads, they are so professional, their attention to detail is amazing.

“When I came home, I knew I still had a lot to learn, so I decided to go to Jane Ross in Buckinghamshire to work. I went for six months and stayed for two years. I couldn’t have transitioned into horses without going there.

“We did a lot of breakers there, so it was phenomenal. I had always been interested in side-saddle, but had never really had the horse. Jane had all these fabulous Ladies’ horses and it was during Covid, she said ‘if you want to ride them, you can’. I qualified two (both Irish-bred) for the Royal International in 2021.

“When I came home, I felt I still wasn’t ready to settle there, so I phoned Vicky Smith and said I’m not ready to be at home just yet, and she said come here to me for a while.

“The rest is history. That was four years ago and that is where I met Bart (Ciara’s coloured and side-saddle champion, Dublin 2024).

“That year, I had also bought a Connemara pony, while in Jane’s, named Caherpuca Chappy (Seb) and met my boyfriend Lee (Cosgrove, a former National Hunt jockey), while on a trip to Cheltenham.

“One of the first horses Lee and I did together was Chantilly On the Rocks. We bought her as a three-year-old, broke her together and she was riding horse champion in Dublin.

Grooming business

“I’m kept busy with my mobile dog grooming business, as well as the five horses I have in. I currently have Bart, a four-year-old and a five-year-old Connemara Pony, a middleweight four-year-old and small riding horse.

“We would like to continue doing the Connemaras. They come quicker, they don’t need as much time. They are so easy and so saleable, there is a big demand for them. There are classes for them. You are never restricted with a pony. There is a four and five-year-old class for them, you’ve got Clifden, Balmoral and Dublin.

“The traditional Irish horse has become so hard to find. The four-year-old we have is one of the last Crosstown Dancers. For the weight classes, we are losing our type, but equally hunters need to move now. If you want to market them to England, if they don’t move out of their own way, they are not going to look twice at them. So it is hard to find a balance.

“We have quite a small circle of people we work with; people who like the way we do things. We are not interested in someone that will rush us, because they want to get a red ribbon at the end of the year. We allow the horses and the ponies to develop at their own pace. We are concerned with the longevity of the animal.

“The markets have become very commercial. It needs to find a balance between the need to make money and the need to protect the youngster. We wouldn’t sell anything we can’t stand over ourselves.

“My dad stands Inverin Rocky (Monaghanstown Pat x Callowfinish Mist), the Connemara stallion in Mullingar. He’s 23 years old now, but Lee’s dad got a couple of mares in foal to him this year, so hopefully, they will produce something nice.

“Old-fashioned breeding is what you want. These newer ones, they lack bone and they don’t have substance. Yes, they can be a beautiful show pony that moves well, but when you stand into them at the conformation stage, it’s very disappointing when you look down and there’s nothing there. People forget they need both. If you don’t have the substance, you just have an average pony.

“Because they were doing so well and selling, a lot of people went down the jumping route and we stopped breeding traditional ponies.

“Joe Burke in Cloonisle Stud in Cashel is a great example of someone doing it right. He has six Connemara stallions, and does an open day every year. Every single one he pulls out is better than the last, the bone is just phenomenal. You just don’t see that any more.”