WITHOUT the right start, many a Grand Prix horse would never have made it to their first international show.

Producing these potential superstars correctly is vital to the Irish Sport Horse industry. But with the draw of lucrative employment in America and elsewhere, yards with good riders that focus solely on bringing on young horses and preparing them to go on to compete at the higher level are becoming few and far between.

Earlier this week, Mark Cleary, the man behind one of these such yards took some time out to speak to The Irish Field.

“I grew up on a farm in Co Wexford. My mother Frances Corkery always had a few horses eventing and showing. She has a four-star eventer she bred (Shanbo Super Flex) with Ian Cassells at the moment. She also bred her half-sister Shanbo Queen B, which went to four-star with Sarah Ennis.

“We were always kicking around on ponies, but it wasn’t until I was about 14 or 15 before I started riding properly.

“When I finished school in 2007, I went down to Francis Connors. I stayed for eight months, and to this day, I have to say, it’s the best place I ever worked.

“It was absolutely brilliant. I was incorporated into the family and I learned a lot. There were a lot of young horses and I was still very raw and would have just had the basics, but I got the chance to see how it should be done.

“I saw the way Fra deals with people, as well as with the horses and watched how his work ethic makes the yard run so well and makes for happy employees, horses and ultimately owners.

“After that, I went home for a while and then travelled to Germany and Switzerland and worked in different dealing yards.

“By 2011, I had had enough of horses and began working with dairy cows. I did that for the next five years. I took a complete break from the horses and did the Green Cert and stuff like that. I was in my early 20s and was just trying to figure out what I wanted to do.

“Then I met my future wife, Lisa. She is Jack Hutchinson’s daughter, so comes from a very horsey family in Co Kilkenny.

“By that stage, I was getting sick of the cows and I ended up going working for Eddie Moloney part-time. Alongside that, I began doing a few of my own horses.

“Lisa always had a few horses too, so we ended up doing some breakers and producing a few youngsters between us, nothing too complicated and it really started from there.

“We bought the yard off Jack and Aine (Hutchinson) eight years ago now, and slowly we just met more and more people, it spread by word of mouth I suppose. We got more horses to do and it progressed from there.

“Then about three years ago, Fra approached me at a show and said he had a bit too much on and would I consider taking on a few from him. He has been very good to us and diverted a lot of work towards us.

“We were delighted. After a while, I finished up working for Eddie and was able to devote all my time to our own yard. Through Francis, we met people like Micheal Hayden, Micheal Keliher, John Murphy, Keith Precott, John Lawlor, Ann Gannon Clancy, just loads of owners we would never have met without Fra.

“I had feared that we would be too quiet, but Fra said to me ‘keep doing things right and there will always be work for you’.

Phenomenal

“I consider it a massive compliment that Francis would recommend me. I don’t even name other people I have worked for, because the grounding I got from him was just phenomenal. You pick up bits and pieces everywhere you go, of course, but those first few months working with him taught me so much. He says very little, but you can learn so much just from watching him. I don’t even think he realises it.

“Don’t get me wrong, I have worked for a lot of great people, Paul O’Shea, Niall Talbot, Shane Breen etcetera and learned things from them all, but a large part of the way I work, the mentality, comes from him.

“He has become a great friend; we had a baby girl on Saturday morning and he would be one of the first people I would send a photo to.

“We have room for 23 here in Smithtown Stables, but I try to keep it down to 20 horses. The yard starts at about 5.30am and we try to finish at 6pm. I have a guy who works with me and then there are a few of Lisa’s family who will help out. We have a massive range; horses from age three to eight; horses that are just broken to the one that did the Grand Prix in Barnadown recently.

“We have horses that come to us at all different stages. They don’t have to do the age classes, we give them every chance here to see what suits them and if they are ready they may do the HSI competitions, but if they are not it’s fine, we don’t rush them. We let them guide us.

“It’s funny how horses can make liars of us. They can have their own way of going and we would do better to take note of that. Unfortunately, these days they have to fit into a certain box commercially and sometimes that can take the jump away from them. For some of them, you have to meet them in the middle.

“There’s different routes for different horses and, if they are talented, they will hopefully all get there in the end. The process is not too complicated here. It’s all snaffle bits and trying to go with them, not against them.

“At the end of the day, we are a producing yard. Once they get to a certain level, they will move on. Don’t get me wrong, I love riding the bigger tracks; getting that eight-year-old mare (CBI Kylemores Cornet) up to Grand Prix level and competing in Barnadown was a goal of mine and I was delighted to have achieved it, but that was a bonus.

“Our job here is to understand what the people who are paying us want to achieve and doing our best to get it for them.

“If people are sending you a horse, there is a massive amount of trust there. They are sending one of three things; an investment; so you are managing their investment. Their pet; so you are looking after their pet, which they love. Or, for a lot of them, it’s their dream; they want this horse to go on to fulfil their dream.

“At the same time, last weekend we went to Cavan and did well in some of the bigger classes, which was great, but the day after we got home and I took eight four-year-olds schooling, I think they are the nicest bunch of four-year-olds we’ve ever had, and I got just a big a buzz out of that, so it’s all different, but can all be just as satisfying.

“At the end of the day, I’m a home bird. I love the system here. I love doing them at this time of year, just hacking them up the road. I really enjoy that sort of stuff. It’s been a hard road getting here, but I love it.”