HORSE SHOW WEEK:LUNCHTIME IN A FIELD in Co Meath; across the river from the Newgrange monument, a man is cantering a lively grey horse. Both are enjoying themselves. The rider is stylish, relaxed and the powerful horse throws in a couple of exuberant bucks, eager to take on the course of big jumps, writes Eileen Battersby.
But today he is having an easy workout on the springy grass as he has one more major competition as a final preparation for this year's Dublin Horse Show. A Belgian Warmblood, Womack is a horse with a huge personality. He is as cheeky as a pony and super competitive, a consummate athlete.
The rider's father is watching, and smiles at the antics of the nine-year-old gelding. "He's a beautiful horse, lovely to see - he moves so well, out there having fun." The rider is also having fun. Yet show jumping is a serious business. It is a demanding sport requiring technical skill, courage and determination as well as natural ability.
"That's why it is so important to give the horses variety. I school them, I vary their training," says show jumper John Floody, one of the leading riders on the Irish national scene, explaining the preparation and training needed to prepare horses to negotiate testing courses.
He considers the two horses he is bringing to the Dublin Horse Show next week. Both have already competed there. Womack, owned by Paddy Musgrave, was third in the Open Jumping for eight-year-olds-and-over last year, and has qualified for the same class this year. Already this season he has produced outstanding Grand Prix performances over 1.40-metre and 1.50-metre courses. Floody's other RDS mount is Larkhill Cruiser, a magnificent Irish-bred seven-year-old and the current holder of the national champion six-year-old title. By the famous Irish stallion Cruising out of a Crosstown Dancer mare, Larkhill Cruiser has qualified for the RDS for the past three seasons. He is currently leading the Irish Horse Board six- and seven-year-old championship.
Earlier, Floody had worked the muscular chestnut horse on the flat before doing some jumping. Larkhill Cruiser, which was purchased as a foal by his owner Michael Smith at the Gorsebridge sales, was bought to Floody after a leading rider had suggested the youngster was more suited to hunting. Smith thought otherwise and felt Floody would guide the horse to his full potential. Smith was right. The 168cms gelding, known in the yard as "Joey", is quiet and laid-back and a tremendous endorsement of the Irish sport horse. He is also typical of the type of horse Floody tends to work with - youngsters, not proven internationals.
Unlike many riders, Floody does not spend his time seeking out the million euro ride. "I have a yard to run. I have my owners, my students who are competing at various levels. I teach. I love competing. It may seem harder, working with young horses, but then, it's also exciting. It's great seeing Larkhill Cruiser do so well."
Standing in her stable is Coppendell, by Arkansas, also owned by Paddy Musgrave, and currently in contention for the five-year-old Irish Horse Board championship. "This little mare, she's actually 165cms, is unbelievable; she just loves to jump." Another mare, the nine-year-old Syriana, a good looking dark bay speed class specialist, looks over her stable door. Owned by Tom Tait, she is, like Womack, Belgian-bred and has consistently won over 1.30 to 1.35 metres this season. Two stables down the aisle is Ashbourne, a recent arrival, a handsome German-bred grey co-owned by Helen Dunne and Jim Monks. He won the 1.40-metre Grand Prix at Cavan and the Odyssey Qualifier for Belfast International Show earlier this year.
In many ways, in the age of massive sponsorship deals and when many Irish riders are based abroad, John Floody appears as an example of the old-style gentleman amateur. Although his approach is professional, it is also personalised, sympathetic but effective. He not only competes the horses, he also exercises them himself, which means he has a special bond with them: "Each horse is an individual, like a person."
On the long, often wet winter nights, he rides under floodlights; he doesn't have an indoor arena. This season has been more difficult than most as his assistant, his sister Anne, also an excellent rider, who works with him in the breaking and training of young horses, was pregnant. While Floody is delighted with Alex, his nephew, now eight weeks old, Anne's absence as a rider this year made it more difficult for him to leave the yard for competitions.
He is the eldest of six children born to the Floody family who moved from Drogheda to Bettystown, Co Meath, near the beach. The children all rode ponies. "I like looking at horses," says Noel Floody, John's father, "but I never wanted to ride one." His wife, Anne, an artist, did. "I enjoyed hunting and cross-country," but she says, holding one of her son's competition mounts, "now the horses seem so much bigger and more powerful." John's younger brother, Michael, a heating engineer, also rides, and the brothers won the Pro-Am competition at a show in Kill in 2006.
For all their shared love of horses, the family was not born into it. "We didn't have that kind of background, we're . . . ordinary," says Floody, "but when I got into ponies I loved it. I like the idea of being part of a partnership, the horse and the rider." He reached Grade A level and competed at the RDS as a teenager. "My father and I bought my first horse when I was 15, Chin Up was her name." On leaving school, he worked with the former international Army rider, Captain Con Power.
Then Floody bought an existing riding school. "I did that for 15 years. So I gave up competing. I feel sorry for riding school horses, they have a tough time doing the same thing over and over again for all kinds of riders." When he decided to sell up, many of the school horses were bought by leisure riders who had ridden the horses in lessons and fallen in love with them. So they went to good homes. He wanted to concentrate on training young horses and rented Copperalley yard in Maynooth. Known for having a flair for dealing with difficult horses, riders as well as owners bring horses to him. "I often get problem ones and they end up doing well."
It was Cian O'Connor who eventually persuaded Floody to return to competition. "That was difficult; I had been out of it for so long. Cian helped me and the Army rider, Gerry Mullins, was a mentor. It was very hard." But Floody came back and re-established himself in a tough domestic scene. Within three years, by 2004, he was competing in the main arena at the RDS, on Summerhill. "We did well."
Floody is considered by many in the sport to be the finest rider to have not yet ridden for Ireland as a full international. This is because of the shortage of world-class horses. How does he feel about this? "Well it is a problem. In Ireland, we have the riding talent, but the horses of that level are not here. It is due to the sale of so many great Irish mares in the past. But this is being dealt with now - the Irish Horse Board is promoting the Irish horse, it has put up great incentives to produce good stock, and it has introduced classes with good prize-money. It is a great sport, but low profile. It doesn't get the coverage. Hopefully this will change."
His yard has stabling for 20 horses in a barn block with loose boxes. It is a friendly place. He designed and built it himself. He can remember first seeing the site as a number of fields and felt that the peaceful rural atmosphere would be ideal for horses. Now it is neatly divided into several paddocks and has been landscaped. He and his father did most of the fencing. They built their horse walker. Michael did the plumbing work. Floody worked the digger, his mother painted the sign, Newgrange Stud. His father shreds and recycles newspaper for bedding in the stables, while his sister Anne, quiet and deliberate, has been invaluable since her return from England four years ago. Holding her baby, she looks at the horses which she has been limited to only clipping this year, and says she is looking forward to getting back to riding.
Floody is a one-man operation, but he praises his family's practical contribution, while his fiancee, Rachel Moran, also a rider and a special needs primary school teacher, is always busy in the background, fetching tack and changing rugs. "Rachel gives me so much emotional support, I can't thank her enough."
Does he dream about the international scene and the Olympics? He laughs and says: "Who doesn't? But it is down to the horses. We need the level of horse that can get Irish riders to international and world-class events. There are always only a handful of horses anywhere in the world at a given time capable of doing this. They're very expensive and need serious sponsorship commitment. I don't like seeing horses being pushed beyond their limits or the level at which they are happy to compete. That's important. Maybe some day, I'll bring on a 1.60-metre horse. Who knows?"
Is he nervous about the Dublin Horse Show? "It's the biggest show for us, the RDS is very special. It has an international profile. There is nothing like it; it is the oldest show, the one with all the history. It's always wonderful to be there."
The Fáilte Ireland Dublin Horse Show is at the RDS, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 from next Wednesday to Sunday. Admission tickets are available to buy online at www.rds.ie, and at the venue.