Showstopper
SHOWING is a fickle business. One week you could be the flavour of the month with judges, the next it could go all terribly wrong. As all exhibitors will contest, ‘it is a great leveller’.
For Louise Lyons, however, it has been a memorable summer on the circuit and she can now look forward to getting back to working with thoroughbreds at home in Co Kilkenny while her fleet of show horses take a wellearned break over the winter.
One horse has been kept in work, however, in the hope he can add the working Hunter title at the upcoming Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) in the UK to his haul of silverware.
The Irish-bred MJM Laszlo has been quite the campaigner for his rider, and his owner, Paulette Cooper. Champion working hunter at the Royal International Horse Show in Hickstead, the Northern Ireland Festival, and at Balmoral, his connections are hoping that he can pull off another victory at HOYS in a fortnight’s time.
“He was unlucky there last year and had a fence down but we’ve had a great summer with him and he’s been going really well,” Ms Lyons said.
Purchased out of Goresbridge as a three-year-old from breeder Janet Murray, the eight-year-old son of Classic Vision was lightly evented as a four-year-old, but it is in the show ring where he has really impressed.
Champion working hunter at the RDS in 2016, by then he was under the ownership of Ms Cooper, who kept him in the UK during 2017 and returned him to Ms Lyons’ yard for the 2018 season, during which he also won at Tattersalls to qualify for the 2019 Royal International Horse Show.
A native of Wirral near Liverpool, Ms Lyons still has family there and puts her UK base to good use when travelling to and from shows.
“Mum is only two hours from Holyhead so it’s a great place to stop over from the ferry,” she says of her trip to the Royal Cheshire County Show, where MJM Laszlo gained his qualification for HOYS.
Ms Lyons’ mother Ann is well known in horse circles, as is her daughter, Kelly Ward, who produces a considerable number of horses for the show rings each year.
Relationship
In the past few years Ms Lyons has built up a great working relationship with Ms Cooper, who has several horses competing out of Bluegate Stud, near Callan.
Another is the six-year-old Obelix gelding First Rate, who was well spotted after winning his working hunter class at Dublin as a four-year-old for owner/breeder Wallis Birch.
He also had a fantastic 2018 season, winning the hunter championship at Bramham in June, as well as reserve champion to MJM Laszlo at Balmoral.
The six-year-old went on to win the working hunter title at the RDS, and came very close to winning the supreme hunter championship there too.
“All of Paulette’s horses have gone really well this year, including my home-bred Dartans Blockbuster who was crowned champion middleweight at Dublin and won the supreme show hunter championship at Tattersalls,” says Ms Lyons.
A five-year-old by OBOS Quality 004, he is out of the rider’s former event mare Red Light, who also produced the full-brother, the three-year-old Dartans Peaky Blinder, who will be one to watch next year.
While Ms Lyons is well known for her achievements in eventing — she represented Ireland in Hong Kong in 2008 — her prowess in the show ring has not gone unnoticed and in June she was given the opportunity to take on the 2016 Cheltenham Gold Cup champion Don Cossack with a view to doing a few shows over the summer.
Runner-up in the IHWT Thoroughbred Club Working Hunter Series at Tattersalls, the 11-year-old went one better when crowned ITM Racehorse to Riding Horse Champion at the Dublin Horse Show.
“It was my first time competing in that class and the atmosphere was just fantastic,” the winning rider says.
With the show horses now on their break, attention at Bluegate Stud turns to the thoroughbred side of the business, which Ms Lyons runs alongside her partner Nicky Teehan.
Several useful horses have already passed through the gates, including Raya Time, who was snapped up by Roger Brookhouse for almost €170,000 at Doncaster in May. Another is Poker Party, who is now in training with Henry de Bromhead.
Aside from that Ms Lyons also does a good bit of teaching between juniors and pony riders, Riding Club and Pony Club, making for a busy household for the mother-of-three.
“I love the teaching end of it but I enjoy the pre-training too so hopefully we can develop that further,” she says.