Equestrian hopes and dreams: Casey-Lee Millar
This young lady is a force to be reckoned with in the showing world
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Northern Ireland has an incredible number of very talented young riders across the disciplines, with regular international performances in show jumping, dressage and eventing.
Horse&Field would like to feature some of these young people, give recognition to their achievements so far and find out more about their equestrian hopes and dreams for the future!
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Just ahead of Balmoral Show, I was delighted to be joined by a young lady who is a force to be reckoned with in the showing world, Casey-Lee Millar, along with her mum Eileen…
Casey-Lee Millar from Strabane, Co Tyrone, is just 11 years old, but her accomplishments are many. She has had previous success at Dublin Horse Show and Balmoral, and recently excelled at the Northern Ireland Festival, culminating in her winning the Mini Novice Champion of Champions title on Manorlea Calipo.
Very recently, Casey-Lee and her mum Eileen and her dad Lee made the journey over to the British Show Pony Society Scotland Mid-Turn Show at Howe Equestrian Centre north of Edinburgh, where Casey-Lee qualified ‘Pillheath Arlo’, known as ‘Drake’, for the Nursery Stakes at the Royal Highland Show in June, and qualified ‘Bunbury Suarez’, known as ‘Jenson’, for the 133 Show Hunter Pony at the Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead in July. That was a fantastic weekend's work!
Casey-Lee and her mum, Eileen took time out to have a chat in between their weekend away in Scotland and heading to Balmoral Show.
Are you from a horsey background? Do or did your parents ride or have horses?
Mummy and her family rode ponies whenever they were younger and then my Granda Frankie trained racehorses. So, mama got her love for horses off Granda. And my dad's Granda trained racehorses as well. So it's kind of in my blood from both sides.
I believe you are now 11. At what age did you start to ride?
I started riding whenever I was two.
And who taught you to ride?
Lynn Russell taught me to ride. We went for weekly lessons and my first pony I rode was called Tiny Tim.
And what age were you when you got your first pony? Can you tell us a bit about him or her?
I got Buzz for my third birthday. He was 11.2hh, but he was a baby pony. He was a really good starter pony and we did a few shows with him, but he didn't really like showing. So that's whenever mummy started looking for a Lead Rein pony for me.
Did you go straight into showing and do Lead Rein then?
Yeah, we went straight into Lead Rein because my mum did it whenever she was small and that's how we ended up going that way.
So, can you tell me a wee bit about your Lead Rein ponies then?
So, first we had Thistledown Whisper, we brought from Sian Linley back in 2017. She was a lovely dappled grey and we had great success with her and learned what showing was about. Then later that year, mummy and daddy surprised me with ‘Barbie’ (‘Linksbury Goldilocks’) and she was really the pony who started us on the showing circuit here. We were second twice at Balmoral with her and fourth in Dublin.
Eileen: I think she actually taught me how to do Lead Rein showing properly.
What disciplines do you do now?
I do showing and working hunter.
What do you like better, actually, showing or working hunter?
Oh, I don't know. I love my jumping, because sometimes the flat can get a bit boring, so I'd probably have to say working hunter.
After your Lead Rein ponies, what ponies did you move on to then?
Well, we got ‘Tribute’ (‘Tresparrett Indian Tribute’) and ‘Alfie’ (‘Hightopps Allegro’) from our friend Zoe Price in autumn 2021. They were two completely different types of ponies, different temperaments and different ways of going. Both ponies taught me how to ride different ponies and both made me the rider I am now.
Eileen: And then in early 2021, we saw ‘Sandy’ - she's ‘Keenaught Sandy Gold’ - at one of Toni Donnelly's clinics. She was advertised for sale a week after the clinic, and I said to Lee, there's a wee pony for sale, and he said there's always another wee pony with you. But I just knew there was something different about her. She was the most honest and genuine wee mare I'd ever seen. And it was really her that started Casey-Lee off on her Working Hunter journey.
She was always afraid to jump anything more than a cross-pole. She'd jump a big cross-pole, but to put up a vertical or anything, she wouldn't jump it. And I think you could probably say that ‘Sandy’ was the pony that gave Casey-Lee wings to jump. They jumped everything and anything. They did Working Hunter, cross-country and all Pony Club events and they were successful in Pony Club as well. And they just had a brilliant time together.
Without ‘Sandy’, she wouldn't have had the courage then to go on and ride ‘Drake’, I suppose. And he was the next step up and he was a big step up to a full 13 hands.
‘Sandy’ has now gone on to another lovely family in Seskinore. And she's doing exactly the same for their girls. And she's doing the cradles now in Balmoral on Saturday as well. So we can't wait to see her jumping.
Do you have a coach or do you have different coaches for different disciplines?
Eileen: Casey-Lee has been coached by Kyle Hayes from Aldertree Equine since 2019. He's just brilliant with Casey-Lee and his nickname for her is Granny Mush. And no doubt Casey-Lee wouldn't be the rider she is today without him. They do so much flat work together. When they're talking to each other, I haven't even a clue what they're talking about!
They do a lot of work on the suppleness of the ponies and then every pony needs ridden a little bit differently. And Kyle has a knack of teaching Casey-Lee how to ride each pony separately, because what works with one pony might not work with another pony.
He encourages her so much and he's so proud of her for all her success in the show ring and jumping as well. And then we also go to Toni Donnelly for Working Hunter lessons. Toni runs clinics early every year at the Meadows and it kind of forces us to come out of hibernation after the winter and get the ponies going.
She has a fabulous range of jumps at her yard, just outside Saintfeld, and we have great fun up there. Toni probably has a knack of pushing Casey-Lee to her limits, a little bit more each time, without her even thinking about it and it helps to just gain more confidence and improve herself as a rider a bit more each time. We're very lucky to have such good coaches and such a good team.
My goodness, it's some journey to go from Strabane to Saintfield for a lesson!
It's a good two hours. If we leave after school in the traffic, it takes us two hours. So we don't get to go up that often, but it's worthwhile whenever we do get up.
Casey Lee, are you in a Pony Club or a riding club?
Yeah, I'm in Seskinore Harriers.
And what do you like to do in the Pony Club?
I love Pony Club; I love going to rallies and I just love Pony Club in general. And I love seeing all my friends as well.
What is your favourite show that you've been to so far? First of all, in Northern Ireland?
Definitely Balmoral.
What do you like best about Balmoral?
I love riding there. The atmosphere is really good and all my friends go. So it's really fun and I just love it.
What classes are you planning to do at Balmoral this week?
The Show Starter Stakes on ‘Jenson’ and then the M&M First Ridden on ‘Calypso’. The Starter Stakes Working Hunter on ‘Calypso’ and then the 133 Working Hunter Pony on ‘Drake’.
I think all the classes are going to be all on around the same time, so I think we might end up missing a class.
What about outside of Northern Ireland then, in the south of Ireland, for example, what would be your favourite show there?
Probably the Dublin Horse Show.
What makes Dublin special to you?
Winning last year was a dream come true; it's just like the Arena of Dreams in Ireland, riding there. I love the atmosphere there as well.
Are you planning to go to Dublin this year?
Yeah.
What about in mainland UK, have you got a favourite show across the water?
Probably the Highland Show.
What do you like about the Highland?
I love all the arenas and I love riding there and I get to see all my friends from England and Scotland and my mum and dad love it as well. It's kind of like a family holiday.
How many ponies do you have now? And can you tell us a wee bit about each of them and what you do with them?
Well, I have three being written and we have two younger ones, and then we have a mini. So ‘Jenson’ (‘Bunbury Suarez’) is 13 today - it's his birthday today. This is my second season with him. We won Dublin last year with him and we qualified for Royal International on him and we've had a really good two seasons - a good start to this season and had a good season last year with him and he's just a dream to ride.
Then ‘Calypso’ (‘Manorlea Calipo’) we have him on loan from Andrea Latto. He's only six and he's the biggest personality and he's so genuine. He loves jumping, but he hates flat work, so we spent a lot of time doing that over the winter with him. He's really fun to ride and jump.
Then ‘Drake’ (‘Pillheath Arlo’) he's six as well and so we've only really started riding him last year and we've come on so much. We bought him as a yearling in Wales… we were buying a Section A foal and then we were looking around her farm with the girl and we were in this field and I went over to the two stallions and ‘Drake’ followed me back up to the gate then. And she said to us, did you want him? And then we said no, because we already were getting the Section A.
And then he came up for sale in November and I got him for my seventh birthday.
It strikes me, if two of those ponies are only six, they are so accomplished in the show ring to be so young. There must be an awful lot of work goes in behind the scenes.
Yeah, definitely.
Eileen: They're both very honest and genuine. And I was always worried, you know, about jumping young ponies. You think they're green and, you know, the difficulties that come with that. But with both of them, it's just turned out to be just brilliant. Casey-Lee has a great bond with all her ponies and she works hard on them. It shows, I think.
And now that you've been showing for a few years, what would be your typical routine to prepare for a show? Like in the week before, the night before and the morning of the show?
So like for the week before, we make sure that they're all ridden well and that they're ready for the show. And the night before, we make sure that the lorry is packed and that they're clean and that they're plaited and are ready to set off in the morning.
And then for the morning of, we get up early and give them their food and then we get our food and then we load them and then we go to the show.
Eileen: A lot of it's very last minute when you're working; when you have to work hard all week too. It's difficult to get everything squeezed in, so it's normally panic stations here on a Friday.
In the showing world, all the animals have to be so pristine, so there must be an awful lot of washing and scrubbing goes on…
Yeah, we're lucky the three that we have now are not too hard to keep clean, so it's not too bad.
What is your normal show schedule, you know, during the year? Which shows do you like to attend?
So, the main shows we'd probably do would be Northern Ireland Festival, Balmoral, The Highland Show and Dublin Horse Show.
Eileen: But we're IPS members as well - Irish Pony Society - so last year we didn't miss very many IPS shows. We did a lot of shows last year, all over the country. But we're Northern Area members of IPS and we've just started back up again for the first time since 2019. We're having our first show at Knocagh View on May 27. So, it'll be good to not have to travel too far for a change. It's good to get back up and going in the North again.
What's your best advice to anybody who would like to start showing or Working Hunter for that matter?
So for showing, it would probably be never give up, because you can have good days and you can have bad days.
And then, for Working Hunter, you need to have good flat to be able to jump. Like that's just for like jumping in general, because if you have good flat, it will be a lot easier to jump.
Well, for, I think for many of the people starting out show, whenever we started out, we hadn't a clue what we were doing and you learn very quickly. And even though it’s now our seventh or eighth season, you're still learning every time you go out - you see something new or hear something or, you know, so every day is a learning day.
And don't be afraid to ask for help. There's always somebody there that'll help you out or answer your questions for you, you know.
Thankfully, we're blessed in this country with a lot of people with a lot of experience, but they're also very happy to share their experience. At least that's been my experience with people in my equestrian career. So yeah, most people are very happy for you to ask them for help or advice. So I'm glad to hear that Casey Lee has found the same.
Oh yeah, definitely.
And who inspires you in the horsey world? Do you have any role models, Casey-Lee?
Jessica Murphy from Wexford.
Eileen: She loves Jessica.
She had ‘Drake’ for three months last year and she really gave me lots of confidence to jump bigger tracks and to jump over 13 hand courses. And she's been really successful her whole career. And I'd love to be like her one day.
Yeah, well, she's a good person to follow because, my goodness, she has had some very high profile wins.
Yeah. She makes everything look so easy.
Who has been the greatest help to you so far in your riding career, both in terms of your family and outside of your family?
Definitely mummy and daddy, because I wouldn't be able to do any of the stuff without them and my coaches.
Eileen: And recently, Jessica and her mummy Melissa as well, especially from my point of view, with Casey-Lee moving on to bigger ponies and actually jumping bigger tracks, it's all new to me and Lee and the support we get from them is invaluable, you know.
It's great to have good support, especially, whenever they're at the other end of the country.
Yeah, it's 182 miles. We've made that journey a lot of times.
And what ambitions have you got in life, both in terms of ponies and beyond that?
Definitely to get to HOYS (Horse of the Year Show). That's the big dream.
And are you hoping to try and qualify this year?
Yeah, we're going to go over to try and get qualified this year.
Excellent. And do you know what qualifiers you're going to try and do?
So the What, so the M&M ones, so the 122cm M&M Working Hunter, the Junior Small Breeds with ‘Jenson’, the 133 Show Hunter Pony, the 133 M&M Working Hunter Pony and the 133 plaited with ‘Drake’.
Well, I'm sure that'll all go really well. Again, I'll be watching out for you.
Eileen: But it's very hard coming from here to go across, especially when you're home produced, you know. It's difficult, but just if we got one pony there, I'd be happy.
Where do you see yourself in five or 10 years' time, Casey-Lee?
Well, in five years, I'll still be at school, so hopefully I'll be, like, doing the same stuff. And then in 10 years, I want to do something with horses, so, like, maybe like a vet or a producer.
And Eileen, you're clearly very dedicated to Casey-Lee and facilitating her riding ambitions. How would you describe Casey-Lee?
Well, she's been pony-mad since she was a baby and we never imagined when we got wee ‘Buzz’ for her third birthday that she would be at the level that she's at now. But she works so hard at home and it's paying off for her in the ring.
She's a very determined wee girl and if she doesn't win today, she'll go home and work hard and be even more determined to try and go out and win the next day out or do well the next day out. And I think the showing with ponies, it makes children very resilient and she takes everything in her stride. But I think her worst point would be that she's her own worst critic and she's very hard on herself.
Even in the ring in Dublin last year, she wasn't happy when she came back in from doing her show, even though her showpiece was foot-perfect. And she was annoyed at herself and I told her that she had done well and she came up from fifth to win. So she definitely did.
She's very hands-on at home as well. She does all the mucking out and she feeds the ponies herself. She tells me now… our roles have reversed compared to maybe even this time last year. She tells me what we need to order for meal and supplements and all the rest. She's in control now.
Myself and her dad are very proud of her and all the success she's had so far. It's a team effort, the three of us here at home, you know. It's a big commitment.
Casey-Lee, you are a very lucky girl to have such an amazing mummy and daddy, who are putting such time and energy into your ponies and your hobby. I wish you every success, both at Balmoral and then in Dublin. And I really hope that you get qualified for HOYS.
Balmoral update:
Casey-Lee was in the ribbons again at this year’s Balmoral Show! She won Class 81, the Show Hunter Starter Stakes, with ‘Bunbury Suarez’ (‘Jenson’) and took the Starter Stakes championship and the Mini Working Hunter championship. She also came second in Class 80, M&M First Ridden, with Manorlea Calipo (‘Calypso’). She also won the Reserve Mini Supreme of the Show on ‘Jenson’!
Well done, Casey-Lee!
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