Equestrian inspirations: Lisa Talbot
From show jumping to showing, rider and producer Lisa Talbot has gone from strength to strength
This country has been blessed with a huge amount of equestrian talent, not only in the form of the equines themselves, but also the people who handle and ride them. Horse&Field would like to feature some of these people, across all the disciplines, and give recognition to their achievements. If you know of someone who should be featured, please email: horseandfield@gmail.com
Lisa Talbot is one of these talented people. Lisa initially focused on show jumping, regularly competing in registered competitions. She is now perhaps better known for her successes in the show ring and in producing young horses… And sometimes a combination of the two!
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Lisa is from horsey stock; her mum Alison used to ride racehorses for HJ Martin and loved it - she even took a career break from nursing to ride out racehorses! When she had children, the riding out came to an end and she went back to nursing.
Alison has an eye for a good horse and can spot a lame one a mile away. She and Lisa now work together and make a good team; Alison helps out with choosing horses to buy, as well as advising on working them at home and on warming them up at shows… and she does a great job at keeping them clean! Lisa says Alison is a huge support and she could not do it without her.
Lisa, who hails from Ballinderry, Co. Tyrone, started with a super star 138 pony called ‘Rosie Lass’. ‘Rosie’ was being used to pull a cart by her previous owners, but every time she turned for home, she took off. The owners struggled to ride her, as she was very sharp, and they asked Lisa to give her a try. Together, Lisa and 'Rosie' competed to a high level and were very quick against the clock.
Lisa handed the reins of this pony to Jordan Coyle; Jordan and ‘Rosie’ were a force to be reckoned with, with many wins jumping at Grand Prix level!
Lisa then produced her 148 pony ‘Shamrock Shuffle’; unfortunately Lisa grew out of her, but ‘Shamrock’ went on to represent Ireland in the Europeans with Laura Brown and won at Fontainebleau.
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Lisa studied leisure management at college and when she graduated, she went full-time working with horses, producing young horses and coaching.
“My most memorable horse was ‘Titus GB’. He was purchased as a three-year-old and produced to 1.35m/ 1.40m level, competing with me at the RDS in the international seven- and eight-year-old class and then went on to compete with Cian O’Connor!” said Lisa.
The transition from show jumping happened when ‘Shanniondale Taipan’ joined the team of horses. He show jumped successfully, but Lisa felt he was a little fed up with his career, so decided to do a NI Festival qualifier. The horse won his qualifier, so Lisa and her mum, Alison, headed to NIF with ‘Taipan’... There he won the 1m Working Hunter, 1m championships, 1.10m Working Hunter and championships, Novice championships, then went on to win the All-Ireland Working Hunter championships later in the season! The horse also qualified for Hickstead.
During lockdown, Lisa found herself with no shows to go to, so being an active person and keeping herself fit, she decided to complete a Personal Training qualification. She is very aware of how important it is for people to be fit enough to ride and how general fitness can improve riding skills; she is also very conscious of the role a healthy diet plays in overall fitness. She has been able to pass on advice to fellow riders and recommend exercises for warming up before riding, as well as what to do to keep fit for riding.
Lisa’s most recent accolade was claiming second place and subsequently bringing home the Reserve sash from the Coloured Horse class at this year’s Dublin Horse Show; a fantastic achievement in itself, but even more impressive when one learns that the horse she was riding was a four-year-old blue and white skewbald… This may have been the first time that a blue and white has featured in the RDS line up!
Lisa bought ‘Be Colour Blue’ (known at home as ‘Archie’) as a yearling. Megan Rodgers from Ballymena bred him out of her skewbald mare ‘Teeshan’s Blue’, a prolific winner herself, ridden by Charlotte Rodgers and Richard Wilson. Megan put a lot of thought into the breeding and had her mare covered by ‘Cappa Aristocat’ (ID). When ‘Archie’ arrived, he was very like his mother; he didn’t turn out like an Irish Draught.
Megan had hoped that Lisa would buy ‘Archie’ and, when she did, Megan delivered him to Lisa’s yard at Ballinderry Equestrian.
Lisa recalls: “When ‘Archie’ came off the trailer, jelly beans fell out of his mouth! We then found out that Megan used to feed him jelly beans and that’s how she got him to load that day!”
‘Archie’ was backed as a three-year-old by Shane O’Grady from Portglenone and then turned out. Lisa brought him in around the end of January this year to bring him into work. She didn’t take him to Balmoral Show in May, as she thought it would be too soon for him.
She was conscious, however, that Dublin Horse Show requires four-year-olds to have done three shows before making the trip to the RDS. With this in mind, Lisa took ‘Archie’ to the Gala weekend at Knockagh View (Greenisland, Co. Antrim) on May 28. There, he won the Riding Horse class, the Coloured class and took the Ridden Championship… At his debut show!
From there, the pair went to Lurgan (June 3) and won the Coloured class. At Randalstown Arches Gymkhana (June 10), they won the Coloureds, the Riding Horse class and were named Reserve Supreme Champions. They followed this up by winning the Coloured class and championship at Antrim Show (July 22), before setting their sights on the Coloured Horse class at the RDS.
Lisa describes ‘Archie’ as being easy going, but not backward. He is 16.1hh (167cm) and loves human company, as well as food!
“He’s an eating machine!” Lisa says.
In the class in Dublin, they were initially pulled in seventh, but following the ride from the ride judge, they moved up to second.
The ride judge told Lisa: “He is exquisite for a four-year-old... Exceptionally well educated for a four-year-old.”
Lisa said of ‘Archie’s’ performance in the class, on his first trip to a busy Dublin Horse Show: “I thought he was foot-perfect! The way he stood, trotted up and rode for the judge… He behaved very well for a four-year-old.”
Lisa also brought a ribbon home from the RDS last year, when then four-year-old ‘GHS Fermont’ took third place in his Middleweight Hunter class. Lisa still has him and took him to Balmoral this year, where he was second in his Star of the Future class, with a qualifying score of 99 out of 100!
Lisa clearly has a gift for working with young horses to get these impressive results so early in their careers!
Lisa enjoys watching the young horses develop into superstars, she says: “ I enjoy educating my horses across the different disciplines of dressage, cross-country, show jumping, showing and produce them in the discipline we feel they are best suited to.”
“I have some very exciting young horses coming through, we will set goals for next year in January. These will include the top shows: Balmoral, RDS, HSI Breeders’ championships and travel abroad with horses and students, building on our team. We have produced and sold horses to England, America, Canada and Holland.”
Very best wishes to Lisa and her horses for continued success.