After driving the length and breadth of Ireland for over 3years+ we found Bonnie – “Our Silver Dollar” and she really is my horse hero and was worth the wait and endless road trips! 

I had a dream for many years as all my nearest and dearest knows and that was to own my own cob, I wanted to compete in the showring but not just any ring; I wanted to get to Dublin Horse Show as this has been a childhood dream for me. I work across the whole of Ireland in Healthcare and my career can be quite demanding, but I didn’t want it to stop me from having fun and chasing the dream, but I needed the best partner to do this with. 

I wanted a grey cob, no bigger than 155cms and one that had done a good bit, a kind eye and really calm to get me back in the saddle after a break from horses, university and my career took over for many years. After a lengthy search, a friend of mine that had been searching for me rang me one day and said, “I have found your cob, you need to get to Galway ASAP”. I jumped in the jeep and instantly knew when I arrived and saw her kind eye from the top of the yard, she was the one we had been waiting on, her kind eyes sparkled from over the stable door. 

Bonnie was perfect height at 154, grey and just turned 4 so many years ahead to have lots of fun. Bonnie soon became the cob of the yard at home, the best character on the yard with everyone that came to yard gravitating towards her and the affection she gives back is endless, she likes the odd treat too so will do anything to get one! 

I went from not riding for many years to being back in the showring and competing at Balmoral within the first year of owning her and we did well to be placed and get a rosette up against some top cobs and show riders; she took care of me in the big ring and did her everything I asked of her. As well as being a hero out at shows Bonnie is great at home and often gives older horses leads and helps them when out hacking, we have a lot of Alpacas around our yard, and she loves them whilst the other horse is not so keen! It’s great having that horse that will just get on with it and take care of you. 

There is nothing she cannot do, she loves to hunt, hack, jump, cross country , showing and really thrives at dressage with placings every time in the top 3, its great having that versatile horse that can do it all and safely, apart from capability the fun we have with Bonnie is endless, she also can-do circus tricks, my friend Sarah taught her how to bow down for treats and she is quite good at it! 

There are some horses that you know you won’t find another like, I think Bonnie is this horse, there is something special about her, she loves to be around humans and be in the middle of all the action and loves the attention, getting through shows can be challenging and she stops with every human that will even look at her! 

All roads lead to Dublin, the aim for this year is to go to Dublin so myself and my wonderful friends are out most weekends in readiness to chase the dream of bringing my hero to Dublin to have fun and achieve the dream together and I couldn’t pick a better cob to achieve my dream with, Bonnie equally loves showing sometimes even a bit too much as she gets very excited when first at the show but once she goes into the ring, she has her game head on and soaks up the atmosphere! Let’s see what she thinks of Dublin. 

I think anything is possible when you have the right horse and mindset, it can be hard in showing as an amateur up against the professionals, but we just do it for fun and we have lots of it and that’s the main thing, making memories to last a lifetime with great people around us. 

Roll on August!