Rider

Sean Walsh

Sean Walsh was born in County Cork, Ireland, in March 1986. He lived with his parents Liam and Pauline Walsh and his older brother Colm. Unfortunately, Seán and his brother lost their parents to leukaemia and breast cancer, respectively, when Seán was young and they moved to Waterfall to live with their aunt and uncle, Ursula and Frank Mulvihill. Here he would both develop a strong affinity for horses.

Seán began riding ponies at the age of seven and got his first pony, `Maglin Sexy Lady`, aged eight. He progressed through the pony ranks having a lot of success at home and abroad including competing at the RDS on three occasions, Wales and West (Wales), Hickstead (England), Lummen (Belgium), Jonkopping (Sweden) and at several venues in Norway.

Seán began to compete on horses in 2003 while studying for his Leaving Certificate examinations ( secondary school final examinations). After secondary school, Seán spent two years studying Applied Languages and Information Technology at the Cork College of Commerce. This course required Seán to spend four months working in France and he spent this time working for well-known horse dealer Philippe de Balanda, son of the former French National team manager and olympian, Gilles Bertrand de Balanda. Here Seán became fluent in french and made valuable contacts for his business.

Seán competed at Dublin Horse Show at Young Rider 1.30m level in 2005 with his mare Lokota (see gallery). He was also the winner of the Cork/Kerry region Young Rider league in 2006 and 2007 with Sunny Boy K. In the summer of 2007, Seán went to Cahir, Co. Tipperary to work at Lissava Stud. During the six months at Lissava Stud, Seán was lucky enough to work with the top class stallions that Lissava Stud offers. In November of that year, having earlier acquired the ride on the then 5 year-old stallion Jack of Diamonds, Seán rode the horse at the Irish Horse Board Stallion Approval Test where he received top marks.

Seán returned home in January 2008 to begin building his new yard at Mylane, Ovens. County Cork, ireland. As it would take a full year to finish the building, Seán continued to work from his yard at home. In March, Irish Team Manager Robert Splaine offered Seán a job to run his yard at Coolcorron Stud Farm. This was a wonderful opportunity which Seán gladly accepted. Seán competed in his first National Grand Prix riding two horses from Robert`s yard, Billiebob and Kimberlite. Seán also received training from Robert during this time which he found extremely helpful.

In March 2009, Seán finally moved into his new yard at Waterfall Stud Farm where he now runs his business. Seán purchased Kimberlite just before moving into the new yard and started his first season impressively. Kimberlite qualified for the Dublin Horse Show Eight Year-old and Over class. This is a tough class with fences at 1.40m and above.

His horses are performing well and he is now competing regularly on the National Grand Prix circuit. (see videos in horses section of this site or seach youtube for WSFhorses.  Sean Walsh Irish Show Jumper 



Sean Walsh