GROWING up in Co Cork I didn't have ponies, but my father, who was a chippy, did have a couple of pointtopointers and my uncle had a farm with bombproof horses that pulled the ploughs. I'd sit on them going up to the field. At 16, I went to Flat trainer Kevin Kerr's in Co Meath, who trained for his bloodstock agent brother Bert Kerr, for five years on an apprenticeship.
It was a big learning curve as he was a tough taskmaster, not in a nice way. It wouldn't be allowed to be treated like that these days. There were some hairy moments learning to ride there; the horses would rear up and drop or fall back on you. But
