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Shirsheen Sport Horses Road to the RDS
Linda and Brendan Murphy of Shirsheen Sport Horses have been in tremendous form all season. Linda and multiple RDS Champion, Irish Draught Stallion Gortfree Lakeside Lad qualified for Horse of the Year Show at Cavan Equestrian Centre earlier in the year, and most recently Linda and Shirsheen Rocketman topped a very hot class to win the 4-year-old Burghley Young Event horse Qualifier at Tattersalls Ireland July Show. Meanwhile Brendan Murphy has had an equally successful season, topping both the 5-year-old with ABS Misty and 6-year-old with Shirsheen Calensky, Horse Sport Ireland Studbook Series having won and been placed in multiple legs throughout the year.
Dublin is only 2 weeks away, how many horses have your family got going to Dublin?
So all in we have 5 for Dublin, I have a 4-year-old who I co-own with a long time supporter and owner, Shirsheen Rocketman. He is a very exciting horse and has taken it all in his stride so far so will be hoping to continue this for the season ahead. Shirsheen Rocketman competes in the 4-year-old young event horse class and 4-year-old working hunter, before he heads to Burghley in the UK to compete in the 4-year-old Burghley young event horse class.
Then there are three show jumping horses, two very exciting 6-year-olds one of which is a home bred which we still own so that’s very exciting, Shirsheen Calensky, he has recently won the 6-year-old Irish Studbook series league in Tattersalls only a few weeks ago with Brendan on board. The other 6-year-old Grennanstown Max A Million is owned by a fantastic owner who has given us both many brilliant opportunities over the years and he recently won the 5&6 year old class in Bannow & Rathangan show in mid-July so all horses in great form.
We also have Castle Howard MRF Tiffin who has been jumping this season but will compete in the lightweight workers on the Sunday. PLS Somers Knight is a lovely 7-year-old also in on behalf of another very good owner, he is also a very exciting horse, he will be competing in the 7&8 year old international classes for the week.
So we are between the showjumping, young event horse classes and also working hunter. Brendan takes the jumping horses and I have the event / working hunter horses.
What is your feeding regime?
Our feeding regime is fairly basic, we have been using Simply Natural alongside Horse Care Ultra which was a new feed to our horses this year. We have found Horse Care Ultra works super as it helps with those horses prone to stress and also keeps pH. levels in the stomach at a neutral level and helps with gastric ulcers along side helping with the muscle tone and reducing muscle soreness as it’s slow release energy, high in fibre, and low in starch. Horse Care Ultra is a super feed and we are delighted with the results. This combination then paired with Foran Equine Muscle Max has been game changer which is always a win!
Making sure our horses nutrition and diet is balanced is key to there overall well-being and performance. Added in with that we use some alfalfa, beet pulp to add a little moisture and a drop of Foran Equine Kentucky Karron Oil, topped off with good quality haylage!
What is your favourite Foran Equine product?
I’ve been using Foran Equine Muscle Max on a variety of horses in our yard since early this year and have seen some incredible results. From older riding horses just needing a little extra support to maintain their top-line to the younger competition horses who need a little extra support in developing and maintaining the overall top line alongside the correct nutrition and workload for each horse. I’ve also noticed that even the fussy eaters seem to love this as each horse has kept their appetite up and with Muscle Max which has a vanilla flavour! It being packed with essential amino acids along with vitamins and minerals it really is a fantastic product, and we are so glad we have introduced this into our feeding programme.
I was a little skeptical at first but first hand seeing the difference and how happy and heathy each horse looks and also with each horse performing to the best of their ability I would highly recommend Muscle Max. Especially with a busy few weeks approaching as we head into RDS and other major shows in our calendar it’s so nice knowing that we have the support of the team in Foran Equine and Connolly’s RED MILLS on standby with any extra queries in relation to getting best possible results for our horses.
What are you most looking forward at Dublin Horse Show?
We are looking forward to getting back to the RDS after a two year break. We are going with some very exciting horses that we are looking forward to competing for the week, all horses are in great form and feeling super. We are a small family run business breeding & producing our horses to this level and to get the opportunity to have qualified for the Dublin Horse Show is very exciting. To showcase our horses on one of the biggest stages means so much to us. We wish everybody going to RDS the very best of luck and hope everyone has a super time, from all at Shirsheen Sport Horses.
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