Last week in Chantilly, Equnews.fr interviewed top Irish rider Darragh Kenny. He is a rider that has truly become one of the linchpins of the Irish International Show Jumping team in the last two years. Kenny, along with the stallion Imothep, finished twelfth individually at the World Equestrian Games last year in Normandy. Since then he has won countless classes and is looking to be a member of the Irish Team in Aachen this year at the European Championships. In this interview Kenny discusses his business, how he got into Show jumping and what the difference between the US and Europe is when it comes to horses. First, how did you start riding, and when did you realise you wanted to continue on with it as a career? Both my parents rode, they had horses their whole life, and then I started to ride when I was two or three years old. I used to go to the shows with my parents, and they found it safer to be on top of the pony then to be walking around between the horses. So I used to stay on the pony all day. For a long time when I was young I liked it, but i didn’t know if I wanted to do it full time or not. Then when I was about sixteen, I took a little break from riding for three or four month, and I realised then that I really wanted to this with my life. You are the founder of Oakland Ventures LLC, can you explain us what that business is about ? Oakland Ventures is a business that me and a friend of mine have run together since 2012. It’s mostly about training, we have a lot of students and we teach them about riding, the sport and we help them produce their career. When I teach, I focus mainly on style, I really want them to be stylish and really correct. Then I also have horses for myself to ride, and I also buy and sell some horses. So you run a business, train and ride, how do you find time in a day to do it all ? I have to admit, I work quite hard but I’m very lucky that it's not just me, it’s really a whole team of people. And I think it makes it a lot easier. I have a super partner in the business, she does an amazing job with everything, she’s a really good manager, she’s a french girl actually. And I also have two boys that work with me and also train, and ride and they are very good. So I really have a great team by my side. You seem to have a really close relationship with your horse, Picolo, can you tell us more about him ? Yes, I have a really special relationship with Picolo. It was a horse that I bought when I just started my business and I really didn’t have so much money. But I really needed a good horse to start my career. And I found the horse here, near Chantilly, with Cedric Angot, who’s a friend of mine, and the horse was amazing. He won so much for me, he did so many thing in my career, I really love the horse. He’s a super horse, he’s so easy to work with, he’s so laid-back and relaxed. Every time he's in the ring he wants to try to win. He really did some amazing things for me, I always wanted to jump in Aachen, and last year, I went there for the first time and he won on the first day, it was amazing. And he also won the first big class in Dublin. I hadn’t been in Dublin for seven or eight years until last year, and it’s a home show for me so it’s really important and he was unbelievable again. He has achieved so many things for me, I’m so thankful to have him. So when will we see him back on the big circuit ? He did two weeks in Wellington during the winter, and then he had a little injury so he had a break. But we went at the show last week and he was good, so I think he might go to London next week. You also have Sans Soucis Z, who was third in St Gallen and Paris, can you tell us more about him ? I was very lucky that one day his owner asked me the ride the horse, and from the moment it started it was a super match. He’s really a top horse, I think he has the ability to do everything. I’m really thankful to have the horse, I think he’s super. We just learned that you’ve lost Imothep and few other horses, how are you feeling right now ? It’s quite sad for me because it’s a big loss, I don’t have so many horses right now. Imothep is a great horse, at WEG last year he was incredible, he was the whole year actually, so it’s really a big loss in that way. But I have to be careful now not to put too much pressure on Sans Soucis because he’s the only Grand Prix horse I have. But normally I’m quite good, when things are not perfect, to fight and make something work. Aachen (European Championship) is really important for the Irish team, how are you going to prepare for that event ? Yes, Aachen is massively important for us to qualify for the Olympics. For me, Sans Soucis jumped here yesterday, and he was really good, he had an unlucky jump down and now he’s just going to do Dublin so he has a three week break before that show. And then I think he has a good chance to go as one of the five in the team for the European Championships. You spend half the year in the US and the other half in Europe, what is the main difference between the two continents ? I think both are run totally the opposite. America is really about the business side of everything, training, buying and selling horses. Meanwhile I think Europe is really about the sport, the top sport, having really good young horses, bringing them up, going to the big shows, I think that’s the main difference between those two continents. In America they don’t produce so many young horses, normally they buy them a little bit older, while in Europe they really produce great horses. Finally, if you could ride any other horse, who would it be ? I’m going to be difficult because there are three horses I really like. Fit For Fun from Luciana Diniz, I think is just amazing. Then the horse of Greg Broderick, Going Global, who jumped third in Estoril, it’s a nine year old and I think it’s a fantastic horse, I think it’s going to be one of the best horses in the world in a little bit of time. And then there is a really super horse, All In, that Peder Fredricson rides that’s also a really good horse and that I really like. Photo's and text ©Equnews [gallery type="slideshow" ids="75781,75780,75779,75778,75777"]
