Young Offaly girl (12) breeding rare breeds

Rebecca Considine (12) has been breeding Falabellas, a special Argentine breed of small horse for the past three horses and recently decided to move to an American breed.

Rebecca breeds horses at her home at Miltown Park House Estate in Shinrone and has been horseriding since she was three years old.

She recently purchased a male American horse and said it's the first American horse in this bloodline to be kept in Ireland in seven years.

“I'm hoping to bring him to shows next summer and the Falabellas too. I'm trying to change to the American Miniatures because there's more of a future in them.”

Rebecca has been breeding Falabellas for a number of years.

The Argentine breed are very small and one of Rebecca's horses stands at just 26 inches tall but the Falabellas can jump over one metre.

“They (American Miniature) look like an Egyptian breed. They have an hour glass neck. Their heads are unbelievable and they're so delicate.”

According to Rebecca, the horses need unbelievable amounts of food and are fed the same amount of protein as Rachael Blackmore's Cheltenham winning horse, Honeysuckle.

Rebecca also has a goat too whose mother was unfortunately killed by a horse but Rebecca said the Falabellas are so quiet and managed to nurse the goat.

Speaking about how her interest in horses was first sparked, Rebecca explained: “My grandad had a Shetland and I wanted to ride horses.”

Rebecca's parents wanted to make sure of her interest in breeding horses so they bought her a horse to test if she would look after it.

The sixth class student at Our Lady's Abbey in Limerick minded the horse called Gretel so well that she then began breeding horses in more recent years.

Rebecca continued: “We have dogs too. The uncle of one of our dogs went to Crufts and I'm hoping to bring him there too.”

Rebecca spoke about her love of breeding horses and said: “I always saw the excitement of it. I would consider a career in breeding. You can sell them if you show horses regularly. If you have enough horses you can make a living out of it if you put the effort into it.”

Rebecca enjoys horseriding and showjumping and hopes to compete in the RDS in the next few years.

Rebecca would like to thank her friends and fellow horseriders TJ and Louise who have always been there for her.