When 16-year-old Brooke Morrow first laid eyes on Sid, he was a scrappy, untouched Connemara cross with a fractured eye socket. Fresh off the quarry face near Newry, unhandled and unbroken, he was nobody’s dream show pony – not even close. But Brooke saw something in him.

“I didn’t care if he could do the job or not,” she says, from her family’s dairy farm in Ballinamallard. “I just didn’t want to see him going anywhere else.”

That instinct, raw and rooted in something deeper than ambition and much of it learned from living and working on the dairy farm, has taken Brooke and Sid from the quiet fields of Co Fermanagh all the way to the Balmoral Show – the biggest agricultural showcase in Northern Ireland. Not bad for a pony that was once written off as worthless.

Brooke’s journey with horses started early. She was raised on a working dairy farm which today has around 60 Holsteins Friesian. While the horses weren’t allowed on the cows’ land, she found her space to ride along quiet lanes and she made a couple of small paddocks just off the yard. Her mum, Barbara, was horsey before her, and Brooke was on a Shetland almost before she could walk. But her grit? That came from the farm.

“You don’t give up,” she says firmly. “That’s what Granda always says, even with a weak calf – you try because they deserve it. Same with horses.”

Unruly pony

Before Sid, Brooke was competing successfully on Miss Congeniality – Missy for short – a rather unruly 13.2hh pony who gave Brooke her first taste of competitive riding.

“Missy taught me how to stay on,” she says, laughing. “Which is a bonus.” But at the end of 2021, Brooke knew her time in the 138s was nearly up. Rather than buy a ready-made 148, her and her family made the bold decision to buy a project. Enter Sid (show name Silver Duke II).

It wasn’t love at first ride. Brooke spent just three days in the saddle before breaking her wrist. Sid went back to the field and stayed there for a good while. “In fairness, he was very easy to break in. He let you on, no fuss. But the flexion, the schooling – he wasn’t good. Still isn’t great,” she admits, with a grin. “But he tries.” And trying is where Sid started to stand out.

Early shows

The early shows were rough. He got one clear round in September 2022 and then not another until June the following year. Brooke was told repeatedly to sell him. “People said he couldn’t jump for his life.” She didn’t listen. “I knew he’d come together. I thought age would help. I didn’t care if he placed, I just couldn’t see him ending up in the wrong home.”

That determination paid off. After some time off and a change in approach – less jumping at home, more paddock time – something finally clicked. “Turns out, he didn’t need more work. He needed more freedom. Now I barely jump him before shows. I just let him be a pony.”

In 2024, the pair hit their stride. They placed consistently, from local Working Hunter classes to big competitions like the Northern Ireland Festival, Clogher Valley Show, and even the Enniskillen Show Horse and Pony Extravaganza class – where Sid, the smallest competitor by a mile, held his own against full-sized horses. “He just likes solid things. Logs. Cross-country fences. He’s not a show jumper really, but he tries.”

The pair’s biggest moment came at the Balmoral Show this year – it was always a dream of Brooke’s to compete on the grass there. She didn’t realise the fences would reach 1.05m – heights she had jumped before, but never on Sid.

“I walked the course and thought: ‘These are wild big.’ But once I got on, it didn’t matter. He went clear and came eighth. He was super.”

Not bad for a pony who once couldn’t clear a schooling round.

Ask Brooke why she stuck with Sid and the answer isn’t trophies. “It’s his personality,” she says. “He’s quirky, he tortures you for pets in the stable. Doesn’t like strangers. But once he’s decided you’re his person, that’s it. He’s like a child; standoffish at first, then all over you.”

They’re not machines. One day they win, the next they might not make it over the first fence. Horses teach you patience

He’s also high maintenance. Sid is hard to keep condition on, always in motion, always busy. He lives on Pink Mash, conditioning mix, and endless turnout. “He whinnies the place down if he sees me carrying feed. You’d think he was starving,” she says with a grin.

Biggest lessons

Their bond is clearly deep. And in Brooke’s eyes, it’s the patience and persistence of horses like Sid that teach the biggest lessons.

“They’re not machines. One day they win, the next they might not make it over the first fence. Horses teach you patience. Resilience.”

Now finished up with pony classes, Brooke is looking ahead – riding bigger horses for local producers, maybe studying equine physiotherapy or coaching younger riders. But one thing’s certain: Sid’s not going anywhere.

“I tried every discipline to find what he liked. Working Hunter – that’s his thing. But I would’ve kept him even if we never figured it out. He’s earned his place.”

From the quarry to the spotlight, Brooke and Sid’s story is proof that heart can take you further than anyone expects. Sometimes, all it takes is someone who refuses to give up – and a pony who learns to fly.