Norman Brown watched from afar like a proud father as his beloved horses starred on the grandest and most regal stages.
Surrounded by pictures, paintings and sculptures of the animals at his home in Lisburn, Co Antrim, Brown, now 80, can barely believe how three of his horses ended up serving the royal family.
“All my friends used to ring me when the horses were on TV and it was great that they never changed their names because that often happens when horses are sold to England,” he told The Sunday Times. “The whole week of the Royal Ascot my horses would be out every day.”
The retired undertaker, who grew up in Belfast, purchased a modest 50-acre cattle farm in the mid-1970s and transformed it into a horse farm, where he bred Irish draught and hackney horses as a hobby. He lived on the farm with his mother, Violet, and his wife, Beryl, who died from cancer 20 years ago. The family typically kept about ten mares and five foals at any one time, along with 20 hens and two dogs.
When Brown bought a five-month-old Irish draught colt called Storm in Co Cavan in 2002, he never imagined that the grey, along with two of his foals, would one day serve Queen Elizabeth as royal carriage horses. Brown kept Storm until he was about four years old, during which time the stallion covered a few mares on his farm. Once his breeding duties ended, Storm was sold back through the Cavan Irish Draught Sale, where he was first purchased, for £6,200.
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Norman Brown watched from afar like a proud father as his beloved horses starred on the grandest and most regal stages.
Surrounded by pictures, paintings and sculptures of the animals at his home in Lisburn, Co Antrim, Brown, now 80, can barely believe how three of his horses ended up serving the royal family.
“All my friends used to ring me when the horses were on TV and it was great that they never changed their names because that often happens when horses are sold to England,” he told The Sunday Times. “The whole week of the Royal Ascot my horses would be out every day.”
The retired undertaker, who grew up in Belfast, purchased a modest 50-acre cattle farm in the mid-1970s and transformed it into a horse farm, where he bred Irish draught and hackney horses as a hobby. He lived on the farm with his mother, Violet, and his wife, Beryl, who died from cancer 20 years ago. The family typically kept about ten mares and five foals at any one time, along with 20 hens and two dogs.
When Brown bought a five-month-old Irish draught colt called Storm in Co Cavan in 2002, he never imagined that the grey, along with two of his foals, would one day serve Queen Elizabeth as royal carriage horses. Brown kept Storm until he was about four years old, during which time the stallion covered a few mares on his farm. Once his breeding duties ended, Storm was sold back through the Cavan Irish Draught Sale, where he was first purchased, for £6,200.
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