Sean Berns, Sarah Pepper and Larry Mulvany are the recipients of the Gerry Dilger Equine Foundation Kentucky Experience scholarship, which places the winners on Kentucky farms for a period of one year beginning in January 2024.
Like the late and beloved Dilger, Berns graduated from the prestigious Irish National Stud and will be placed in Kentucky at Springhouse Farm. Though not originally from a horse background, Berns has studied equine business at Maynooth College and has worked at Derrinstown Stud and Coolmore in Ireland and at Newgate Stud in Australia.
Pepper recently graduated from University College Dublin and is also bound for Springhouse Farm. She has wide-ranging equine experience from riding schools and pony camp to working at Gerradstown House Stud in County Meath and has a specific interest in equine nutrition and welfare.
Mulvany, also a University College Dublin graduate, will join Hunter Valley Farm for the year. The son of trainer Michael Mulvany, Larry Mulvany has worked with The Castlebridge Consignment and had a previous placement with Hunter Valley. He aspires to become a trainer in Ireland.
The Gerry Dilger Equine Scholarship Foundation was set up in memory of Gerry Dilger, who mentored so many young people over the years at his Dromoland Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. The scholarship package includes visa, flights, an hourly wage and accommodation. Applications were invited to the charity from recent graduates of equine programs from the University of Limerick, University College Dublin, The Irish National Stud, CAFRE Enniskillen and Kildalton College.
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