I'm from Southill, Co Limerick and I always had a few ponies and a few cobs. My dad, Willie Casey, was a professional fighter and a European Super Bantamweight Champion (2010). I used to box away in the amateurs when I was younger. I won Limerick, Munster and Irish titles at boxing when I was 14. My brother Myles actually fought for Ireland in the European Championships in Bulgaria when he was 16. My father is a boxing coach, and I'd always try and get down to the boxing club and do a bit of training, but I haven't competed in about five years. I always wanted to be in sports - I played soccer as well and was useful, but I leaned more towards the horses when I was getting a bit older. My father has always been a big supporter of mine and as long as I was doing something, he was happy. I went through the Moyross Youth Academy Equine Programme. They came to my school when I was in Fifth Class. They were looking for people who had an interest in horses to see if they wanted to get into racing or work with horses. I took the opportunity as I always had an interest in horses. They would come once a week on a Wednesday and I'd get out of school to go to Quin, near Ennis, where they had cobs and ponies. They taught me the basics in terms of looking after a horse and how to ride in a saddle. It really built my interest. Wesley Joyce, who is from around the same area, went through that programme as well - he was a few years before me.

I was going out on work experience in school and told the lads in the programme that I wanted to learn how to ride racehorses, so the lads got on to Eric McNamara in Rathkeale which is only about half an hour from me. I was there every summer riding out and the lads out there were a big help to me too. When I was riding out in Eric's I really got the bug for it and I wanted to get my licence, so I went to RACE (Racing Academy and Centre of Education, Kildare) for a year. When RACE shut down, I had to come home and there was a job with Michael Mulvany, so I moved up to him. I was apprenticed to him for two years.