I FARM with my father, Dan senior, in Castledaly. We keep 20 mainly pure-bred, registered Shorthorn suckler cows and about 10 Irish Draughts, including broodmares, youngstock and stallions.

I owe a lot to my Dad as I’m on the road as an engineering officer with ESB Networks covering the Tullamore area, often gone in the dark and home in the dark at this time of year.

I had ponies when I was growing up and hunted in my teens, something I hope to get back to in the next year or two. In 1998 we bought the first Irish Draught filly for the princely sum of 830 guineas at the National Sale, which was then held at Tattersalls.

I was introduced to Dr Karen Hinckley by my long-time friend JP Finnegan and went over to see her herd at Amber House in Derbyshire in 2001. I’ll never forget that trip, as at that time she had the largest herd of Draughts in the world, with over 70 in total.

She had so many wonderful true-to-type mares with many from older outcross lines.

As result of this trip, I ended up leasing our first stallion, Cork Arthur, to stand at stud in 2003. Fast Silver followed when purchased in 2009 and his son, The Bachelor, has taken up the mantle since he passed inspections in 2017.

1. Why Irish Draughts?

Pat Egan, a cousin of ours, bought an Irish Draught mare in the mid ‘90s and while he was looking, myself and my Dad accompanied him to the National Show, then held in Mullingar.

I remember being in awe of those big snow white mares that day. Over the next couple of years that followed I went to local shows with Vinny Hennessy and Joe Rohan. Joe showed Vinny and Patricia’s Uibh Fhaili Treasure to much success, including two All Ireland reserve championships as a yearling and two-year-old, then as a three-year-old, she was youngstock champion at the National Show in Lanesborough in 1997.

Looking back, that was where the bug was really caught, when I was introduced to shows.

2. Tell us about buying an Irish Draught mare instead of your first car.

A chance phone call from a man checking the covering date of his mare with Cork Arthur led to a tip-off that there may be a daughter of the famous Roma Blue Wind for sale in the UK.

A call was made and a deal done. The car had to wait for another year! It was amazing to see that line return to Westmeath as Blue Wind herself was bred three miles up the road by Mary Flynn.

3. Proudest moment?

My first championship in a show ring in 2002 with Clogheen Beauty at Moate Show and of course, winning Dublin and getting the reserve championship with the home-bred Clogheen Jenny in 2017.

4. Best advice you ever got?

A now-retired work colleague John Fitzpatrick, who bred Connemaras with much success under the Irishtown prefix, once said to me, ‘Be careful what fillies you sell as you could end up with nothing very quick’. It stuck with me.

Even fillies that are sold usually go to friends, or forever homes, where a filly could be bought back should the need arise down the line.

5. Have you any favourite bloodlines?

The aforementioned Roma Blue Wind. She wasn’t just a true-to-type show mare but a mare that left a legacy of show-winning daughters and granddaughters behind her. We’re very lucky to say we have two granddaughters and a grandson of hers here.

On the stallion side, I have to mention Uibh Fhaili ’81. He was really the talking horse at the time when we got into Draughts. It didn’t matter what type of mare he got, he improved things. He bred bone and quality into all his stock.

I also love to see Blue Peter in the background, particularly on the damline. To me, he brought quality and step and it’s still there to be seen today four and five generations later.

6. What is your template for a Draught?

When someone asks me the question what do you look for in a Draught, or what my idea of a template for the breed is, I always think of the IDHS logo. This is Enniskeane Countess and you can see the true-to-type model that we should be trying to get back to with the short leg, short cannons and depth of body.

Going slightly off-point I know, but I’d like to compliment the RDS on the introduction of ridden Draught performance classes a number of years ago. These classes have contributed greatly to demand for Draughts, particularly geldings.

However, I feel they would be more advantageous to breed preservation should the scoring system be weighted more towards conformation. At present, conformation counts for just 30 marks out of 340 total marks.

7. Tell us about last year’s foals?

I managed to secure the remaining semen rights from King Elvis a couple of years ago, of which I have a very limited amount. I sold a cracking colt by him to Seamus Sloyan last year, who I hope we’ll hear more about down the line. I had a lovely colt by Cloneyhea Spellbound who went to West Cork and also a Silver Jasper colt and filly, both of which are retained. The colt I’m really excited about was very true-to-type and a total outcross from my mares and the Draught herd in general.

8. What do you think are the greatest challenges facing Irish Draught breeders?

The biggest challenge I see at the moment is the lack of quality true-to-type stallions. Year on year, it’s becoming harder to get suitors for my mares when I pick up the stallion book. Mares are becoming too tall, some of my own included, and we need to get back to the template I mentioned earlier.

The Irish Draught is the foundation for the traditional Irish horse and as a result of the loss in type, we increasingly hear English show horse producers saying they can’t source three- and four-year-olds. I think at this stage it’s not just a case of bolting the door before the horse is gone but pushing the horse back in and bolting the door. There needs to be a major rethink as regards the Irish Draught and its breeding policy by all bodies concerned.

9. Did you miss shows in 2020?

To be honest no, as my wife Kirsten gave birth to baby Lucy in February and it gave me time to appreciate taking life slower and focusing more on home life, rather than work, farming and horses. I’m hoping there might be a return to a couple of shows in 2021 though!

10. What advice would you give a young breeder starting out?

Listen to the older generations as regards pedigrees and breeding. Our breeding programme wouldn’t be where it is without advice from people such as Joe Rohan, Michael Casey and the late Timmy Sullivan.The other thing I’d advise is to try to get a good mare from a good damline.