THERE’s more to life than just horses - there’s Dolmen horses! With plenty of involvement already in the sector, the goal nowadays is to establish a sustainable sport horse breeding programme.
We have a dolmen in the garden, and that is where our horses get the nametag. We aim to breed modern sporthorses and get them to top riders and producers to optimise their athletic potential. It sounds simple, but not always so easy to do! But optimistic by nature, the future is always brighter with Dolmen Sport Horses.
1. A good year for Dolmen Sport Horses; what are the main highlights?
Nice to see the foals arrive safely - a highlight for any breeder. Breeders need rewards for the work, effort and expense of managing mares and foals. This year’s foals are outstanding individuals; healthy from birth and have developed nicely. Other highlights include Dolmen horses excelling at home, in the UK, Europe, Canada and the USA.
Dolmen Stellor Design, Dolmen Duty Free, Dolmen Delta Force, Dolmen Dottie Dee, Dolmen Deep South, Dolmen Debenture, Dolmen du Concorde, Dolmen Dazzler Q, Dolmen Cobra, Dolmen Dun Aenghus (a recent winner in the UK), Dolmen Dawn Till Dusk, Dolmen Dolce Vitae, Dolmen Cooley (competed in this year’s WBFSH seven-year-old final with Canada’s Rebecca Howard), Dolmen Delallio and Dolmen Deejay featured in the ribbons with several more following.
Dolmen Deejay won again last weekend in the USA and Dolmen Cooley (was Dolmen Dealer of Aces) looked super at Le Lion and is one for the big time in time!
The RDS three-year-old loose jumping champion filly in August was Dolmen Decision Time - beautifully produced since she was bought as a foal by Sligo-based Donnacha Anhold.
2. How many broodmares do you currently own?
Probably too many if truth be told, but we aim for continual improvement. Using a handful of mare lines, each with dams, daughters and granddaughters, facilitates faster generational genetic advancement and progeny upgrade.
We bred 12 foals in 2025 and next year we should have a few more. Last year, we used Pegase van’t Ruytershof, Keaton and our Casallido - an exciting 2020 son of legendary Casall. Dolmen Delicious bred an RDS winner and she is a special home-bred mare by Cavalo Z (Carthago x Levisto). Dolmen Doolee and other home-bred mares already have several successful offspring. The mares are breeding correct youngsters with loads of ability and potential to be top Irish Sport Horses.
3. The current standout international stallion?
Irish stud farms have super stallions available to breeders, but many say Ermitage Kalone and United Touch S (ICSI only), due to their amazing jumping performances. We have Ermitage yearling colts, and they look very interesting; Pegase is used extensively in breeding in Europe, and we have yearlings and foals by him and used him again this year.
Keaton is one to watch as he is destined for the ‘big ring’ and gets excellent progeny. Many top-ranking WBFSH sires are dead, and I look for emerging sons of already proven sires from top dam lines. Charaktervoll, Excelsior Optimus and Cero Blue should become standout international stallions in time.
Donnacha Anhold and the Jack Murphy-bred Dolmen Decision Time won Section B of the three-year-old loose jumping at the 2025 Dublin Horse Show. Pictured with HSI's Sonja Egan and judge Philipp Baumgart \ 1st Class Images
4. “Fools breed foals for wise men to buy.” Agree/disagree?
Easy to agree, but without fools, what would wise men do?
Many a wise man has looked foolish at times and fools sometimes become wise men themselves!
If they worked together synergistically - that might be a rarity but – it could produce marvellous results for the fools, wise men and the horses too.
5. Dolmen is yours, thoughts on prefixes?
Prefixes are beneficial when used strategically by breeders as brand value and impact play huge roles nowadays. Horse breeding can be a tough enterprise, requiring time and patience, not to mention determination, effort, resilience and some good fortune. Prefixes can bring more recognition of and appreciation for breeder innovation and effort.
6. Best advice you ever got?
“If you fell in love with a dunghill, you wouldn’t see a dirty straw in it.” In other words, do not be fooled by fads, fashions and ‘influencers’ that conceal the full picture.
People are sometimes blinded to obvious faults and failings in their horses and/or breeding programmes. Strict quality control and frequent removal of jetsam and flotsam are required to upgrade any breeding enterprise.
There are some helpful DAFM breeding schemes available, but diligent selection, deliberate culling and access to a functioning disposal system and/or exit strategy are essential animal husbandry tools for every progressive breeder.
7. Social media - a positive or negative in the horse world?
Social media affects everyday activities including the horse world and, dependent on usage, could have positive or negative consequences. Professionally-produced promotional video reels are now order of the day. Who knows what the trends will be in 10 years’ time, but right now everyone must deal with social media to some extent.
Just as with prefixes, the trick is to use both to best advantage - not always easy, but sometimes a little help along the way is better than a lot of pity afterwards.
8. That famous horse or pony you’d love to have bred?
Casall. An equine virtuoso and the Galileo of the sport horse world. Possibly biased because of Casallido, our very talented five-year-old approved 4* stallion and his own elegant foals, but Casall is simply unique and remains in amazing shape at 26. He has a superior pedigree; was a megastar for Rolf-Göran Bengtsson in top sport with 10 GCT wins alone; a phenomenal sire getting spectacular performers; a sire of sires with 200 approved stallion sons in multiple studbooks and has become a champion broodmare sire - his daughters breed 1.60m winners, elite stallion sons and premium broodmares. I’ll meet him again during this week’s Holsteiner stallion inspections.
9. It takes a team, who’s on yours?
My wife and better half (Dr) Karen Hennessy and our two girls, Molly and Hannah, are key members of Dolmen Sport Horses. Karen’s mum and dad bred Warrenpoint (Bahrain), one of Michael Whitaker’s best horses - so we have plenty to live up to. Casallido goes to Patrick Byrne (BGS Sport Horses) when in ridden work and he will do the DAFM Autumn Development Series.
He visits Peadar Murphy (Cullintra Stud) for semen collection and handling during the breeding season. We have world-class training facilities including Wexford Equestrian Centre and Barnadown Show jumping nearby and a growing network of associates and clients who contribute hugely to Team Dolmen’s success.
Managing everything can be hectic and demanding at times, but I enjoy the challenge of trying to make it look like I know what I am doing!
10. Any other achievements this year?
Molly and Hannah are gifted athletes with great success in swimming, Pony Club with national and international titles, Gaelic football county championships and more recently, inter-provincial girls under-18 rugby, where Molly scored an incredible try for Leinster when beating Connaught in the series final.
If the girls keep up these winning performances, we will soon need a bigger boat to cater for the ever-increasing haul of medals, trophies and silverware.