I’VE been breeding Irish Draughts since 2006. When my children were very young, I had to take a step back from riding and competing and I spent a lot of time researching the Irish Draught world and its breeding lines.
I’m very passionate about Irish Draughts and love their connection to our agricultural and social past in Ireland and how they have evolved to become a versatile all-round pleasure horse. I also feel we are duty-bound to do our best to preserve our national breed, which is listed as endangered by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
I live in Skyrne, Co Meath near the Hill of Tara with my husband Mick (O’Dowd) and our three children. I am working full-time in research in Trinity College Dublin, so part of a busy household.
We’re immersed in Gaelic football, with the rest of the family heavily involved in coaching and playing with both club and county, so headcollars and tack fight for space with boots and bags of footballs!
Luckily, there is a great equestrian tradition in the area with lots of facilities, expertise and ‘good land’ for broodmares and youngstock.
Breeding has become a huge source of pleasure for me and I look forward every year to researching, discussing and choosing sires and waiting for a foal to arrive through the dark, mucky winter nights when you question what you are doing.
Then watching the foal grow and develop, handling them and seeing their unique personalities emerge. My main challenge is letting them go!
1. Congratulations on Malahow Grace’s Legacy’s championship win at the IDHBA national show. Tell us more about her.
Malahow Grace’s Legacy, or Sadbh as is her stable name, is by Moylough Legacy out of a Tors Gentleman Farmer mare: Inisfree Farmer’s Daughter. I bought Sadbh’s dam from the late Eddie Murphy at the Cavan sales as a foal in 2016.
Myself and Liam Keogh, from Rathmoylon, went up to find a future foundation mare and we fell in love with her. She oozed quality and presence even as a foal, which was no surprise as the grandam is Holycross Grace, a prolific winner in the show ring, who had passed on many of her attributes to her filly foal. Holycross Grace actually won the supreme champion [title] at the same show in 2018.
Moylough Legacy was an obvious choice for me, I loved him, and he complemented my big, scopey mare. Pat and Kate Hoare are so lovely to deal with and have had so much success with both Legacy and his full-brother Supremacy, with their progeny winning in the show ring. So, the name Grace’s Legacy is a nod to the grandam and sire.
Sadbh was the first foal out of this mare and I sold her as a yearling to a lifelong friend of mine, Lisa Baker. I was thrilled to see her go to Bakers, who are steeped in generations of horsemanship and bred the famous racehorse Arkle in the Naul in North County Dublin.
Previous horses of mine have been sold abroad, so we have had so much fun together campaigning this filly all summer. She was bought by Lisa as a new hunter present for her husband John, who hunts with the Ward Union, however, given her recent success in the showring with Lorcan Glynn, there may be renegotiations underway!
Shown by Lorcan Glynn, Malahow Grace’s Legacy at the Milestone Cup presentation at Punchestown. Also pictured are Jenny Banks, Lisa Baker, HSI CEO Denis Duggan, Matthew and Catherine O’Meara and Michael Berkery, FBD \ Susan Finnerty
2. How many mares do you have?
At the moment, I have one broodmare - Inisfree Farmer’s Daughter - which makes this even more special. She is currently in foal to Heigh Ho Dubh, due in 2026.
I also have a yearling by Moylough Legacy, a full-brother to Sadbh, and am looking forward to seeing how he develops with a mind to a nice middle-weight ridden hunter down the line.
3. The best qualities of the Irish Draught for you?
The Draught is hands down the best choice for a family farm set-up where everyone needs to pitch in. Their even temperament means anyone can walk out and put the headcollar on them and lead them into the yard.
They are hardy and full of substance and, of course, a direct link back to a simpler time. We have neighbours who still remember working with these draught horses on their farms.
What a great acknowledgment of the breed that it is still relevant and contributing to the leisure sport horse market today.
4. Favourite Irish Draught bloodlines?
I loved Crosstown Dancer; he had so much presence and put his stamp on his offspring. He was a true all-rounder, in-hand and ridden.
5. Best advice you ever got?
In relation to horses, my late father-in-law Pat O’Dowd always told me that ‘an ounce of breeding is worth a tonne of feeding’ and I have tried to base any decisions on this, even it means waiting a little longer to buy what you want.
6. Prefixes - your views?
I feel prefixes are important for breeder recognition, given the time and effort that is put into getting a live foal on the ground and producing a youngster. I haven’t engaged with prefixes so far, but given Sadbh’s success in the showring that will probably change.
7. That famous horse or pony you’d love to have bred?
Milton, the iconic show jumper partnered with John Whitaker in the 80s. As a child, I loved that pairing. Milton was amazing, they both thrived on big crowds and high-pressure stakes.
8. It takes a team, who’s on yours?
My family are my team. Micko, Amy, Darragh and Rachel. All involved in mucking out, feeding, turning out and handling - rain or shine. I couldn’t do it without them. Also, couldn’t name ‘the team’ without mentioning friend and neighbouring dairy farmer Johnny Burke, who has helped us out over the years with winter grazing when things were getting very tight.
9. Breeding/owning horses - would you do it all over again?
Absolutely, it is a dreamer’s game, but what is life without a dream?!
10. Worthwhile incentives?
Most sport horse and thoroughbred breeders in Ireland aren’t running huge operations. In fact, many have just one or two broodmares, and over half of all breeders keep five horses or less. It’s very much a small-scale, family-style way of working.
That’s why it’s good to see Horse Sport Ireland recognising the smaller breeders with prize money and acknowledgement for breeders at local and national shows, and the introduction of new breeding schemes with incentives to help people along.
For most of us at this scale, it’s a labour of love first and foremost. But a bit of practical backing makes it that bit more viable, and that’s what will keep small breeders involved and invested in the future of Irish horses.