I LIVE in Convoy, Co Donegal and have bred, produced and competed horses since I left school. In the past, I jumped ponies for Brian Taggart and when I moved on to horses, spent several years working with Andrew Davies, Florian Meyer zu Hartum, and Peter Smyth.

After a good grounding with those riders, I set up on my own Green Hill Farm here at home, where I produce and breed show jumping horses. My late father Harry and my mother Jean were always interested in horses, keeping mostly Irish Draught broodmares on the farm.

And of course they’re responsible in a way for Pacino Amiro because they bought Carnone Dancing Queen for me.

I don’t know if horses are a passion or an addiction but sure, we could be at worse things!

1. Congratulations on breeding Pacino Amiro, selected for the Irish show jumping team for Tokyo. A dream come true?

Yes, it took a while to sink in that I horse I bred at home is selected for the Olympics. But, in my opinion, it is great to see Pacino Amiro doing so well and for his Ulster connections. He was bred in Donegal, his sire Pacino stood in Co Monaghan and he is owned by a Donegal man, Aidan McGrory.

Plus, he is being ridden by one of the best young Irishmen Bertram Allen and now selected to represent Ireland in the Tokyo Games. It’s a great achievement.

I wish them the very best and hope there will be a lot more to come of the nine-year-old superstar.

2. Proudest moment(s) as a breeder?

There’s been a few proud moments already with Pacino Amiro, even when he was placed in the Dublin four-year-old final in 2016. To be called out as the breeder was a great achievement, never thinking that five years later he would be selected for the Irish Olympic team.

3. Tell us the background story to Pacino Amiro, one of the talking horses this year.

It’s some story. My parents bought his dam, Carnone Dancing Queen as a four-year-old from Ronan McLaughlin in Malin, Co Donegal, the son of the late breeder, Martin McLaughlin. Not only did the McLaughlin family breed her but they owned her sire, Amiro M, as well.

I competed her first in age classes and then produced her to Grand Prix level. She really was a great jumping mare and taught me a lot. I was at Omagh Show one year when Clem McMahon was competing Pacino. Watching them warm-up, I just thought to myself ‘God, that horse has some adjustable canter’ and was super to jump.

I thought Pacino would be a good mix with our mare because she was a super jumper and he had the size, canter and scope.

The first foal she had was a filly by Pacino and unfortunately, we lost her. Then the mare took colic and fair play to Troytown Hospital, they saved her.

So the next year we took her back to Pacino and she had a colt foal – that’s Pacino Amiro.

As a yearling, my friend and one of my good owners Aidan McGrory took a shine to two yearlings: a grey Womanizer x Coevers Diamond Boy colt and Pacino Amiro. We thought we’d be as lucky to sell them after what happened to the lost filly and so they were sold to Aidan.

4. How many broodmares/foals do you have?

We currently had 12 broodmares, which are mostly bred to the stallions at Brendan McSorley’s Tattymulmona Stud in Omagh, Co Tyrone, although we have a few OBOS Quality three-years-olds too.

5. Did Pacino Amiro’s dam produce any more foals?

In 2015, Dancing Queen foaled twin foals, a colt and a filly to Luidam. They got 24-hour care and we were helped out by neighbouring farmers, Ian and Noel Maxwell. We were so proud of them!

We retained that Luidam filly for breeding and have a filly of hers by Echonix, a young stallion standing with Brendan McSorley.

This year she had a filly foal three weeks ago by Gerry Marron’s For Kinmar Hero Z, a young For Pleasure x Aganix du Seigneur stallion also standing at Brendan’s stud. Why I used that stallion is I saw a video of that stallion’s dam jumping and she’s an unbelievable jumper.

This year she’s being covered by Clovernix, Brendan’s three-year-old up-and-coming stallion. He’s a full-brother to Echonix.

6. True Blue (Western Problem) was another international star bred in Donegal. Are there challenges being based in the northwest?

Yes, there are many good horses bred in Donegal and True Blue – before my time! – was one that I heard about with Trevor Coyle. And I don’t think we’re out of the way nowadays anymore. With technology and the road network, the world is getting to be a small place.

I think up here in Donegal the way of living is a little bit slower and peaceful, so it give you a lot of thinking time and horses take up a lot of that thinking time!

And to have studs like Brendan McSorley’s Tattymulmona Stud and horsemen like Clem McMahon, who stood Pacino, only two hours away in Co Monaghan, I think we’re very lucky here in the northwest.

7. Horse breeding – narrowing the odds, pure luck, following a system, science, – what’s your approach?

On breeding show jumping horses, I follow the steps that the mare needs blood, step and has to have a good jumping technique over a small fence, no more than 1m and you don’t need them jumping around 1.30m.

The sire needs size, power and scope and to have a good canter with a good attitude and temperament.

8. It takes a team. Who’s on yours? My mother Jean keeps the whole thing going. She’s a remarkable worker, is in the year every day and is up 24 hours watching and waiting for mares to foal.

Ben, my son, is in the yard every day too. He’s another great help about the yard and I watch him taking a strong interest in these horses, even if he is only 13.

Then my girlfriend, Sarah Kelly, is on hand 24-7, as well as working as a physio with the HSE. Trying to juggle work, riding horses and organise me is not that easy but we get there!

9. Best advice you were given?

I would say the best advice I was given, and it was drummed into me from a young age, was that when working with horses you learn something new every day. And those words are true. I think the day we know it all we can stop and that won’t be for a long time yet.

The exciting thing with horses, and one that we have to learn to live with, is that there are some almighty highs and some almighty lows.

10. Do you think you’ll breed another Pacino Amiro?

It is a once-in-a-lifetime chance but I will always try to breed one again.