“On the sport horse side, we had some really nice potential stallions come through over the two days, so that’s positive. It’s good to see there’s deals being done with riders to produce them here, so from that point of view, there were some really nice horses and I think the feedback from the test rider would stand over that.”

Alison Corbally, Director of Breeding at Horse Sport Ireland.

“For definite, I was very impressed with the standard and quality of horses presented and I thought the production was first class. Obviously I only saw four horses but the four I saw I was seriously impressed with. It’s obvious that the Irish breeder is selecting the stallion according to the mare now and trying to get some foreign blood into them and I could see in Cavan the ramifications and results of that.”

Trevor Breen, Stage 2 test rider.

“For the first two foals out of the same mare [Ballycoolan Flight] to gain approval is amazing for her as a broodmare. Now hopefully they [Ballyfore First Flight, by Cobra and Ballyfore Amuzed] will go on in the sport and be successful both in the ring and as sires.”

Elaine O’Neill.

“Long term plans for this year would hopefully include the World Breeding Championships in Lanaken in September and we will try to train Chacco’s Charlie PS as a future horse for Team Ireland. It was my first experience at the stallion inspections and for me, the result was great. The process can be a daunting experience for the younger and green stallions, so having it at a Grand Prix show would, I think, be quite difficult as the stallions have enough to contend with as it stands.”

Matt Garrigan.

“Part 1 is a very long and hard day on a horse with a lot of waiting and standing around. There is the veterinary, the pictures, the triangle, trotting on the hard surface, cantering loose in the pen and jumping under saddle. Ganesh was out for 3 1/2 hours that day, amongst other stallions, at the start of the breeding season. Even with his 70% Thoroughbred blood, he was very tired the next day. To then go out and have to perform [Stage 2] with his own rider and the test rider is a big question to ask for a young horse.”

Andrea Etter, Belmont House Stud.

“Cavan is a great facility and the HSI staff work really hard, all very helpful. Judges need to understand that more blood horses and more scope is required. Sometimes the horse that lacks blood and scope is often the horse that shows itself better down the line. It has a shorter stride and is slower in the air, so it’s easier to judge. Too often our horses with excess blood and scope are thrown out because they do not complete their jump correctly but these are often the better horses under saddle.”

Olive Broderick, Kylemore Stud.

“We came back with the horse [Welcome Grandpa] because his scores were very close to getting approved the last time and he needed to develop that little bit more. He’s bred nice foals too since, from Draught, thoroughbred and sport horse mares.”

Stan Page.

“I must have looked at 20 stallions trying to find the right thoroughbred. I’ll definitely be thinking about the Croker Cup now with this one [Glen Moss].

Tommy McMahon.