I’M from Hollymount and, like many western families, grew up with Irish Draughts. My father always kept a nice mare, and my first experience with an Irish Draught was hitching a lift bareback on a mare that my father brought to the first Ballinrobe Show, held in September 1950.

Later on, I emigrated to New York when I got a permanent visa, one of the very last ones given out in 1967. Gaelic football is my second religion and I even switched jobs to have Sundays off to watch matches in the Gaelic Stadium in Riverdale.

I lived in the Bronx after getting my first job as a doorman in an apartment building on Lexington Avenue. Two years later, I came home to run the farm after my father got ill and worked as the local postman for 28 years.

One of my favourite mares was Westfield Lass (Flagmount Boy). I got her from Bord na gCapall as part of a scheme that was advertised in the Farmers Journal. All I had to do was pay down £5 and she bred 12 foals for me, including Westfield Lass, my favourite mare.

Westfield Lass bred the Class 1 Irish Draught stallion Ginger Holly (Ginger Dick) and he qualified with Gabriel Slattery Jnr for the Gascoigne five-year-old final at Dublin in 1990. Another of her Class 1 stallions and Grade A show jumpers was Westfield Bobby (Clover Hill), owned by the Skillen family.

Two of Westfield Lass’s daughters are Robeen Lass (Glenagyle Rebel), the dam of Sean Ruane’s Irish Draught mare winner at Dublin, Strictly Come Dancing and Bloomfield Lady (Clover Hill), the granddam of Susan Malee’s TIH stallion Carrabeg The Full Irish.

I’ve been involved with the Mayo branch of the Irish Draught Horse Society for years and was the chief organiser when we ran the national show in Hollymount in 1992 and 1993. There were a lot of hands involved to make the show happen; John Joyce was very prominent in our branch, and Noreen Gill from Bloomfield House was the secretary; it just wouldn’t have been as successful without her.

1. Congratulations, you bred Sean’s Supremacy (Moylough Supremacy - Robeen Rose, by Clew Bay Bouncer), another of the Class 1 Irish Draught stallions at Cavan. Tell us more about him?

Always a nice foal, he was third at Dublin and both he and Robeen Rose got first in Ballina, where the mare was champion. He’s a very quality horse and moves very well. He’s named after my nephew’s son, who was born on the same date.

2. Future plans for him?

He’s up for sale. That’s why I brought him to Claremorris yesterday for the stallion parade, you never know who might be interested in him.

3. Proudest breeder moment?

Oh, I think Cavan on March 26th, when he [Sean’s Supremacy] passed as a Class 1 stallion. That was always my ambition, to get a quality stallion, bred on the farm and from my own mare, passed. That was my goal. I’ve achieved it.

To get him passed at Cavan made it worthwhile, especially as, on the previous day, I buried my sister - Mary Ferguson - in her 102nd year.

That was one of the saddest days of my life, as she was a great person and was like a second mother to me. She moved to Wexford after she got married and lived right beside Rosslare Harbour.

4. Prefixes?

Even though some of the horses I’ve bred are named after Mayo place names, I don’t have a prefix.

5. Your Draught template?

Well, my ideal would be four good limbs and I never like to see a plain head on a Draught. I think the ideal height for a mare is 16.2hh at most, I don’t like them too tall.

Movement is very important and temperament, it’s nice to have them placid and gentle.

6. Your hope for the future of the Irish Draught breed?

The Irish Draught has survived, although it has come and gone. The tractor replaced them, then prices hit the wall during the Celtic Tiger crash and now they’re back again. They’ve become very popular and are in great demand as ridden horses and for the performance classes. The King of Diamonds line, especially, will breed that jumper.

You’d hope that the Draught continues as a very unique type with a good temperament.

Peter with his nephew John, his sons Patrick and Sean and Steven Niland at Cavan \ Susan Finnerty

7. It takes a team - who’s on yours?

Well, of course, Liam Lynskey is doing a very, very good job. He’s easy to deal with and very pleasant. He has good staff working for him, like Steven [Niland] who was at Cavan too, and Liam’s young son William is never very far away when there’s horses or shows involved.

Liam also brought Robeen Rose and Sean’s Supremacy to Dublin that year for me. And now, four years later, he got the stallion ready and showed him at Cavan, where he got passed. So thank you, Liam and my nephew John and his sons Sean and Patrick, who were at Cavan too. John lives three miles away from me in Ballinrobe, helps me around the farm and is a Garda. He was the one who named Sean’s Supremacy after his son Sean.

There are many fine people in our community and involved in horses in Mayo, but I would have to mention some great neighbours and friends: Sean Stagg broke in Westfield Lass and his son Harry show jumped her to Grade D before she started breeding.

Anthony Sheridan actually picked out Robeen Rose’s dam Anthony’s Choice (Clonakilty Hero) for me years ago. There’s so many, many other lovely people, but I would fill the newspaper if I was to name them. Thank you all.

8. Breeding horses, would you do it all over again?

Absolutely, yes. As well as breeding horses that make their owners happy, you would also make great friends all over the country. Years ago, I went to the Draught show in England and I met a lot of people there that I’ve known for years. You make a lot of friends when you have a common interest in horses.

There was a man in Co Galway, Joe Killeen, who was into horses big time, and he used to say: “I never made much money, but I made a lot of friends!”

9. Biggest challenges facing breeders?

Prices. Life isn’t always about money, but no matter which way you turn at the minute, everything is going to be hit with what’s going on in Iran. I was watching the news earlier about the hauliers and how the rising price of diesel is going to put some out of business, that’s shocking.

Even if you buy a loaf of bread or a pint of milk, it has to go up in price because of the oil and diesel. You can do nothing now without motors.

The big advantage with an Irish Draught is that they’re a hardy breed and I think that will become even more important for buyers; to own a hardy, healthy horse.

10. Your greatest wish?

We all owe a lot to Clover Hill and, of course, his owner, the one and only Philip Heenan. I’d love to see some form of memorial in Ardcroney for all he did for Irish breeders.

Raising money for, say, a statue of the pair near the crossroad, would not be a problem. Many of us did well with the Clover Hills and gratitude doesn’t go away.

I’ll be 90 in September and I sincerely hope I live to see that day when a statue is there.