I SUPPOSE you would have to be a little bit mad to do horses, wouldn’t you? If you were sane, then you wouldn’t do it. It’s a complete addiction. The early starts, the late nights, the disappointments, the elation. And yet it’s completely justifiable. My wife tells me I am obsessed with horses. She might be right.

I don’t come from a horsey background. We don’t know where it came from. My grandfather used to work them in the field, and my father used to go get the cows on a pony. That is my only familial connection to horses.

My father worked for the Dept of Agriculture, alongside breeding some Limousin cattle, before taking over the family shop and butchers. My mother was a nurse. So neither horsey, but tremendous workers, and smart people.

Any knowledge I have gained has largely come from making mistakes that have cost me physically or financially. I would hope that I could shorten that journey for my kids if they chose this life, or for those of my students who I coach.

Kerry is not known as a traditionally horsey county, so generational knowledge is not really here, so to speak, as it is in other counties. We are catching up rapidly though. There is a great network of breeders working away, which will pay dividends in the future.

I have a bit of a unique skillset that gives me a lot of insight when it comes to breeding. A Master’s in Digital Media from Galway University, which helps me to gather data to commentate for the Fergus foal championship at this year’s Clarecastle Show, to world championships in show jumping and eventing.

I start young horses from three-year-olds, right through to Grand Prix level show jumping and producing for the likes of the Goresbridge Go For Gold sale.

I breed horses and am also an HSI Level 2 coach, with over 10 years of experience. It helps me see the bigger picture, provides access to data and trends, and offers soft information gathered by talking to other riders, commentators and equine professionals.

1. Proudest breeder moment?

Seeing a healthy foal standing, and suckling its mother. Watching it getting the zoomies in the paddock. It never gets old.

2. How many broodmares?

It’s only a small operation beside the sea, based in Ardfert, Co Kerry. I had four broodmares of varying quality and bloodlines for different breeding goals at one stage.

I decided to halt breeding to develop my yard, spend time with my young family, build a home and to upgrade my mares in the future. You can’t have money and time for everything, so I had to make the hard decision to postpone breeding and prioritise. I do have a stallion, Ardfert Embuscade, that was my hope to pay for all the above, but he broke his shoulder whilst alone in the paddock as a two-year-old.

He is serviceably sound to run with a few mares. Very nicely bred, it would be a shame to lose him as an outcross. He’s from the Hughes’ MHS line that has a number of top international jumpers and eventers up close, including the Olympian MHS Going Global and 5* MHS King Joules. I was telling Andrea Etter about his dam, Talent Cavalier (aunt to Cooley Cross Border) and what she was like. She suggested a stallion from the French European team that had also placed in the RDS 5* Grand Prix, called Quartz Rouge. It was a fantastic cross with the mare.

3. Which stallion do you consider to be the greatest influence in sport?

So many answers could be given here. I suppose there isn’t just one! In shaping the modern Irish sport horse herd, it would have to be the time-proven sires, such as Cruising, Clover Hill, Diamond Lad, Cavalier Royale - more recently, Valent, Lux Z and Luidam have had a big influence, especially as dam sires.

Maybe the correct answer is whichever one complements your mare’s strengths and improves her weaknesses?

4. Greatest challenge(s) facing Irish breeders?

Eye-watering cost increases, increased red tape, the worry of narrowing the worldwide gene pool by everybody using the fashionable series…

As I get older and more experienced, I also see things that I didn’t value as a younger breeder. The type of animal, not just the fashionable page, but conformation for longevity and soundness. The startling lack of genuine horse people to both correctly start a young horse’s career using common sense and who use the ‘just because they can, doesn’t mean you should’ motto.

More and more breeders are giving up due to worldwide economics, easier and cleaner jobs to be had, and a declining farming population.

5. Prefixes, thoughts?

A fantastic marketing tool for your ‘brand’ of breeding or production. Look at how successful they are for the likes of KEC, Cooley and Fernhill. Their horses are known all over the world, and are seen on start lists week in, week out.

6. Internet: good or bad servant?

A necessity in today’s world in order to research, observe, track horses sold or bred, and connect with like-minded horse people from all over the world. Languages or geography are no longer barriers.

7. If you could have bred any famous horse or pony?

Oddly enough, the eventing stallion Upsilon. He just caught my eye whilst doing commentary at Millstreet and I will never forget it.

He came bounding into view with his huge elevated gallop, devouring ground, and then effortlessly popped up and off the Irish bank like it wasn’t any question to him, and then cruised away out of view again. I fell in love with him that day. There is something special about him.

8. It takes a team. Who’s on yours?

I’m surrounded by excellent people. Too many to name by name. Horse people. Friends. Family. We discuss the various stages right from choosing the mare and stallion. I’ve been really lucky to meet incredible people through the various ‘hats’ I wear. (As William Micklem calls them!)

9. Breeding horses - would you do it all over again?

Absolutely, I will do it all over again. But with experience, it would be with different goals. It would not be as a commercial enterprise, but rather a labour of love. If I struck it lucky, all the better.

Trying to breed a horse that I would like to look at, to be in its presence. To watch its athleticism. To see it become a jumper or eventer.

The end goal would be to produce a nice temperament, with plenty of soundness and ability. Profit would be a bonus. I would be going in with the knowledge that this would need to be a hobby, with money that I was prepared to lose.

10. What do you feel can be done to help protect and grow the equine industry in Ireland?

I think the provision of more seminars, think-ins, and a meeting of minds from all walks of life, both socially and economically, would be very beneficial. Let people learn from each other’s experiences.

Education raises everybody’s standards, and from little acorns… Michael Doherty is doing an excellent job in this regard, with his annual forum, and also through his podcast series. They are a treat while mucking out!