WE started breeding Irish Draughts over 15 years ago and have never followed trends. We strive to breed traditional and versatile Irish Draughts, whilst conserving our national breed. We often avoid the more popular stallions and try to preserve genetic diversity in our progeny, always breeding pure-bred Irish Draughts, to the bewilderment of many stallion owners.

We have four children, ranging in age from five to 10, who, thankfully, have also inherited a grá for Irish Draughts. We are based in Lisnaclea, Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, close to knowledgeable equine neighbours, including Tom Jones of Greaghwilliam Stud and Gladys McArdle of Drumhowan Stud.

I fell in love with Irish Draughts as a young teenager, when working at the local equestrian centre by meeting Midnight, a dark bay Irish Draught. He was a fantastic hunter: super-intelligent, brave, powerful and kind. Having grown up in a town, I didn’t have the luxury of owning a horse until my husband, Robert, bought me a mare for my 21st birthday, which he knew I’d appreciate more than an engagement ring. I feel blessed to be in a position to breed horses and hopefully leave a legacy of Irish Draughts.

I am passionate about the breed and enjoy researching and learning from others. Regardless of how long you have horses, I feel they always teach us something new and we are always open to developing our skillset. I’m a firm believer in the phrase ‘Every day is a learning day’.

1. Proudest breeder moment?

Our proudest moment so far was the 2024 IDHS Breed Show, held in Ballinasloe, when our 15.2hh home-bred mare, Lisnaclea Ladys View, won the small mare class. It was extra special, as she had only ever been brought to the inspections several years beforehand and we simply entered the show to support it, with no expectations of being placed.

To see the children cheering when we received the winning cup was amazing. To top it all off, Lady was exemplary as the children led, groomed and petted her all day long; if anything, she seemed to thrive on the attention.

2. How many mares/youngstock do you have?

We currently have seven broodmares, four of which are Lisnaclea foundation mares by Tullycommon Boy. We stood him in his final years after the passing of Frank Lambe, thanks to Robert and his father Billy, as I never would have ventured into buying a stallion. We have plenty of youngstock and are always cognisant of retaining a filly from our dams to preserve bloodlines.

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Robert studying the catalogue at the 2024 IDHS show at Ballinasloe while Luke holds Lisnaclea Ladys View \ Susan Finnerty

3. The best qualities of the Irish Draught for you?

Irish Draughts are renowned worldwide for their soundness and temperament and this is fundamental for us. We believe that Irish Draughts should be true to type (eg. short cannon bones, flat bone, depth of body and a kind eye), with a proper Draught being easy to identify in a field of horses.

4. Your winter feeding/management regime?

Our mares are wintered outdoors until close to foaling, as we feel exercise is important and they need to be fit and healthy for foaling. We try to house our youngsters for a few months in winter, simply to save the land. They have ad lib home-made hay or haylage and mineral licks.

5. Favourite Irish Draught bloodlines?

Our favourite Irish Draught stallion has to be our foundation stallion, Tullycommon Boy, AKA ‘Bobby’, who was a treasure to have at the yard in his final years, handled by Robert and his dad. He was sweet-natured, clever and traditional in type, with rare bloodlines including Silver Sam. A lot of the stock he previously sired were unregistered, however, we registered and named all his progeny and are proud to have preserved his lines through our foundation mares, who he stamped so well many cannot tell them apart.

Other favourite Irish Draught bloodlines we like to see in our stock are Cork Arthur, Heather Breeze and Sí Gaoithe.

6. Prefixes - your views?

I am a firm believer in having a prefix. It is an important tool for traceability and enables recognition of breeders when horses are later produced. It has assisted owners of Lisnaclea horses from around the world to contact us, via social media.

7. That famous horse or pony you’d love to have bred?

There is no one famous horse I wish I bred, but each year fills me with excitement with the arrival of a new batch of foals. I’m always trying to breed the best horse I can, the elusive perfect horse, which, of course, for me, is an Irish Draught.

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Robert studying the catalogue at the 2024 IDHS show at Ballinasloe while Luke holds Lisnaclea Ladys View \ Susan Finnerty

8. It takes a team, who’s on yours?

My husband, Robert is the backbone of the enterprise by making the fodder, driving all over the country to studs, showing our horses and everything else in between. Our sons and daughter have been incredible for desensitising our horses by simply being children and having fun. None of this would be possible without wonderful family and friends, particularly Ashley who keeps me in check.

We have met incredible horse people, such as Elizabeth Deane Cogan and Ciaran Hanlon, whose experiences and education have strengthened our knowledge and improved our breeding programme.

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

100% - what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger!

It is the polar opposite to the office job and keeps me on my toes. I was initially a paper breeder, matching my mares on bloodlines, but I have learned the importance of complementing mares to suitable stallions. The ‘nerd’ in me enjoys researching pedigrees and more recently, colour genetics.

I often experiment with new stallions and use Class 2 or Class 4 stallions. There is always more to learn with horses and I think that’s why I enjoy it so much.

But a warning to new horse breeders, it is hard work, 365 days a year, regardless of the weather, and it can be devastating when things go wrong, which they inevitably will. You need to be able to appreciate the highs and accept the lows. Because of horse breeding, I have grown as a person, becoming more resilient, adaptable and even more open to opportunities.

I hope our children look back and say it was a wonderful childhood, despite the early morning road trips, stress and daily mucking out, as I can already see the bond they have with horses, particularly with the foals who often gravitate towards them and not me.

They are learning life lessons, such as hard work, grit and the reality of setbacks that need to be experienced firsthand, not learned from a computer.

10. How do you juggle a full-time job, four children and breeding Draughts?

I don’t. I simply accept that nothing is ever perfect, especially the housework, whilst trying to do my best. I try to follow my gut instinct and not be too hard on myself. Our house could be described as ‘mad’ because it’s noisy and busy, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

I’ve learned to see the joy in simple things and appreciate how amazing nature is. There are often situations that will make you laugh or cry and I try to laugh, as it’s the best tonic. I make plenty of mistakes and try to learn from them.

Hopefully, I am setting an example for my family to take risks and try new things, even if I am scared of failure or criticism, such as writing this article!