I AM 22 years with The Irish Field and I suppose I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve been able to work in an industry that allows me to be able to have skin in the game. If I go back probably over 50 years ago, my grandfather and father, Pat and Eamon McArdle, bought a Lahinch yearling - Brackley Rose - in Mohill Mart for £700.

That was a fortune to give at that particular time, but she really has been the foundation mare for what we are doing in terms of our breeding programme. She had a foal called Brackley Rose Down, by Touchdown, and we were probably one of the first breeders in the country to use Touchdown. Between himself and John Henry, we used both stallions in their first years.

[The late country and western singer] Big Tom had another of Brackley Rose’s progeny, Consul Rose (First Consul). That was like a claim to fame at the time, that Big Tom had our horse!

I didn’t really have ponies to compete at shows, my father was always selling so they were sold. Brackley Rose Down was my first horse really. My mother Ann bred and owned her and the mare was this big black giant, but she was so good to me. I went from 0-15 point classes to jumping national Grands Prix.

We bred her then and she had a number of different foals, but it was the progeny from her progeny that really started to take off. So the breeding game is a long process. We’ve only got one living descendant of Brackley Rose left and that’s Brackley’s Dior.

1. Tell us about yours and Sarah’s breeding enterprise?

Sarah [Crosbie] wasn’t really a horse breeder, but she and her mother Marie bought really good mares from Marion Hughes. Probably the top mare is HHS Central Park (Don Juan de la Bouverie) and her damline is very strong. She has produced a 1.50m jumper in HHS Savannah who Marion had and sold; Fernhill Malito Park, a four-star eventer and the real flashy KKH Cooley Park, who is also in America.

We tend to go with stallions that there’s not going to be 100 of their progeny, because we like to sell them as foals. If not, we keep them to three or four-year-olds and produce them. We have sold a number of our progeny to Cooley and the team there do a really good job.

Six o’clock comes every morning and we’re up in the yard and everything has to be done before work. Sarah’s a physiotherapist and I’m with The Irish Field, so we have to juggle everything but sure, we love it.

2. Work ethic - hereditary or acquired?

Both parents are hard workers and did a really good job. My mother is a great woman and her work ethic is unbelievable. She got that from her mother as well, who was a Co Monaghan woman and their family business is McCaghey Irish Turkeys.

Mum is still is on the road a few days a week delivering turkeys. A farmer, she works at home too and she loves the horses and I suppose I got the work ethic from both sides, as both are hard workers. As is Sarah - she’s unbelievable. She works harder than me and isn’t afraid to work. She’s a real animal lover and would do anything for them.

3. Do breeders get enough recognition?

I want breeders to be rewarded for their effort. I think the market has got so big that there is a scarcity of really nice horses and, if people can breed a nice, rideable horse with a good temperament, good or acceptable veterinary, they’re going to have rewards.

Brendan McArdle hosting the RDS Breakfast Briefing in 2024 \ Claire Nash

4. What’s your advice for breeders?

I would be encouraging breeders to keep at it, but it’s all about your performance mare. The dam line certainly has to have it there and you can’t be having something just for sentiment, which I have a little.

If you’re wanting to breed horses, be it for the RDS or wherever, then you really need to assess your mare.

5. Prefixes, a fan?

Definitely. The amount of people who actually come to me and say I saw one of yours because nobody else has a Brackley’s name. That’s a particular line all the way through that none of the rest of the mares have. What Sarah and I breed in Kildare will always have KHH (Killeen House Horses) on them. Perhaps we might add that to some of the Brackley ones down the road. It’s probably a good system now that the Irish Horse Register will message you if somebody’s looking to change a horse’s name. You have that ultimate power, but we always try to work with people who we sell to.

6. It takes a team, who’s on yours?

Sarah and our son Jack of course, who we hope will do Children on Horses classes next year. He is riding Brackleys LuLu (1.40m) at the moment and hopefully he will click with her. We will try and get some embryos out of her soon.

7. Social media - a positive or negative in the horse world?

Oh, very positive. I like it. But from The Irish Field’s point of view, I would have to say we are very, very fortunate. The breeders in this country look at us as the paper of record for results. It’s great that they’re actually looking and really wanting to see that.

I like social media to a certain degree. People can actually think it’s the be-all and the end-all, but there’s a lot of flicking through pages and eyes going over a photo for a split second.

I like to hear the story, the backstory, the pedigree, how a decision was actually made and how strong the class really was. I could see something on social media and think that’s unbelievable, but I’m not getting the true story.

8. Any measures you’d like to see introduced?

There’s a huge amount of semen coming into the country from stallions abroad. Should there be a regulatory authority here to ensure breeders are getting top quality semen? It has all become very expensive. I think I’d love to see a quality document being supplied with all the semen orders here at home and abroad.

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

I love James Kann Cruz. I love his way of working - it’s great for the Connollys. I like Touchdown and a number of different horses that are actually just really good performers. The Brennans are great at breeding great horses. I just love seeing a good Irish-bred competing on the world stage and winning. Nothing like it.

10. A tip for tomorrow’s Grand Prix?

I’m so proud of Dublin having €1 million for the Grand Prix here this year. It’s bringing the very best riders in the world to compete in Ireland. I want it to be an Irish winner, I’d love for it to be an Irish-bred, both tall orders but not out of the question!