OLIVE Broderick, proprietor of Kylemore Stud and The Stallion Shop, believes that breeders should do their research properly. “Breeders shouldn’t just watch the flashy Instagram promos; they might spike your interest, but they’re not informative. Follow that interest up by calling the stud, ask them when he will next be out at a show and you can see him. Watch him in the warm-up and in the class. If he isn’t competing when he’s not breeding, find out why.”

To benefit both breeders and stud owners, she suggests: “Maybe the powers that be could see that running a league for young stallions, similar to the Blom Cup in Holland, would give breeders more of an opportunity to assess these horses in the flesh. Then maybe the sales complexes could do special sections in their select sales, for the foals of the graduates of this competition. It would give young stallions some prestige, and it would reward breeders by giving them a shop window and stallion owners by potentially increasing their mare numbers.

“I can give you an example here: The current champion of the six-year-olds in Holland covered almost 600 mares in Europe last year, which proves that breeders will use these standout stallions. Why not support the industry here in a similar way? I say this as someone who both supplies imported semen, and stands and competes young stallions in Ireland. We need breeders to support Irish stallions, as long as they’re good enough, and a series like [the Blom Cup] would give them a chance to prove themselves.”

Give young stallions a chance

Another suggestion Olive makes to other breeders is to be braver in using young stallions in general. “Breeding follows fashion more than it should,” she says. “I understand the pressure to use only older, proven stallions from a selling point of view, but if we don’t embrace young stallions and give them a chance, there will be no proven stallions in the future, and so no future. Young stallions that are well-bred, in the sport and proving their worth should be supported by breeders.”

Olive would also like breeders themselves to receive more support and recognition. “Do our breeders get enough recognition?” she asks. “I think not, and I would like to see that change. Often, the long hours and hard work of breeding goes unnoticed by the end user of the horse. How many times have you thought about the breeder of your horse, if you are a rider? When you win a class, do you ever think ‘Gosh, that was a massive achievement’ to breed a winner? Maybe if 1-5% of the prize fund at affiliated competitions was earmarked for the winning breeder, that would send a message of appreciation? Breeders are not greedy, but they do love the game and their foals, so if we could formalise a little recognition for them, I think it would be wonderful.”

Vincent Byrne and Cartier VDL, winners of the Four Year Old Grand Final at Cavan Indoor Championships 2023 \ Rolf Stenberg jumpinaction.net

Thoroughbred decline

On the subject of the loss of the RDS Breeders’ Championship from the calendar, Olive says: “I’m puzzled as to why it was axed. It was a very positive class, with a massive following of grassroots breeders. The showing breeder is probably the last supporter of the thoroughbred stallion in Ireland. The covering numbers for thoroughbred stallions has fallen in recent years, which reflects the market because it’s a difficult sale now, a foal by a thoroughbred out of a sport horse mare. I know we still need blood, and lots of it, but somewhere along the way it has become unfashionable to use thoroughbred stallions.

“Anyone using a thoroughbred sire now needs to commit to producing the foal to the point of being a ridden horse, most likely at least five years old, before a buyer might be interested. I like to think that the rideability of the Irish horse did contribute enormously to our eventing success, but we cannot rely on that going forward, because the continentals have caught up and have a high focus on rideability in their breeding programmes. The thoroughbred gave a lot of positive attributes to the Irish Sport Horse, not just blood. Now, the high percentage blood warmblood stallion has proven successful in producing the modern-day event horse when crossed with our traditional high percentage blood mares, but of course these mares are becoming scarce because we just don’t breed them any more.”

Chloe Broderick

The Stallion Shop

It was in response to both the challenges and the changes she has seen Irish breeders face over her last 30 years in the industry, such as the demise of the Traditonal Irish Horse, that Olive set up The Stallion Shop, in partnership with her daughter Chloe, in 2022. “We’re a one-stop shop for breeders, because we have access to a huge number of stallions in Europe,” says Olive. “While most agents offer a simple sales service, we are different, because we offer a complete package from breeding advice to sourcing and delivering semen, to reproduction services, which are available on site. We also work closely with several veterinary clinics in the North and south.”

Olive’s business partner in this enterprise is her daughter, Chloe, who graduated as a veterinarian from Wroclaw University in 2023. “Our attending reproductive veterinarian happens to be our daughter, and she has a huge interest in reproduction. She has gained great experience in her career over the last couple of years, both here in clinic with Ned O’Flynn, in Lisadell Equine Hospital and also further afield in Australia.”

Olive emphasises that customer service is a top priority at The Stallion Shop and, to this end, she and her husband, Ivor, travel extensively to view the stallions the business supplies. “We speak to breeders, owners and riders abroad regularly,” she says, “which allows us to be on top of our game with more inside knowledge than what is available in the public arena. Negative soundness, x-rays, temperament and trainability will never be widely discussed, so this is why we need to know what’s going on on the ground with stallions, and then we can share this important knowledge with breeders. We love going to see young, up-and-coming stallions in their stables and at shows,” she continues. “We gain so much more insight from that than from watching videos. Our basic focus is still on breeding sound, correct horses and those qualities are not always easy to see on a TV screen!”

Kylemore stallions

The Brodericks offer Irish breeders similar opportunities to see their own, Kylemore Stud-based stallions at shows in the flesh, and Olive highlights KMS Denver (Dominator Z x Levisto Z), Paradiso VDL (Untouched x Cardento) and Cartier VDL (Carrera VDL x Corland) as being “all out competing for breeders to judge”. Their pony stallion Double Pleasure (Follow Me x Quidam De Revel), who received five-star approval status from HSI’s Irish Sport Pony Studbook last year, could be seen competing throughout his campaign to become Pony European Champion in 2024 when ridden by Jack Kent.

Vincent Byrne and Cornerado VDL, winning a 1.30m at Tipperary Equestrian Centre in 2023 \ Jane Emilly Potter jumpinaction.net

Olive also mentions Cornerado VDL, whom they sold last year, as having been produced to Grand Prix level on the circuit in Ireland. Cornerado VDL’s successful step up to 1.50m with Cormac Hanley in the US was one of the Broderick’s highlights of 2025, as were the achievements of his progeny, CSF Jordan and Gaulross Cornerado, at the RDS. The former finished third in the potential event horse class before realising €25,000 at the Goresbridge Go for Gold sale later in the year, while the latter finished fourth in the five-year-old final for Liam O’Meara.

When asked for her opinion on the future of sport horse breeding in Ireland, Olive responds: “Breeders are now extremely well-informed, knowledgeable and hungry for success, which is hugely positive. With correct input from our governing bodies and those involved in servicing the industry, Ireland can remain a real force for breeding top-class sport horses, driving trade and business going forward. For this to happen though, the grassroots of breeding must be supported. We all need to work together for the betterment of the industry as a whole. Breeders, trainers, riders, sales centres, show organisers and governing bodies need to respect each other, listen to ideas and concerns and do their best to address them accordingly. A rising tide lifts all boats. The sharing of knowledge and advice costs nothing; that has always been our ethos at Kylemore Stud and it has served us well over many years.”