MY intention was always to become a dairy farmer and to have some sport horses on the side as a glorified hobby. However, very shortly after I left agricultural college, the horse numbers started to increase, and I was spending less and less time on the dairy farm until I took a definitive turn to go into horses full-time.

It was from my dairy farm background that I inherited a passion for breeding and genetics. I’ve always enjoyed producing young horses. Now our small team and our family work on our 150-acre family farm and breed about 15 to 20 foals each season.

An important part of the business is leasing recipient mares to other vets and breeders for embryo transfer, as well as boarding young horses, broodmares, and retirees for other owners.

Since my father Noel has retired from dairy farming, we have more space on the farm, and I plan to increase the numbers of boarding horses on the farm, so we have vacancies for any clients wishing to board at Boleybawn.

In September, we run an annual online auction for foals, and in December we run our online auction for young horses.

My wife Suzanne is a school teacher and a dedicated mother of our two young children, Louis (age 7) and Naomi (age 5), who all take an interest in the horses. Also, my parents Noel and Joan are very helpful in the business and have directed their attention towards the business since they have retired from dairy farming.

1. Congratulations on Boleybawn Alvaro’s (Dominator 2000 Z - Arina, by Crown Z) recent Young Horse Grand Prix win in CSIO5* St Gallen, a horse you’ve always thought a lot of. Tell us more about his family?

Boleybawn Alvaro’s dam, Arina, has been an extraordinarily good producer of jumpers. She has several horses jumping over 1.45m, including Boleybawn Aasha (Dignified van’t Zorgvliet), who has jumped 1.60m with Mira Hødial in Norway. Arina’s progeny have qualified for the young horse classes at the RDS on 16 occasions.

We have always tried to cross Arina with a stallion that has size and scope. When Dominator 2000 Z (Diamant de Semilly) arrived on the scene, he was probably the up-and-coming young horse that had the most size and scope in Europe, so it was an obvious match for Arina.

Arina is from the damline of Ratina Z (Ramiro Z), and I bought her in Holland as a two-year-old from Paul Hendricks. She is 20 years old now, and I feel that we may not see too many more foals from her. However, we will endeavour to offer her filly foal, which may be her last filly, at our auction this September. This will be the first time I’ve ever offered a filly foal from Arina.

2. Tell us about the St Gallen weekend?

To get the opportunity to see Boleybawn Alvaro jump in St Gallen wasn’t even something that I had dreamed of, never mind seeing him win. I’m so proud of the horse and how he has developed into the talent he is now.

Even if he were never to win a rosette, it’s a joy to sit and watch him jump. He’s got an extraordinary will to win and a hunger to please his rider, Niamh McEvoy.

I think that what sets him apart from other horses is his level of concentration when he’s in the ring. You can see in his eyes and ears that his focus on the fence is extraordinary. Also, he has been produced and has had his career managed to perfection by Greg Broderick and his team at Ballypatrick Stables.

3. The St Gallen bonus?

Something that struck a special chord with me was when the owner of two of the busiest breeding stallions in Belgium asked me to buy some frozen straws of Alvaro to use on some of his best mares.

4. Future plans for Boleybawn Alvaro, now fully approved by HSI?

Alvaro will take a break now before he returns back to Ireland and will be available at stud, intermittently around his jumping schedule throughout the summer from Ballypatrick.

5. Proudest breeder moment - an update?

I’m very lucky to have many proud breeder moments. Alvaro jumping the way he did and winning in St Gallen was definitely one of them, and something I’ll never forget.

6. How are plans progressing for the 2026 online foal auction?

We won’t have as many foals as usual for the Boleybawn online foal auction in September, because we didn’t achieve as many pregnancies as we would have liked in 2025. Therefore, we are accepting a small number of high-class foals from other breeders to join our auction.

7. Your auction catalogue pick?

So far, one of the standouts that we have to offer is a Button Sitte (Ogano Sitte) filly foal from Arina, the dam of Alvaro.

8. Who’s on the Boleybawn 2026 team?

At the moment, I’m surrounded by a small team of excellent staff - Siobhan Leonard and Håvard Dragset take care of the horses that we have in training and that are competing at shows.

Melanie Behan, Pat Kinsella and Laura Jackson take care of the breeding mares and foals, young horses and recipient mares.

We’ve also got an excellent farrier and vets who visit us frequently.

9. Are there enough incentives for sport horse breeders in Ireland?

I do believe that the incentives that Horse Sport Ireland have offered, like the embryo transfer scheme and mare, stallion retention and training schemes, have made an active, positive difference to the industry.

I hope to see them continue, as I’m sure the industry is seeing a good return on this investment.

10. An innovation you’d like to see introduced for young breeders?

I think it would be beneficial if one of the governing bodies were able to offer an advice or consultancy service to young people who would like to make a commercial go of sport horse breeding in Ireland.

Something that would help them develop a business plan and to help them market and access clients from around the world.

Should a scheme like this ever come to pass, I would love to be part of it, so I could pass on the knowledge I’ve learned from the many mistakes I’ve made along my journey.