I AM not from a horsey background, although I rode ponies on a farm where my father worked when I was 10 or 11 years old. I was recently thinking, at that time The Beatles were number one with a song called Help. It was my favourite song back then and I would be singing it as loudly as possible while galloping around the field bareback, and I’m not a great singer!

So I was just thinking if anyone had seen me, they would think the pony was running away with me screaming, “Help!”

Then my father changed jobs and moved house. After that, I had no contact with horses until my two daughters came along. Then our journey with horses started because of a song called Cats In The Cradle, but that’s a long story!

I brought the girls to Greenhills Riding School, eventually started riding myself and got the bug. I competed at Riding Club eventing, show jumping and amateur show jumping for a number of years.

I am still involved with horses, even though the girls gave it up years ago.

It was through Greenhills that I met Mary and Dermot Kane and their family and became very good friends. It was then through Dermot that I became interested in breeding horses. A group of us used to travel to shows, eventing and show jumping, around Europe.

I knew that I wouldn’t be good enough to compete at that level, but I might be able to breed a horse to compete at that level and that became my goal.

I came up with a formula for what I thought would be the ideal sport horse. A little bit of Draught, King of Diamonds or Cloverhill, a good bit of thoroughbred, then cover that mare with a warmblood and then cover that next mare with another warmblood.

I bought a thoroughbred mare called Secret Cove (Balla Cove - Undisclosed, by Vision) and covered her with Clover Brigade (Clover Hill - Brigade Princess, by Light Brigade). A lot of people don’t realise that Clover Hill (Golden Beaker) is 50% thoroughbred.

Her first foal was My Secret Brigade and I covered her with Lux Z. Her first foal was Lux Brigade, who I then covered with Tyson, as I had seen him jumping lots of times and was very impressed with him. Lux Brigade’s first foal was Tyson Junior, who is now six years old and eventing with Nicola Ennis.

I went back to Tyson and that filly is the Lanaken medallist: Tysons Lady Lux. As three-year-olds, I send my horses to Henry and Joanne Foley (H&J Sport Horses), because they do a great job producing the horses for sales.

Tysons Lady Lux was in the Go For Gold sale as a three-year-old, but wasn’t sold and Martin Egan later bought her. Broken and produced by Claire Fisher, Jason Foley then took over the ride and, with the help of Ger O’Neill and the Castlefield Sport Horses team, produced her to her current level.

I also have a Colandro three-year-old half-sister, in foal to Caracas, and her two-year-old full-sister.

Myself and my wife Margaret went on a few equine tours with Teagasc. In 2012, we went to the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) young horse show jumping championships in Lanaken and also visited several breeding farms in Belgium and the Netherlands.

In 2023, we went to Lanaken again and visited more breeding and production farms and vet hospitals in the Netherlands, including Leon Thijssen’s yard, which was amazing. In 2025, we went to the French national show jumping championships in Fontainebleau and, again, visited some top stud farms and veterinary facilities.

These Teagasc tours were very informative. There were 30-35 breeders, vets etc. on each tour, which are very well organised by Wendy Conlan and Sean Keane. It was fantastic to see how those yards operate and get access to these facilities. I would like to wish a big Happy Christmas to everyone.

1. Proudest breeder moment?

Definitely September 28th, 2025, when Tysons Lady Lux (Tyson x Lux Z), who I bred, won a bronze medal in the five-year-old WBFSH championship final in Lanaken, Belgium, with Jason Foley riding.

2. How many mares do you currently own?

I have two mares, Lux Brigade (Lux Z x Clover Brigade) and a thoroughbred called Maisie MC.

3. “Fools breed horses for wise men to buy.” Agree/disagree with this saying?

I would disagree. Nobody forces us to breed horses. If wise men and women didn’t buy them, we couldn’t breed them. Most breeders couldn’t afford to produce horses up through the grades.

4. Prefixes, your thoughts?

Prefixes work very well for larger breeders and producers.

5. The standout international show jumping stallion for you?

There are two: Tyson and Casall.

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

I’m a caveman! I don’t use social media.

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

Cor De La Bryère as he is the most influential stallion in sport horse breeding. I would think that he is in the back breeding of about 50% of the top show jumpers in the world.

8. It takes a team, who’s on yours?

My wife Margaret, who tolerates me talking about horses 24/7 and has travelled with me all over Europe and the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky in 2010; my daughters Margaret and Mary; my neighbours Patsy Dunne and Tony Byrne, Michael Joyce, vets Ellen O’Riordan and Maria Kennedy and farrier David Finnegan.

Also my friend John Dooley, who has helped me out enormously over the years.

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

Definitely, I wish I had started earlier.

10. What part does luck play in horse breeding?

Luck plays a huge part in horse breeding. Even if you breed the best horse in the world, unless that horse gets into the hands of an owner and/or rider who sees the potential of the horse and has the ability and resources to help it fulfil that potential, it will never be successful.

I have been lucky that Tyson Junior went to Nicola Ennis and Tysons Lady Lux went to Jason Foley, who are both top riders.