I GREW up in Cavan on a dairy farm where my older brother Michael kept horses, so from a young age I developed a huge interest in them too. Myself and Michael would have travelled the length and breadth of Ireland when I was in my teens and early 20s, going to shows and we did a number of RDS visits as well.

I now live on a farm outside Kells with my wife Maura and three children: Ava, Lauren and Daniel.

The year I did my Leaving Cert, I went to Goresbridge and bought my first horse; a three-year-old filly by Carnival Night. Cavalier Royale had arrived in Ireland and my Carnival Night mare was one of the first mares ever to be covered by Cavalier. That foal was third in the Young Irelander at Millstreet, so I was over the moon about that result. That got me off to a fantastic start.

1. Congratulations, you bred the Le Lion d’Angers gold medallist Brookfield Danny de Muze (I’m Special de Muze - Gortglas Sparrow, by Ashfield Bobby Sparrow.). Tell us more about him.

The story began when our son Daniel was born. I spotted an Ashfield Bobby Sparrow mare for sale and said to Maura, ‘Do you want to come for a drive to Kilkenny?’

I always loved Ashfield Bobby Sparrow and, as a child, remember Edward Doyle jumping him at European championships. We bought Gortglas Sparrow from Sian Carson and then covered this traditional-bred to I’m Special de Muze as I love his sire: Emerald, absolutely love him.

I couldn’t get Emerald at the time, so that was more the reason why Special de Muze was used instead. Danny de Muze was born in 2018, a beautiful bay colt and was sold as a foal to Brian Douglas.

2. Proudest breeder moment?

It would definitely have been this year when, first of all, Lauren and I travelled to Lanaken for the world breeding championships to watch Cookstown Luidam, that we bred, compete in the five-year-olds with Seamus Hughes Kennedy.

We’re proud in the last three weeks to have had two horses from Gortglas Sparrow competing at the WBFSH world championships.

The Callery family at Bath and West Show, where Danny (centre), pictured with sisters Ava and Lauren and parents Donal and Maura, was competing on the Irish mounted games team

3. Tell us why you like Connemara bloodlines in a pedigree?

I’ve always loved Connemaras and their bloodlines in the mix.

Gortglas Sparrow’s dam was by the fantastic National Hunt stallion Camden Town. I had the vision that I’d love a cross of thoroughbred, Connemara and warmblood - thoroughbred for blood, Connie for soundness and temperament and warmblood for scope and technique and it has worked with Sparrow’s foals.

4. How many mares do you have?

We have eight broodmares and they’re all in foal this year, thank God.

We would be very select about the mares that we’ve retained as broodmares - they have to have proven bloodlines with a very good ‘page’.

  • Princess Ava (Clover Echo x Cavalier Royale) is from the Kells line and she’s in foal to Ermitage Kalone, so that should be nice.
  • Her daughter Cookstown Looks Good (Lux Z) is in foal to Emerald.
  • Cookstown Cavalier (Cavalier Royale x Ashfield Bobby Sparrow) is in foal to Ermitage Kalone.
  • One of her daughters - Cookstown Romanalier (Romanov) - is in foal to Dominator 2000 Z.
  • Cookstown Royale Clover (Cavalier Royale x Clover Hill) is the three-parts sister to Greenacres Special Cavalier and she’s in foal to Don’t Touch Tiji Hero.
  • Priestown Syriana (Luidam x Darco) is in foal to Casallco.
  • The next mare is a Cornet Obolensky out of that Luidam mare and she’s in foal to Casallco as well.
  • And the last mare is the second foal we’ll have out of the Lux Z mare (Cookstown Looks Good) - a Comme Il Faut embryo.

    • 5. Your lucky bloodlines?

    The Kells line. A lot of good horses have been bred from that line, including Princess Ava and, just as important, they’ve been in good hands. That’s a huge help too.

    6. That standout stallion on the international circuit?

    Well... Emerald is definitely one, as well as Ermitage Kalone. And I never saw the likes of United Touch S; he’s such a joy to watch. I wouldn’t get to use him because he is very limited availability and only through ICSI, but to watch him jumping - he’s something else, feet above the poles!

    7. Prefixes, your thoughts?

    Our prefix is Cookstown and I think it’s so, so important for us to have a prefix to follow our progeny and that they can be recognised in competitions all over the world. It’s also important for marketing. When I went to Lanaken, people were saying to me, ‘Are you Cookstown?’ and that was nice, that they recognised the horses out competing because of the Cookstown prefix.

    8. Best advice you ever got?

    My wife always believes in ‘working smarter, not harder’ and to prioritise quality over quantity!

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

    Absolutely, yes. I suppose in breeding horses, there’s the whole family involved aspect too. And breeding has been rewarding and good to us.

    There’s nothing more enjoyable than foals being born, seeing them out in the fields and then selling them on to the right hands.

    10. It takes a team. Who’s on yours?

    Our team is our family. Maura does all the running around, transporting mares to stud, bringing the kids to competitions at home and abroad. Ava and Lauren manage our social media pages, which is good for marketing and the Cookstown name gets well spread. They’re very good at that, whereas I’d be lost when it comes to social media!

    They do all the grooming and preparing if we’re going to sales or shows with foals and take a huge interest in the stallion selection. It’s just hard on my pocket with the top handful of stallions they’d pick out!

    Daniel does much of the heavy lifting. He does a lot of training and leading mares and foals, he’s fantastic. Another brother, Ollie is another right-hand man. He’s always there to help, when the pressure comes on and things get busy. He breeds horses as well and has some very good mares.

    And then last but not least, Michael, I’ll have to give him a mention!

    Seriously, he has huge knowledge and gives all the advice. Honest to God, for a man that’s not on social media or anything, he knows every stallion. He knows everyone’s horses and who to go to. If you want advice, go to him. I don’t know where he gets his information from, he doesn’t even have an iPhone, just an old Nokia! But he knows everything.

    And I have to say, he was so decent to give a Cavalier Royale filly to one of the kids, that’s the goodness of Michael.

    It was him that gave me the interest in horses. There was no horses around the place until Michael brought them - he gave me the bug and I think we have given the bug to the kids.

    So that’s the crew, a whole family job.