IT is possible to make money breeding horses, you have to be ruthless,” said Lanaken gold-medal-winning breeder Ronan Byrne, who’s ruthlessness in his own breeding programme has seen a number of horses rise to the top end of the sport.

Walking into the main arena at the WBFSH World Breeding Championships in Lanaken last September as the breeder of Rockwell RC, the five-year-old world champion under Jason Foley, was a dream come true for the Kilkenny resident.

He didn’t come from a family steeped in horses or breeding traditions, instead fell in love with horses as a child, got his first pony aged 12 and helped out the local huntsman nearby his then home of Swords in order to be around the animals.

After leaving school he went to work for the famous Dutch rider and now of Global Champions Tour success, Jan Tops, during which time he had Top Gun at the Barcelona Olympic Games. He also spent time in Switzerland with Beat Mändli and the Etter family, as well as a couple of season working in Florida.

Horses were all he was interested in, and he toyed with the idea of leaving Ireland full-time in favour of a move to Florida. However, the breeding bug kept him at home. “I had a normal job for a while, I was working in Dublin Airport, but I always ended up back with the horses,” he explained.

“I spent a couple of seasons in Florida and looked at moving out there, but I liked breeding and thought I would miss out on that. I like it here [in Ireland], I enjoy watching the horses grow up and seeing where they go.”

Foundation mare

The mare that ignited Byrne’s breeding programme, Cendry Nouvolieu (Tresor De Cheux x Elf III), was purchased during his time at Etter’s yard. “A neighbour of theirs, the local vet, had her for sale and I went and bought her. I was riding young horses and breaking horses at the time. I had a few other mares but I thought I would buy her. She worked out lucky.”

Lucky indeed, as her granddaughter, Urban Sea (Guidam x Sir Libero) produced the horse who has given Byrne his proudest day yet in Lanaken.

“It is what you dream of when you are breeding and producing horses. That is what the aim is. When you are breeding, you go through a lot of horses and very few make it. It was a fantastic day. It could be once in a lifetime, hopefully we will be back there again, but you have to enjoy it while you can,” he said of the experience.

Ronan Byrne recieves an award for breeding Rockwell RC from Edward Doyle \ Laurence Dunne jumpinaction.net

Like many breeders trying to make a living, Byrne made the decision to sell the Kannan mare as a three-year-old when other priorities took over. “I always thought she [Rockwell RC] was a nice mare and I thought she has a lot of potential, but I was building a house at the time and I needed the money. I sell some of the three-year-olds and I keep some a bit longer, you have to keep them moving.”

Luckily, sold to Byrne’s close friend Ryan Crumley, she eventually ended up at one the best producing yards in Ireland – Ger O’Neill’s Castlefield Sporthorses. The 2019 season saw her place second in the five-year-old final at the Dublin Horse Show before going on to win gold in Lanaken under Foley.

Byrne no longer has the dam of Rockwell RC, the now 13-year-old Urban Sea, who also produced the year older Burnlea Sea Dancer who is competing in eventing with Britain’s Alex Kennedy.

He made the decision to sell the mare to John Lyng before her progeny’s medal success, in order to cut down on his numbers. Does he now look back with regret? “At the time you make these decisions. I decided I would cut down on the breeding, and I just thought I would gear more towards the thoroughbreds. I don’t regret selling her, these are decisions you make,” he said frankly.

One man band

“I’m a small outfit, a one man band. I have no background in breeding but I enjoy keeping the horses. You have to be ruthless with breeding, maybe I was too ruthless with Urban Sea. You have to be critical and ruthless when breeding to the standard needed. It has to make some commercial sense.”

He is now breeding from just one mare – the dam of Urban Sea, Miss Libero (by Sir Libero) a daughter of that original ‘lucky’ mare. Miss Libero has also produced Sir Douglas 10 (by Ard VDL Douglas), who won the individual European gold medal in Children on Horses in 2016 under Germany’s Viktoria Schmidt, and the two-star event horse Cooley Hidden Cyclone.

The 22-year-old Miss Libero is in foal to Vigo D’Arsouilles again this year and Byrne is praying for a filly to keep the line going. “If I have a filly out of Miss Libero, she will never leave the farm. If not that will be the end of the line.”

Lt David Power of Ireland, competing on Rolestown, during the The Land Rover Puissance at the Dublin Horse Show \ Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

However, he also has his thoroughbred interests and hopes to continue with the two ventures. “I buy a few thoroughbred foals, National Hunt stores, and sell as three-year-olds.

“With the thoroughbreds it is more straightforward, a nice horse is a nice horse,” Byrne explained. “You need to have the goods to get well paid and if you don’t, you don’t. It is easier to to get well paid for a nice horse.

“The industry is more straightforward; there are less X-rays and vetting isn’t as harsh on them. You buy your foal and depending what sale you get into you have to sell.

“It was always something I wanted to try. I will keep going with both. I am down to one mare, but I will always keep at it and try to bring the line back.”

Although he only has one mare, Byrne has some youngsters in work with both Rhys Williams and David Moran and enjoys, when he can, to keep and produce them along. “I work it however it works out for me,” he said, referencing his job as a truck driver for John Ryan, father of young rider Jack Ryan.

He runs his operation from Pat Fenlon’s facilities at Brandon View Stud close to his home in Graiguenamanagh, Co Kilkenny, and the pair help each other out. Another top horse to come from Cendry Nouvolieu is the Army Equitation’s 15-year-old gelding Rolestown.

“I try to work out shares with riders to keep them a bit longer. I have a few nice Cardentos now that I would like to hold on to. It is not purely a business for me but has to make some kind of financial sense.”

Upward trend

In terms of breeding in Ireland, Byrne feels things are on an upward trend. “I would hope it is progressing. With the likes of Lanaken, that sets the standard for where we are at. The whole thing has changed over the years, people are more professional about everything, like the clinical soundness of horses and so on, and there are so many factors [in breeding] now.”

He also feels breeders are beginning to get more recognition. “I think it has improved a lot. Horse Sport Ireland are doing a good job with the Horse Board series, a lot more effort is being put in by them. Things going in the right direction.”

He is positive that if you make good decisions, there is money to be made from the breeding industry. “It is possible to make money, you have to be ruthless, and you have a keen interest. I have ridden top horses, broken young horses; I have a lot of angles on it.

“As a breeder, you have to have a connection to the riders and all aspects of the industry to make it pay. Be in contact with riders to know what kind of horse they want, so to know what stallion to go to. There are a lot of variables, but you have to keep trying.”

Good advice indeed.