THE lively morning session set the tone for the evening show jumping discussion where, not surprisingly, the topic of breeding and the use of continental stallions dominated much of the debate.

Chaired by Teagasc chairman Dr Noel Cawley, a renowned breeder of top level Irish Sport Horses, the panel of Olympic show jumper Greg Broderick, leading sport horse agent Barry O’Connor, and auctioneer and show jumping commentator Frederick De Backer offered plenty for the crowd of over 300 people to think about.

There has been a lot of discussion about Irish-born and Irish-bred horses, the use of continental stallions and the decline of the Traditional Irish Horse. O’Connor alluded to the fact that we are overlooking the ‘Irish-produced’ horse, the ones that are foreign-bred but grow up in Ireland and are produced by Irish riders.

“We talk about Irish-bred a lot but we forget about Irish-produced. In show jumping, if you take the RDS classes for example, the six-year-old’s are very well produced, we shouldn’t lose sight of that. Irish produced horses is something we glance over, there is good horsemanship and that is what people look at – a good history and a good upbringing on Irish land,” said the Malahide-based agent.

Broderick backed up O’Connor’s point, saying: “I had a lady visit from America last week. She wanted to see young horses in the field, a lot of which have some continental breeding, and her exact words were, ‘it is no wonder the Irish horses are so solid and genuine.’

“In Europe it’s just level terrain. It’s not just the Irish bloodlines that matter, it’s how the horses are brought up and what they see even before the saddle goes on there back.

Broderick added: “In Ballypatrick we have a mixture of both Irish and continental-bred horses, probably half and half. I have been very lucky with Irish horses, I have several Cruising mares and they are great mothers, and Cavalier mares – Cavalier gives a horse great balance. Going Global is out of a Cavalier mare.”

MARKETING

The marketing of Irish Sport Horses was brought into the discussion by De Backer, who had to ask if MHS Going Global, one of the most famous ISH’s, was Irish-bred. “I was here (in Ireland) a few years ago and I found that many Irish horses have a good strong pedigree but it’s just not marketed as well as Belgian Warmbloods or Holsteiners, for example. You have good quality but you are not making use of what you have,” he said.

Despite Irish-bred horses winning three medals at the World Breeding Championships for Young Horses in Lanaken in September, the auctioneer continued: “KWPN, Belgium, they all make a big fuss about their successful horses. Zangersheide release a magazine in four different languages and make a big fuss about it, I don’t hear much about the Irish horse.”

The market place for foals dominated much of the talk, but the speakers reinforced the need for a good pedigree. “What I see as an auctioneer, commentator and breeder, it’s all or nothing. It’s quality or nothing. It’s a good family or it’s nothing,” said De Backer.

“At auctions it’s very clear, if you have a good family you have a good chance of making €10,000 or possibly much more. At Zangersheide this year the average was €21,000 but there were three or four foals that did not have a sports pedigree and they didn’t make €10,000. They were not bad foals but you can clearly see what the market wants.”

O’Connor is optimistic about the market in Ireland and believes that partnerships are the way forward for breeders who can’t afford to breed and keep top young horses, mirroring the ideas of Teagasc specialist Thomas Curran earlier in the day.

“We have a network around the world that is incredible. The points of my success are the partnerships I have made, you have to go out and meet people.

O’Connor added: “I think a lot more people would buy foals if there was a system in place where you could raise them. For me, one of the ways forward for breeders is to keep a horse and raise it for an investor and decide after what you want to do with it.”

Partnerships with other international riders and the leading Irish breeders has also led to some of Broderick’s best breeding success. “Foals are on the up, we bred a lot of foals this year and sold some at home privately for good money which is a great help.

“We also have some mares belonging to international riders to look after and breed them and we either split the foal 50/50 or else one person takes the first embryo and the other the second and so on. That way it is less of a headache for the riders and their horse is looked after,” he said.

“No one will ever come knocking on your door. Find the best people in the room or the field and make that connection, there are plenty of opportunities for breeders,” O’Connor added.