THE high profile sale of broodmare Xaloc at Goffs earlier this month was a huge boost to my fledgling breeding operation. Oak Leaf Stud is relatively new to the industry and last week’s result was vindication for our hard work and efforts.

I didn’t have a racing or indeed farming background; my father was an electrician and mother a nurse. Although horses only held a slight interest for me as a child, I loved all kinds of animals. When I was six years old, my parents bought a small cottage beside our house, which came with an acre of land. That Christmas I got two ewes in lamb as a present and so began my breeding operation! Later, I rented five acres and bought more sheep and a couple of heifers. It was the breeding side that particularly interested me and I was always crossing different breeds of cows and sheep. I had the animals all through secondary school and later when I studied Construction Studies in Athlone, I commuted every day. I changed courses after first year and completed a Diploma in Horticulture. I am now a qualified landscape gardener and that remains my main source of employment.