I ESTABLISHED Killadeer Farm in Ballyheane, Castlebar, in 2015 with my partner Kate and our two children, Chloe and Darragh. We stand two Connemara stallions and have five Connemara mares, along with a selection of riding ponies and youngstock. From a young age, I was surrounded by horses and ponies, as my father, Owen Sr, kept stallions, a tradition that had been passed down through generations before him.

My brother Owen now stands two Irish Draught stallions: the RDS reserve champion Farmhill Highlander and Black Hero in Killawalla Stud near Westport, where I grew up. Throughout my childhood we stood a number of different stallions: Ginger Dick (ID), Householder (TB) and the Connemara ponies Glencarrig Oscar and Glanquin Larry, to name a few.