BORN in Muentschemier, near Bern in Switzerland, my parents and grandparents on both sides are and were involved in horses. I am the oldest of three children, both my brothers Marc and Daniel Etter are involved in the family horse-dealing business, Etter Sportpferde AG, led by our parents Gerhard and Hedi Etter.

My dad Gerhard, always had a soft spot for Ireland and Irish horses and used to buy a lot of Irish horses in the seventies and eighties.

After finishing school, my parents insisted that I should gain an education outside of the horse industry, so I decided to do a three-year apprenticeship as a master saddler, all while competing internationally for Switzerland at junior and young rider level. Once finished with saddlery, I got the opportunity to work and train in Holland and in the USA before starting to work back at home in the family business.

In 1992, I decided to go to Ireland and spend six months at Belmont House Stud, a farm my parents bought in the eighties. My intention was to learn English and to learn about young horses during the winter, there were very few competitions running during that time.

I brought my two sport horses Candyman and Utopia with me, along with my miniature Shetland pony Marylou, who sadly passed away last year at the age of 35. My six months got extended, and after nearly 29 years, I am still here and love Ireland. Moving here put a stop to my competition career, but it brought me closer to a horse breeding passion. Having had zero knowledge about breeding, I had a lot to learn and am still learning everyday!

1. Proudest moment as a breeder?

That must be while watching the home-bred stallion Celtic Hero B Z perform, be it when winning several three-year-old competitions, the four-year-old championships in Cavan or jumping in the RDS main arena, before being sold to American rider Heather Caristo-Williams.

Celtic is close to my heart, he is a very special horse, not only for his ability but he always gives his best, always wanted to jump a clear round and is a very intelligent, kind horse. I’m very fortunate that Heather does a great job producing him slowly and if all goes to plan, Celtic will come back to his birthplace to continue his breeding career. I’m very pleased with his progeny so far, they seem to inherit his ability and temperament!

2. Tell us about the Belmont House Stud numbers: stallions, mares, youngstock?

We now typically have about 20 foals of our own per year, probably about 20 mares and then we tend to cover some of the young mares and let them have a foal before going on to compete. We are very lucky with the stallions we have at stud again this year, for our own mares, as well as for the Irish breeders to use.

Livello needs very little introduction, himself a top performer and sire of top performers, I am very grateful to SIEC and Gerry Mullins who have given us the opportunity to stand a stallion of this calibre at Belmont House Stud.

Stetter, not known to as many here in Ireland, is a top performer in his own right and sire of 1.60m jumper Wetter.

Home-bred Mr Quincy B (by Aganix du Seigneur x O-Piloth x Wandango) is a six-year-old stallion with a very big future ahead of him. His granny Wandonga jumped at 1.60m level with Cameron Hanley and also with my brother Daniel.

Wandonga’s sire, Wandango, is my Dad’s all-time favourite! Quincy is a full-brother to Mr Lincoln B, now ridden by Christan Ahlmann of Studfarm Zangersheide. At the moment Quincy is in Belgium to build up a stock of frozen semen and to compete during the winter months ahead of the stud season.

New for the 2021 season, we will have the 1.60m jumper, Qui Vive des Songes Z, who competed for the USA, ridden by Heather Caristo at both Nations Cup and World Cup level. ‘Chewy’ as he is known to his friends, is an exciting new addition here at BHS. A stallion with performance, a lot of power, canter, size and scope, he should suit the Irish mares.

Along with those proven stallions, we also have a lot of hope for the home-bred 2018 colt Mr Connery B, by former resident stallion Ganesh Hero Z, from a five-star damline going back to Swiss champion mare Lorina.

3. How many foals do you typically breed in a year?

We usually have about 20 foals a year and keep most of them until the age of five years old, unless sold from here at a younger stage. They are either sold directly from the farm or they go to the home yard in Switzerland to be sold from there. We hold on to some of the home-bred stallions a little longer if they are part of our breeding program.

Damien Griffin and Celtic Hero BZ at the Dublin Horse Show 2018 \ Laurence Dunne Jumpinaction.net

4. Favourite broodmare, past or present?

Cricket Z, the dam of Celtic Hero B Z, a special mare, along with Lucy in the Sky B, the mother of the stallions Mr Lincoln B and Mr Quincy B.

5. Favourite stallion/marelines?

I love the damline of Usha van’t Roosakker, a line of top performers, among them the former resident stallion Ganesh Hero Z.

As for stallions, I prefer to use stallions that I know personally and know as much as possible about. I am not a breeder that uses stallions that have progeny sold for top money at auctions, I prefer to use what I really believe in, fashionable or not!

6. Covering plans – how do you match up stallions and mares?

I try to analyse my mare by looking at her, I talk to the former rider of the mare, I look at her progeny. I try and find what the mare needs to improve on and choose a stallion accordingly. I would rate ‘willingness to perform’ very highly – no point having a horse with all the ability in the world but who is unwilling to use it.

7. Best advice you got?

Love what you do or don’t do it! Working with horses can be a difficult choice, the sun does not always shine, it’s not an easy business.

I get great satisfaction watching my horses grow up and perform. I love to see when my horses make people happy, at whatever level really!

8. What do you think are the greatest challenges facing sport horse breeders?

I hope that the ‘old style’ horsemanship does not disappear in time. The special horse will always sell, but it’s not easy to breed those. Production costs are rising, and the value of the average horse stays the same or decreases.

9. You’ve won the Euromillions jackpot. Which stallion/mare/embryo would you buy?

Looks like I am just a few weeks late for that, I would have loved to have bought a good few lots from Luc Henry’s auction a while back!

10. What’s your dream aim in breeding?

To breed a “B” horse that jumps successfully at the Olympics, preferably ridden by my brother Dani. Guess I better hurry up; Dani is not getting any younger!