MY family were always involved with horses. I understand my grandfather had a half-bred mare which he used to ferry the local parish priest and even the bishop on a trap around the diocese. My father won prizes for broodmares at local shows in Sligo and Roscommon in the 1930s and 1940s.

Horses were king when I was growing up on our farm in Moygara doing the ploughing, mowing, bringing home the turf and for riding and jumping. We bred foals, sold some and retained the odd filly. I probably started breeding performance horses in a more serious way in the 1980s and 1990s.

1. Congratulations on another successful Dublin at the recent national championships with Emerald Mystique (seven-year-old champion), Luisa (three-year-old performance filly champion) and Go Lightly (third in the Flexible five-year-old championship). How many classes have you won at Dublin?

I think we have won about 12 RDS classes.

2. Proudest moment as a breeder?

There have been many, most recently yesterday (Sunday) when Ballypatrick Flamenco (Je T’Aime Flamenco - Cruise Leaf, by Cruising) won the HSI Premier Series 1.50m national championship with Kevin Gallagher at the Irish Breeders’ Classic at Barnadown. He was runner-up last year. We were delighted to win the leading breeder award.

Even with breeding winners of the Global Tour, five-star Grand Prix classes, team members of Nations Cups, I think it is a toss-up between winning the champion foal in the Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) foal championship with Rincarina’s filly foal by For Pleasure three years ago or Rincarina (Cruising - Diamond Ballerina, by Diamond Lad) herself winning the six-year-old final at the RDS with Greg Broderick.

Dr Noel Cawley receiving his breeders' presentation with Kevin Gallager on Ballypatrick Flamenco and Alison Corbally of Horse Sport Ireland at the Irish Breeders' Classic at Barnadown \ Rolf Stenberg Jumpinaction.net

3. How many broodmares and foals do you currently have?

We have 10 broodmares and the dams of this year’s foals are Golden Exchange (Cruising – Ballinakill Clover, by Clover Hill) with a Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve filly foal, Glimmering (Loughahoe Guy – Cruise Leaf, by Cruising) has an Aganix du Seigneur colt and Lexi Lady (Flexible – Ballinakill Clover) dam of this year’s RDS three-year-old filly winner Luisa (Luidam) has a Tangelo filly.

Rincarina has an embryo foal by Rock & Roll Ter Putte, Go Lightly (For Pleasure – Winter Cruise, by Cruising), (third in this year’s RDS five-year-old final) has an embryo foal by Conthargos, Flashback (Heartbreaker – Tullamore, by Cruising) has a filly by Aganix du Seigneur and Flexicat (Flexible – Irco Rain, by Irco Mena) has a colt by Rock & Roll Ter Putte.

4. What are your favourite bloodlines?

Irco Mena/Bahrain, Cruising/Clover Hill/King of Diamonds, Cruising/Diamond Lad, Luidam/Flexible, For Pleasure/Cruising and Plot Blue/Cruising.

5. As sport horse breeders, what’s the dream?

We would like to consistently produce 1.60m horses and also horses that jump nicely with good technique, scope and rideability that can win national and the RDS young horse classes.

6. Irish show jumping breeding – on the rise?

Irish show jumping breeding is definitely improving with some lovely youngsters competing at the moment.

7. It takes a team – who’s on yours? At home here, my daughter Lisa and her husband Joe. D.J O Sullivan, Vicky Foster and Rory Cleary for breaking and training youngstock. Greg Broderick and all his team at Ballypatrick, particularly Greg himself, and riders Ethen Ahern and Kevin Gallagher, also Edward Doyle and his team for competing the horses up to Grand Prix level.

For breeding and repro work, the staff at Troytown GreyAbbey Equine Veterinary Services and Cheryl Broderick.

8. You’ve achieved a great deal, breeding many good show jumping horses up to 1.60m level and winning an Irish Horse Board breeders award for the event horse Castaway (Clover Brigade – Sailing In Rain NC, by Cruising) that won a gold medal as a seven-year-old at Le Lion d’Angers (2007). Many achievements since starting to breed sport horses in the 1980s. Would you do it all over again?

Yes and probably much the same, except in endeavouring to produce international showjumpers we should have employed semen from a greater variety of 1.60m winning stallions sooner.

9. What advice would you give to a young breeder starting off?

Start with a filly or mare having a strong blacktype genetic family background and ideally a minimum of 1.40m performance close-up.

10. How do you think the sport horse sector can be improved?

I would like to see Horse Sport Ireland use the Department of Agriculture funding solely for the breeding and the production of youngstock. Prize money needs to be increased significantly for young horse classes. Of course I recognise that all parts of Irish breeding should be supported relative to its size/scale and economic development potential.

Separately, the Department of Sport need to increase its funding for equestrian sport. We need an updated version of the Reaching New Heights document with a focus on a number of key actionable priorities. In particular, we need a greater emphasis on education throughout the industry.

I believe Teagasc and universities, encouraged by the Department of Agriculture, should initiate research on sustainability/climate change management, specifically in relation to the bloodstock sector.