“DAD, can I get a pony?” From an early age, this was all I wanted and I was saving any money I could, so as to buy one when it was allowed. We had no background in horses, no stables and only a small bit of land. However, when I was about 17, my dream finally came true and I was allowed buy Oldcourt Foxcub from a good friend of ours, Mrs Brigit Connelly. I then set about building stables, which I completed myself.

This was the start of many years of very successful competing at shows, with my sisters Paula and Judy doing the producing, my brother John and another sister, Hilary, doing the riding and I did the organising and driving.

We had a number of other ponies along the way, one of those being a lovely grey mare called Polly. She was to become the foundation mare for the ‘Wyndham Ponies’.

Among the ponies she bred were the RDS Dublin Horse Show ridden champions: Wyndham Princess and Wyndham Rhapsody. They, in turn, bred many more champions for us, including Wyndham Peek A Boo, Wyndham Aristocrat and Wyndham High Society.

After successful careers showing in-hand here, these went to the UK, where they won championships at shows, such as Royal Windsor, the Royal International, Royal Welsh etc. The only one that has eluded us so far is HOYS, where we have had a few second placings.

We were sending the broodmares to the UK to be covered during those years, however, with a changing market, we are now mostly using Connemara stallions. This cross is working very well.

We have successfully sold the first crop, one of which is Wyndham Miss Ellie, by Gwennic de Goariva and out of a daughter of Wyndham Peek A Boo. She is winning over 1.20m/1.30m and was the SJI’s top performing six-year-old at 1.20m last year.

Another really lovely pony is the three-year-old Wyndham By The Way (Tulira Darog - Wyndham Petite Fleur), conceived by A.I. We showed him last year and he was champion at all six shows that we took him to.

It usually takes a while to find new homes, as we are very particular about where they go. We will only sell them if the home is right and the rider is experienced enough to bring them on successfully.

We are now at the fourth generation of Wyndhams and, no doubt, it won’t be long before we get to the fifth.

In 2001, I bought an ex-race mare, Deep Inagh (Deep Run x Menelek), with a filly foal at foot by Flemensfirth. Inagh had been very successful on the race track and proved to be just as good as a broodmare, breeding several winners.

I kept all of her daughters as broodmares and we have bred numerous winners from them. The most notable of these were Champagne West (Westerner x Mister Lord), who won the Thyestes Chase at Gowran Park in 2017 and Burning Ambition (Scorpion x Flemensfirth), who was second in the Foxhunters at the Aintree Grand National meeting in 2019.

Last year, we ran a horse named A Perfect Day (Westerner x Court Cave) in a point-to-point and subsequently sold him in England. In November, he won a novice hurdle on his first run. So, he is something exciting to follow.

We retained one of the geldings that we bred and named him Given Wings (Califet x Bob Back). He raced in my partner Annette’s name and he finished second on his first run and then won next time. He is currently at home on a break.

Along the way, I bred some sport horses, one of which was Wyndham Rose Royal (Cavalier Royale), the dam of Dollanstown (Ard VDL Douglas. Breeder: Lars and Caroline Bjoerk), a horse campaigned by the Army and winner of the Dublin Puissance.

I started out with one pony and currently Annette [Kinsella] and I own and take care of 37 horses and ponies, not to mention our eight Jack Russell terriers.

On wet winter days, when all the animals are kept in and the work seems endless, Annette will often say to me, “Be careful what you wish for”.

However, what nicer sight than 37 beautiful, intelligent equine heads looking out over their stable doors, as if to say “Where’s our breakfast?”

1. Sum up the Wyndham breeding programme?

We breed thoroughbred foals and sports pony foals. Currently, we have about 10 ready to move on to new homes.

2. Proudest breeder moment?

There have been many proud moments, but I’d have to say that, as a breeder of the winner of such a famous race, it would be the day Champagne West won the Thyestes Chase.

3. Any favourite broodmares?

There are no favourites here, however, probably the most remarkable of them all was Deep Inagh, even though we didn’t breed her.

She lived with us until she was 35 years young and never missed a day going out to the fields with her daughters and grandchildren. Sadly, she lay down in front of us in her stable and decided to go.

4. Describe your winter feeding regime?

All are stabled in winter and rugged and turned out every day, weather permitting. They are fed on our own haylage and they also get a hard feed at night. The in-foal mares get a stud balancer in their feeds, as we believe it to be of great benefit.

5. Wyndham is yours, thoughts on prefixes?

I believe that prefixes are a good idea. On many occasions, people have referred to us as “the Wyndham Ponies”. Also, it helps when marketing the ponies.

At the sales, we have heard some people say that they have seen Wyndham on race cards, where one of our breeding was running.

6. Do breeders get enough recognition?

I feel that breeders get very little recognition. We have bred more than 10 winners of about 30 races and have only ever received one award, when Champagne West won the Thyestes Chase.

We have suggested to the ITBA that some races should have a breeder’s prize.

7. If you could have bred any famous horse, who would it be?

I don’t think about other people’s horses, but if I had to pick one, I would say Sadler’s Wells.

8. It takes a team, who’s on yours?

There are only two of us, Annette and myself.

Annette and Peter with a rare award after breeding the Thyestes Chase winner Champagne West

9. Breeding horse/ponies - would you do it all over again?

Yes, I would definitely do it all again. What else would we do and the good days certainly outnumber the bad.

10. Could you list some of the problems that you encounter, in relation to breeding?

With regard to thoroughbreds, expenses can be very high with scanning, blood samples, registrations, etc all adding up to in excess of €1,000 for every mare that is covered, in addition to the stud fees.

We have a lady who breaks the ponies for us, but we are finding it impossible to locate riders to bring them to the point where they are ready for new homes.

On a lighter note, we spend hours every year thinking of good strong names for the ponies and race horses.