MY interest in horses started from a very young age. My grandfather, Tom Tynan, was one of the founding members of the North Kilkenny Hunt, so there were horses in the yard since I was a toddler. The house I live in was a hotel in the 18th century and it was a stop too for the Charles Bianconi coaches. The coachyard still has stables from that time.

My grandfather and father both rode in point-to-points and the hunting horses were working horses on the farm during the week and then went on the hunt on Sunday.

We had a few broodmares, so I loved seeing the birth of foals. My grandfather was brilliant at foaling, I learned so much from that great man. He certainly instilled an unconditional passion for horses. Edmund, my dad, always said when he retired that I would pollute the place with horses. He was correct.

I was born with a lower limb deformity, but dad decided to purchase me a small white pony called Sunbeam when I was young, to get me started riding. This made me believe I could be a jockey and, at 16, I rode in my first point-to-point on a home-bred Tullahern horse called Fair Dues.

After that, I had my first win on a mare called My Time. Then my weight jumped from 11 stone to 16.5 stone in a year, so that ended my jockey aspirations.

Over the years, I have had some amazing show jumping horses, such as Warrenstown You 2 (Narcos II x Daz), Warrenstown Well Aware (Cruising x Clover Hill), Be Aware (Pacino x Cruising) and many more. The early 2000s were an unbelievable time in show jumping.

Warrenstown You 2, aka “Norman”, who is now retired at 27 years young and still the love of the whole yard, was on Nations Cup teams. He was the national and premier league champion with Tholm Keane. Those are great memories.

Moving on to the thoroughbreds; we have had good success over the last five years. We have had 26 winners, including Pineapple Express, Heather Bear, Whosgotyanow, Dashing Lady, Dashing Schirrocco, Ranko Express, Balbriggan, Believe Me Now and Amoroso.

It has been a great start to 2025 so far, with five Warrenstown Stud-bred winners in January: Wardens Whisper, Believe Me Now, Amoroso, Ranko Express and Bud Fox. I have been blessed with the mares and will hopefully have a great crop of healthy foals coming along over the next few months.

1. Proudest breeder moment?

Balbriggan winning the Troytown was a great day. However, if I’m honest, the day Dashing Schirrocco won in Cork was fantastic. She was in training with Andrew Slattery Racing and Willie Slattery was there next to me. That was a super moment, I think I lifted Willie off the ground with the excitement. Cian Quirke was the winning jockey and it was a tremendous day.

Adam Ryan and the Warrenstown Stud-bred Amoroso, won the Mares Maiden at Turtulla PTP on January 18th, 2025 \ Healy Racing

2. How many broodmares do you have?

In total, we have 15 mares on the stud; eight in-foal thoroughbreds, three in-foal half-breds and four barren mares.

The thoroughbreds are: Whose Got Ya Now (in foal to Diamond Boy), Doreen (in foal to Alkumait), Heather Bear (in foal to Awtaad), Chocolat Blu (in foal to Awtaad), Madeline (in foal to Diamond Boy), Tae Think Again (in foal to Naval Crown), Fancy Nancy (in foal to Alkumait) and Dashing Shirrocco (in foal to Diamond Boy).

Then, the half-bred mares are Krafty Kitty (in foal to Ulysses M2S), Kiss Me Kate (in foal to Button Sitte) and The Emerald (also in foal to Button Sitte).

I am still deciding on stallions for the coming season. There are so many fantastic stallions and pedigrees at the moment and I like to really research each one and the possibility of a successful cross with my mares.

3. Your standout stallion(s) on the current international scene?

For show jumping, Ermitage Kalone and for thoroughbreds, Blue Point and Space Blues.

4. “Fools breed foals for wise men to buy.” Agree/disagree with this saying?

Disagree. If you are passionate about your mares and have watched them grow from foal to first past the post, then what better way to reward the owner than to breed from that mare and have her foal emulate her mother and relish in the success it brings to you and the whole yard.

Breeding a wonderful foal and seeing it grow into a successful athlete is a great honour and aspect of horse husbandry that I love.

5. If you could have bred any horse?

I am delighted with the stock I have now and hope that, some day, I will breed a Cheltenham winner and a Derby winner. One can always dream.

6. Irish show jumping breeding - on the rise?

Show jumping is definitely on the rise. I’ve three beautifully-bred half-bred mares, that are all premium mares with phenomenal show jumping backgrounds.

7. Warrenstown is yours, thoughts on prefixes?

Prefixes should not be changed, it’s been in existence for 150 years. As I said above, it is an honour for a breeder to see a horse they have bred go on to be successful.

The stud’s prefix is a way for the breeder to continue to be part of that success.

8. “It takes a team” - who’s on yours?

There’s the stud manager, Aoife Conroy; Marie Phelan looks after the Secretary/Accounts job roles; Stephen Hunter, the stud hand; then Kilcash Veterinary for veterinary services and farrier, Dan Breen.

9. Breeding/owning horses. Would you do it all over again?

Absolutely, in a second.

10. That favourite holiday destination?

I travel so much that I love when I am home in Ireland. It’s a wonderful holiday destination and everyone should visit Ireland at least once on their travels.