I’M a native of Greaghwillan, just outside of Carrickmacross in County Monaghan, which is what inspired the Greaghwillan Stud name and Carrick prefix. I grew up on a mixed farm, where everything revolved around horses. This is where my love, admiration and appreciation of Traditional Irish Horses began, with their temperament, versatility, soundness and willingness to please, qualities much sought-after by breeders today, abroad and closer to home.

I purchased my first foal for £22/10 shillings at the age of 10, whilst walking home from school along a quiet country road. This was a grey gelding, a truly super horse for work and hunting, bought as a companion for a weaned foal.

I subsequently lamented that I hadn’t purchased a filly, as all of the beautiful, old traditional mares had soon almost totally disappeared, and were no longer a feature of the countryside. Thankfully, some did appreciate the merits of this rare Irish breed, and have preserved precious nuggets of old Irish bloodlines to this day.

1. Congratulations, you bred the late Carrick Diamond Lad, the sire of successful Stage 1 stallion Carrick Diamond Royale at Cavan. Was breeding Carrick Diamond Lad your proudest breeder moment?

Thank you, Susan. Yes, Carrick Diamond Royale is a young stallion we’re very excited about and we’re delighted that he passed Stage 1 at the inspections last week.

I’ve had a lot of proud moments as a breeder over the years, but breeding Carrick Diamond Lad is definitely up there. He was unfortunately prevented from competing due to a horrendous injury to the fetlock joint after a freak accident as a foal. Despite this and an initial small book of mares, he produced a lot of super horses.

Carrick Diamond Lad was upgraded to Approved status in 2008 and was subsequently classified as a five-star stallion by Horse Sport Ireland (HSI), based on his progeny’s performance.

It always brings a smile to my face to hear good news stories of happy riders competing on Carrick Diamond Lad progeny at any level, in any discipline. He was a very successful sire. We’ve had a lot of special days out with his progeny at shows, both here and abroad. It’s largely thanks to him that I was presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Irish Sport Horse Breeding award from HSI back in 2016.

His recent passing leaves a page of history, which is difficult to turn, but we are very fortunate to have bred him, and to have had him here with us at Greaghwillan Stud for an amazing 31 years. We’re also very fortunate to have two of his Traditional Irish-bred sons on our 2024 stallion roster.

2. How many broodmares do you have?

We have about 20 broodmares. We put great emphasis on the selection of our broodmare herd, with special attention given to mares’ pedigrees, conformation, temperament, movement, versatility and, most importantly, their ability to pass these traits on to their offspring.

3. Describe your regime for keeping broodmares and youngstock?

I think that one of the unique selling points of Greaghwillan Horses is their idyllic, stress-free upbringing in lush, green countryside. We avoid keeping our young horses boxed up in stables and, instead, let them learn to be horses, by giving them the freedom to roam and socialise in bands by age group.

Our broodmares live out all year round. They’re wintered on dry, sheltered land that has not been grazed all year, fed rolled oats from early January and rugged up to protect from the cold and rain. The foals are handled in the field alongside their dam, without any stress, and learn to associate people with good things from an early age. I think this really stands to them in their future careers, be that as leisure, amateur or professional competition horses.

Tom stepping out with his homebred Carrick Diamond Lad at the TIHA stallion parade at Limerick Show in 2013 \ Susan Finnerty

4. Standing stallions in 2024 - a business or labour of love?

I think there’s an element of both! We’re very fortunate to have three lovely stallions on our 2024 roster, which makes working with and caring for them every day very easy.

* Carrick Diamond Royale (TIH). By Carrick Diamond Lad out of a mare by Hopalong Cassidy (TB), a unique stallion that won in racing, show jumping and eventing.

* Carrick Diamonds Diamond (TIH). Another by Carrick Diamond Lad, out of a mare by Executive Perk (TB). He has been very well supported by breeders.

* Carrick Quidam de Revel (ISH). By the legendary Quidam de Revel, out of a Flagmount Diamond - Clover Hill mare. He carries the best of Irish and European performance bloodlines and has some exciting young progeny on the competition circuit currently.

We’ve a limited stock of frozen semen from Aldato, Carrick Diamond Lad and Carrick Kilderrys Diamond, and we’ll work with breeders worldwide to make this available.

5. Carrick is your prefix. What’s your view on prefixes?

I think prefixes are important. They help in giving breeders the recognition they deserve and keep track of home-bred horses. I don’t think it should be possible for a prefix to be discarded without the breeder’s permission.

6. Your go-to website/newspaper?

I always look forward to my weekly read of The Irish Field, and Horse & Hound is a magazine I thoroughly enjoy reading. I love keeping up to date with shows on websites like SJI Live, ClipMyHorse and IrishSportTV.

7. If you could have bred any horse?

I think every healthy foal we breed is special, and we’re very fortunate to have bred a lot of very good horses over the years. Breeding Carrick Diamond Lad has probably been my proudest achievement to date and I wouldn’t change this. I feel strongly about preserving indigenous, traditional performance bloodlines, which are being threatened with extinction.

The Traditional Irish Horse Association are working tirelessly to protect and preserve rare old Irish bloodlines and I applaud their foresight and creative incentives in encouraging breeders to breed to Traditional Irish stallions.

8. It takes a team. Who’s on yours?

It really does take a team. Mine probably has too many members to list, but I must give a special mention to my two nephews, Jack and Robert Jones – I couldn’t do it without them.

They help with the digital side of the business and, when not at college, they’re at hand to help out with the horses at shows and on the farm.

It’s a family affair and I’m delighted that the interest has been carried down to the next generation. Back in 2015, when they were barely teenagers, they set up and ran an online auction of 14 Carrick Diamond Lad horses that went quite viral!

We now sell all our horses privately from Greaghwillan Stud, and have embraced modern technology and social networking to promote our stallions and sell horses online. We work with both transport companies and some great riders, whom prospective buyers are invited to speak directly with to gain honest, first-hand insight into each horse.

9. 2024 - Paris Olympics medal predictions?

I think Irish equestrianism is in a great place right now, and we’ve got some great riders competing internationally in show jumping, eventing and dressage. It’s a great reflection on our coaching and training systems that we’ll have riders representing us in the 2024 Olympics across three disciplines.

I believe we have a great chance of bringing home some medals from Paris!

10. Favourite way to switch off?

I love hot weather and am especially fond of Barbados, Hawaii and Australia to get a complete break from everything.

Back home, I really enjoy getting out to horse shows, and my young niece Emily, who has a great interest in horses, often accompanies me. Dublin, Millstreet and Balmoral are my favourites, but we are very lucky to have great shows year-round at our doorstep in Kernans, Cavan, Mullingar and Portmore.