THE exodus of Irish mares sold abroad is part of Irish sport horse breeding legend. Finding any trace of what these mares later produced for their European owners proves difficult until you look northwards to Sweden where pockets of Irish-bred mares were kept by the Hickey brothers from Clonmel and the Gustavii Stud.

Lars and Ann Gustavii were ahead of the pack in the way they sourced top Irish mares to use in their breeding programme, which has played a major part in Swedish Olympic bloodlines and in the backstory too of the brilliant little Rioghan Rua, owned by Margaret Kinsella, and campaigned so well by Cathal Daniels.

“When I grew up, we had a farm and horses. My mother rode, did not compete but bred a few horses, so it was natural I was a keen rider and was introduced to breeding that way. Lars’s father had ridden while in the military so the interest was there,” Ann said.

Ann bred her first foal when she was just 13 and met her future husband when Lars kept his horse at her local stables. “Although Lars liked competing, he didn’t like the actual training (or mucking out either!), so I had to do that. Of course I was working with horses all day, Lars was a busy solicitor and did not have the time.

“I did realise soon that the very best horses were too expensive or were not even for sale, so decided that I needed to buy some very good young horses and breed my own.”

Happy wife, happy life

Having bought several horses from England, Ann was scouting for a good stallion to cover one mare before importing her. “That is how I first saw Any Questions and met with Fergus Graham, who taught me a lot. Both Lars and I became friends with him and his wife Paula and the Grahams stayed with us when they competed in Sweden.”

Any Questions was the Anglo-Arab sire of Milton’s dam Aston Answer, whose own damline is filled with stout Irish bloodlines. “A few years later, I tried to buy Any Questions but it ended up that my mother bought him.

“I had seen a good many horses from Ireland that I liked a lot and bought an older Irish mare called Daddy’s Girl, who was by Battleburn out of a Sandyman mare. I had become very interested in these superb old thoroughbreds from Ireland and fell in love with an Irish horse Paula competed called Ballywalter Park and was told the dam was also by Battleburn. I asked Fergus if he thought the mother was still alive.

“He did not want to tell me the breeder’s name but contacted the breeder himself and was told she had died but a full-sister was still at the stud. Fergus went to see her, liked her and that is how I came to buy the mare, Ballymena Park (Menelek - Battleburn). She became the mother of the fabulous horses, Mirca, Marcoville and Irco Mena, who must be my favourite home-breds.”

This trio were by the Dutch-bred Irco Marco, spotted by Ann as a two-year-old in England. “I decided to buy him as soon as I had enough money. He was not really my type but he was such a good horse that I loved him just the same and I loved his father, Irco Polo, who I had the pleasure of meeting when I trained with Paul Weier,” she said, recalling the four-time Olympian, whose famous Eigger yard is now the base of London gold medallist Steve Guerdat.

"He was not really my type but he was such a good horse that I loved him just the same." - Irco Marco and Ann Gustavii competed up to 1.60m level

Ann and Marco Polo went on to represent Sweden abroad until that age-old dilemma for owners cropped up. “As often happens with the best horses, I got an offer I could not refuse.

“The willingness to please was also one of the factors, besides an impressing jumping ability, that made me want to buy Irco Marco, and I have never regretted that. We bought a daughter of his, out of a very good Irish jumping mare by Chou Chin Chow and her full-brother [Chouman], on loan from one of his pupils, came fourth in the 1994 World Championships with Nelson Pessoa.”

Irish finds

The couple continued to build up a select herd of Irish mares. “I loved the super thoroughbreds from Ireland, like Battleburn, Sandyman, Nordlys, Water Serpent, Chou Chin Chow, Menelek, Imperius… there were so many good ones. Lars and I travelled around Ireland and bought some very good mares from Slyguff Stud, where we were introduced to Frances and Barbara Hatton and, of course, Loftus O’Neill too.

“I will go back to that spring of 1990 when Lars and myself were in Ireland looking for really good mares,” Ann said, recalling the buying trip when they looked at several Imperius-King of Diamonds mares.

“One of them was Shamsong and the other was the Slyguff-bred Lars Imp, who got her name as Lars nagged so much about us wanting to buy her that they finally gave in and sold her!

“Why did I choose to keep the mare I did? Shamsong was quite pony-like and the Slyguff mare was bigger and more elegant and there were a lot of good international jumpers in her damline. So I chose to keep the bigger mare, who was at least a hand bigger, with the more established pedigree on the dam’s side. Do I regret this? No, I am happy that my friends got a good mare and could make a good product on my recommendation.

“We had by then started freezing semen in Sweden and I organised a container with frozen semen from Irco Mena to be sent over to Slyguff. Lars Imp, with a few other mares, was inseminated there before being sent to Sweden, the result being the international stallion Lars Irco G.

“Since I thought the combination of bloodlines would come out so good, I also suggested to my friends, who had bought Shamsong, that they should have her inseminated with Irco Mena, and the result was first, Nick of Diamonds and then Jack of Diamonds,” Ann said, filling in the details about Rioghan Rua’s Swedish-bred sire, bred by Anna and Jan Ungerth.

Incidentally, the Hattons also bred his Irish Draught namesake Jack of Diamonds out of their Greenvale mare champion Bawnlahan Beauty.

Lars Imp, known as 'Loftie' after Slyguff Stud breeder Loftus O'Neill, with her Norson filly foal

Preserving bloodlines

Ann regards the Irco Mena-Imperius-King of Diamonds cross as a ‘golden combination’.

“Three of these stallions ended up very successful in their own right. Nick of Diamonds, who never was used for breeding, was a very successful international jumper under Leslie Howard. His full-brother Jack of Diamonds did not compete much but was successful as a stallion in Ireland and the very closely-related Lars Irco G (Irco Mena – Lars Imp) jumped internationally with the Nelson Pessoa stables and later with Monica Campbell for Canada, but while with her, unfortunately had a stable accident and had to be put down before his 10th birthday, or we would have seen more of this very talented stallion.

“This is still some frozen semen, even a few doses in Ireland just now, from Lars Irco G, but nothing was ever frozen from Nick of Diamonds.

“I’ve been very happy to see the success that the little mare Rioghan Rua has had and to know I have been responsible for Jack of Diamonds. No, I did not breed him but found his dam in Ireland, saw that she found new owners in Sweden and recommended the Irco Mena-Imperius combination.

“Without that, he would not have existed. And I did breed Jack of Diamonds father [Irco Mena], so this is even more rewarding. Irco Mena has been a very good stallion, for instance, he had only two progeny at the London Olympics, and both took a medal. Wega took individual silver in eventing and Sultan took team bronze in team jumping, not a bad result!”

Norson moves north

The Gustaviis bought their horses privately in Ireland which is how they found the rare Nordlys son, Norson, then owned by Jimmy Maguire in Ballycanew. “We went to a lot of farmer-breeders. I wanted to find another Battleburn mare and this farmer showed us all his mares and youngstock, then happened to say he had his own stallion.

“Naturally I was interested in his pedigree and when I saw that he was by Nordlys out of a Water Serpent mare… I was only too happy to ask if he was for sale! Of course I liked the look of the horse too and the temperament he showed. Temperament is just so important, and the willingness of the Irish horses I had met was a contributing factor for me liking them so much.”

How did their next buy fare in Sweden? “Norson was used by a few select breeders but he was never approved for use in the Swedish studbook as he was Irish! Only if he was full thoroughbred would they have allowed him, too strict rules in Sweden.

“I had the same problem getting Irco Marco approved as he was Dutch. In the end, we had to go to the highest court to get his approval and could do that after he was placed in international 1.60m jumping. It still took another two years until his progeny were allowed to be registered. So when Norson also did not belong to a studbook that the Swedes liked, I got a bit tired of Sweden’s studbook rules and we decided to buy a property in England.

The rare Nordlys son Norson, pictured as a sprightly 20-year-old with the late Lars Gustavii

“Norson had three years breeding in Sweden, mainly owners of competition mares who did not care as much about the Swedish studbook. He probably had 15 mares maximum a year. During this time, he had mostly jumping mares but one foal was bought by a dressage rider and he, Melson, was on the Swedish international team for many years and was considered the fifth best dressage horse in Sweden.

“When he was 22, a year after we moved, Norson arrived in England together with one of our mares but Norson unfortunately got pneumonia after the journey and died. And yes, I did freeze semen from Norson, so there is a small supply of frozen semen still from this lovely stallion with his exceptional pedigree.

“I still have a Lars Imp daughter by Norson, so a very Irish mare with pure Irish bloodlines. Her first son, with Irco Mena, was sold to the USA and was ranked second top five-year-old there are having won nearly every class he started in. Just shows you how good their bloodlines are. This year, she is expecting a foal to the Irco Mena son, Irco Miro Gii.”

Leominster, on the Welsh border is now Ann’s home. “Lars died many years ago and I have continued breeding horses with the help of our son, Henrik. However, he now wants to concentrate on his own career and is a Mobile Developer at everyLIFE Technologies. As this is a bit close to London for me with high property prices, I moved and now live in Herefordshire. I have some broodmares from my old bloodlines and breed a few foals a year but stand no stallions at the moment.

“I believe in the Irish horse, in particular the thoroughbred cross and near-thoroughbred as they are superb to mix with other breeds and upgrade with as we have proven.

"But it would be a pity if these horses would be lost to Ireland and I think it is important to keep some horses pure Irish. Like my mare Nordic Imp Gii, she is full Irish, just born in UK.

“At the moment, it is people from other countries who want to use her or buy her foals but if anybody wanted to book a foal from her with an Irish stallion, then I am happy to do that.

“The semen I have in Ireland is with the Roscommon vet Kate Murray. I still have frozen semen from stallions like Lars Irco G, Irco Miro Gii, LarChin Gii and Balou Mena Gii, just to mention a few. The combination with Irco Marco and Irco Mena with Irish mares have been very successful, and Irco Mena has, for instance, gelled very well with Imperius and Norson,” advised Ann, widely considered as one of the UK’s most knowledgeable breeders.

Advice for Irish breeders

Any advice for Irish breeders, particularly the typical owner of two or three mares?

“I do believe a small breeder can make a difference, now as before, if you are thorough in your choice of bloodlines. See to that you take good care in matching your mare to a stallion that really suits her and is from a real good family that has produced competition horses. A small breeder will be able to know each mare more intimately and then choice can be easier. Marketing is important and horses need to get a good track record, so selling to the right people is important.

“It is the quality of the animal you breed that is important and the small breeder can customise each foal more than the big professional breeder, who often breeds a lot of mares with the same stallion hoping for safety in numbers. And yes, you can be successful either way!”