Give us a brief outline of your breeding programme?

My breeding programme began in 2013 with the purchase of Knightfield Mena (Touchdown x Irco Mena), a full-sister to 1.60m show jumpers Touchable and Mullaghdrin Touch The Stars, as well as being a half-sister Mullaghdrin Gold Rain.

Through a number of partnerships with fellow breeders I was able to build up a strong broodmare herd of well-bred, well-related mares, in a reasonably short period of time. These mares had either competed themselves, bred successful performers or at a minimum were direct siblings to Grand Prix horses.

I’m very fortunate to have the help of my father Gerald and sister Kelly at home in Quarryfield, without whom it would be very difficult to do what I do. We currently have five broodmares and a further two three-year-old fillies coming on stream this season.

At present we sell the majority of our home-breds privately as foals and don’t breed with public auctions in mind. I’m not adverse to keeping some beyond foals, but it’s a balancing act financially. The long-term focus in Quarryfield is to see the products of our breeding programme succeed in top level show jumping.

What foals are you expecting in 2020?

We await three more foals in 2020. One more from Apple (Diamant De Semilly x Carnute), owned in partnership with Eden Valley Stables in the USA. She is carrying to Tangelo Van De Zuuthoeve, and we welcomed a filly foal born via embryo transfer by Vigo D’Arsouilles on April 5th.

Cassitta SR Z (Cassiano x Cash), owned in partnership with Waldman Horses in The Netherlands, is in-foal to Stockholm Van’t Roosakker Z, while Knightfield Mena (Touchdown x Irco Mena) is in-foal to Ganesh Hero Z.

What are your stallion choices for this season?

Like many breeders my stallion short-list only seems to lengthen! The front-runners include; Aganix Du Seigneur, Cornet Du Lys, Dourkan Hero Z, Kashmir Van Schuttershof, Luidam, Perigueux, Stakkato and Tangelo Van De Zuuthoeve.

How do you make your stallion choices?

Each year I make several trips to events, farms and shows in mainland Europe. In addition to this I find ClipMyHorse to be a useful tool as you get to see a lot of a particular stallion’s rounds – not just the best ones that a stud farm chooses to promote.

On a weekly basis I study the results of most international show jumping classes around the world using Hippomundo. I’m probably not the most commercially-oriented breeder, I just breed using horses that I really believe in and combinations that I find most interesting.

Most importantly the stallion must suit the given mare, and then in some cases I also factor line-breeding into the equation. With all breeding choices I feel it’s important to keep thinking about what the sport will look like in 10 years’ time.