STALLION parades have formed part of Irish horse culture since the days of owners taking their stallions to local fairs to show them off to potential customers. Cross-channel, the Hunter Improvement Society annual stallion grading and parade was a highlight for decades for British breeders and likewise, Continental breeders gather in droves for annual stallion shows.

It wasn’t until 1990 that the first major stallion parade took place here when Ned and Liz O’Flynn, who spearheaded the Western Horse Breeders group, held a hugely successful stallion show in Ballinasloe 30 years ago.

Since then, some stallion parades have petered out while others keep going, attracting a small but loyal following. In 2010, the RDS staged a one-time parade for Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) five-star stallions, which featured Ars Vivendi, Cruising and Puissance amongst the entries and the current format for the Dublin thoroughbred stallion class is largely based on a parade with one prizewinner selected for the Croker Cup.

So what stallion parades are coming up in future weeks? Tomorrow (Sunday, February 23rd) sees the Irish Draught Horse Breeders Association (IDHBA) event taking place at Mullingar Equestrian Centre (12 noon sharp), while Cavan’s revived Stallion Show and Equine Expo is scheduled for Wednesday, March 26th (6pm).

The Connemara Pony Breeders Society parade takes place that weekend (Sunday, March 29th) in the Clifden Showgrounds. Another traditional western fixture is the Connolly Red Mills Stallion Show at Claremorris Equestrian Centre on Easter Monday (April 13th).

Open days

Open days are a popular form of promotion for studfarms and Kieran and Liam Kennedy host theirs at Dohyle House Stud on Saturday, February 29th (1pm), which will feature O.B.O.S Quality, his son Lagans OBOS Quality, Barely A Moment, Chacoa, Future Trend, Vivant van de Heffinck and their newcomer, Conticco.

Organising a stallion show is a web of logistics and hard work. According to the IDHBA chair Jennifer Haverty, the purpose of running tomorrow’s parade is to raise more awareness and discussion amongst breeders and buyers on the values of a traditionally-bred horse. Their startlist consists of the building blocks of the traditional Irish horse in thoroughbred, Irish Draught, traditionally-bred Irish Sport Horses and Connemara entries, that have all gone through the inspection process.

“It’s to get a group of people into one area, get them debating and more excited about breeding a traditional horse, as opposed to a warmblood. Absolutely no disrespect to the warmblood but we have to start shouting about our traditional Irish horses. We know what the warmblood horse can do now, so let’s tell the world what they have forgotten. The Irish horse is sought out worldwide for its temperament and soundness.

“As a breed organisation of a foundation equine, we felt it’s vital to promote soundness within the traditional breed. Having a stallion parade with HSI vet-approved stallions, all in the one place, means we can we show breeders a large number of these stallions together on the one day,” added the Nenagh breeder.

The reality of seeing a collection of stallions up close, as opposed to a computer screen, is another selling point.

In the flesh

“Nothing beats seeing a stallion in the flesh. The internet helps for building a shortlist, looking at bloodlines, terms and conditions of covering, etc., but really, you have to see the stallions to make a final decision,” said breeder Samantha Fitzsimons. “Especially if you’re looking for that most indefinable of traits – presence. A stallion parade allows breeders to view lots of stallions on the same day, saving time and diesel money.

“I’m sure it must be great for the stallion owners too, not having to clean the yard and prep the stallion for one or two viewers at a time! It’s also a great social occasion at this time of year when it’s hard enough to get out and about and meet fellow breeders.”

Cavan Stallion Show

The social aspect is an important part of these gatherings, as Stuart Clarke experienced at another of Cavan Equestrian Centre’s events.

“Very much so. We had the Farm Machinery Show there at the end of January and it’s a huge, huge event. A lot of business goes on but it’s a huge social event for farmers and enthusiasts. You’d be surprised the number of people that come to the two days of the event, even just to have that bit of banter.”

Cavan has returned to the stallion parade calendar this year. “We’ve probably had stallion shows for 20 years, give or take and unfortunately they died away there after the crash. It just got difficult then for everyone in the horse industry and breeders more so than anybody. So because of that, the stallion show hit the bottom but now, after a couple of years on, we felt the time was right to get it up and going again and that the demand was there for it.

“We had a lot of queries last year about running one. It was always a very successful show and it suits people to get away on a winter’s evening. We’re hoping the tradestand part will be bigger and better too, studs will have their brochures and videos, plus all sorts of equestrian-orientated companies, such as feed and bedding.”

He feels there is an upswing in the sporthorse breeding world. “They [stallion parades] had run their course but I think they had run the course more so because of the circumstances and the financial issue, which had dragged on. The studs have now been very busy again for probably the past two seasons, there’s a lot of breeding getting going again. Even when it was difficult, all the studs would have said on any given night of the parade, ‘Yeah, we got customers’.

“Anybody who hasn’t tried to breed a horse doesn’t realise the realities and all the pitfalls that come with it. We need the breeders. It’s hugely a numbers game, it’s kind of like Ireland against the world to a point, when you look at some studbooks and the vast amount of money being put into it.”

Stuart also pointed out that the stallion show will be held a fortnight after this year’s Horse Sport Ireland inspections (March 10th-11th), providing owners with a second Cavan showcase.

“It worked out good for stallions put forward this year, it’s an opportunity for them too. It’s open to all and up to the individual stallion owner whether the horse is paraded in-hand or jumped under saddle.

“They’re a great opportunity for the guy who hasn’t decided which stallions to use yet and if there’s six or seven studs with tradestands, he can have a lot of chatting and questioning!”