FROM Fivemiletown Co Tyrone, our main business is H & H Bakery. It was started by my mother Hilary back some 40 years ago and is still based in the town today, along with my other business Green Gold Equine, an equine supplement business.

Our home, Waterside Paddocks, is on a small farm which is slightly outside the town in the Clogher Valley townland of Kiltermon.

I started breeding with my first mare National Clover back when I was 15, (25 years ago!) and currently breed on average three foals per year. I think the most we ever bred was five in any given year.

Actually that foaling year (2005) is one of my fondest memories so far in all those years. I remember sleeping in a horsebox in the middle of the field that summer. I had five foals, five fillies, all healthy and well, despite me missing every birth! Breeding with one of those fillies today (Waterside Star), I remember being very proud of my five fillies, even though I was exhausted by the end of foal watch.

1. Proudest moment(s) as a breeder?

The first home-bred winner in the RDS when Beer Hunter (Quick Star) and Cathal McMunn won the six/seven-year-old championship in 2009. The atmosphere in the main ring is fantastic and it’s so visually full-on. Being brought to the RDS as a child and learning about the classes, you don’t believe that you’ll ever have one that could do it.

Omega Star in the Sires of the World final at Lanaken was also a nice moment. Again, nice class and big atmosphere, gets the heart pumping.

But you know what? The part about the foal watch for the five foals that summer is what it’s all about for me.

Cathal McMunn and Robertson's home-bred Beer Hunter winning the six-year-old final in Dublin in 2009 \ Laurence Dunne Jumpinaction.net

2. Best advice you got?

Enjoy it on a daily basis. Weird maybe but I feel it’s maybe more pertinent now, given what’s going on in the world and something I’ve thought about recently. Finding joy in breeding on a daily basis is the core and do it for the love of the horse. I feel that I’ve already got the red rosette, regardless of what comes or goes. When I can go out into the fields everyday and be amongst my horses, anything else is a bonus. The love of the horse is always the most important thing.

3. Favourite broodmare, past or present?

Sambia. There are some families that produce good show jumpers, along with breeding stock and Sambia is from one such family. Bred by Roelofs in The Netherlands, she’s from the family of Nintender and stamps everything her way, regardless of which sire you use.

Her stallion sons (Bonmahon Master Blue and Zambia) breed like her and stamp the same. Her daughters that have entered into breeding, also give the same stamp too as her. It’s incredible to see so it’ll be very interesting to see how it all develops in the future.

We have currently two fillies of hers by Diamant de Semilly and Luidam, along with Ogara. She’s still young in breeding terms so hopefully we will have more to add to the family as we go along.

4. Tell us about this year’s foals?

We just had the two foals this year as I sold a couple of mares in-foal, which I tend to do to keep things ticking.

The first is a Cornet Obolensky colt out of a Mermus R mare Z Rubertha 6, (she is out of the same dam as Dexter R) and Cornet seems to suit this mare very well. I own her together with John Haughey and I’ve three mares now together with John. Sold to a very good home, this colt looks very nice, he’s mature for his age, very blood and quality. He could be the makings of a stallion and the damline would suggest that too.

The second is a Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve out of Jessica Alba (Diamant de Semilly). Jessica is the daughter of Sambia and is a full-sister to Zambia. Her foal is a beautiful, active blood filly who we will sell nearer to weaning.

5. And for 2021, has Covid-19 had an impact on breeding plans?

Breeding wasn’t the priority with Covid. As an essential business, we were very busy and short-staffed this year and so not all the mares even made it to the scanner.

I don’t push for it and for me, it’s not all about getting every mare in foal every year and instead trying to opt for quality over quantity. We will hopefully have more time next season.

We look forward to seeing what Enable, a Zambia daughter of Calandra Z, who I own together with Catherine Thornton, produces. She’s in foal to Colandro. Waterside Star (Quickstar - Quatoubet du Rouet) is in foal to VDL Corporal and then to one by Comme Il Faut from the full-sister of Emerald that we own also together with John Haughey. They are all due in June, I prefer later foals and like to have them hitting the fields as soon as possible.

6. Favourite stallion/mareline?

Quidam de Revel as a stallion. Outstanding in what he has achieved and his dominance from every angle as a sire, sire of sires and dam sire.

For the mare; Tanagra (Furioso - Jus de Pomme). She’s the dam of Jalisco B, grandam of Ephebe Forever and all those du Tillard horses. Shes made her name before the time of ET [embryo transfer] or ICSI [Equine Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection].

I also love the [Fein] Cera line (Stamn 3615) from Harm Thormahlen. Fein Cera was beautiful as well as a complete athlete.

7. What do you think are the greatest challenges facing sport horse breeders?

Brexit and then Covid have created the perfect storm. It’s been a challenging time from an all-round business perspective and the horse business is not immune to that. I think we will see the effects. I think it’s still an interesting time and sales at the top end seem to be as strong as ever.

Hopefully we will have more clarity on the Brexit situation soon, it’s very hard to draw conclusions on something that is still being negotiated.

8. You’ve won the Euromillions jackpot. Which stallion/broodmare/embryo would you buy?

Emerald Van’t Ruytershof, Usha Van’t Roosaaker and for the embryo... Cumano - Valentina from Jos Lansink.

9. Which country and/or studbook would you regard as the current sporthorse market leader?

I’m not sure but in reading the question I’m reminded of what Luc Henry said - that it wasn’t about a particular studbook but about the one “breed” - the modern sporthorse. When I started, you could see a very clear division between all the studbooks, lines etc. That seems to have all changed and I never really factor in which studbook they are from.

10. As a bakery owner, what’s your favourite type of cake?

Carrot cake.