HORSES have always been a huge part of my life and I rode from a very young age, competing regularly, hunting and later in team chasing.
I still ride for pleasure, but a back injury from a fall while team chasing, not long after Sven was born, stopped my team chasing passion.
Hadley Sport Horses, based in Galway, is our home; a family business that prides itself on supplying horses and ponies for all equestrian disciplines, nationally in Ireland and internationally in mainland Europe.
The breeding part at Hadley Sport Horses started naturally when, as the older mares finished their sporting career, we tried to breed from them. The main bloodline we started with is Adelgonde Z, the dam of Harvey HSH and Domanimo HSH Z. Sven represented Ireland and won a team gold medal at the Europeans with her.
The expanding stud farm produces talented young horses up to Grand Prix level for riders worldwide.
The breeding runs side by side with Sven’s competition career and our ever-expanding equine transport business, a professional service that transports horses, not only in style, but with all the best safety features.
We take care of all of the clients’ travel needs, logistics and accreditations, to ensure horses (and owners) are prepared physically and mentally for the competitions ahead.
1. Proudest breeder moment?
There are so many, it’s hard to choose one. But, to date, I would say it was breeding the seven-year-old stallion HSH Harper Du Seigneur (Agnaix du Seigneur).
We stand him here in the yard and his first crop of foals are now four-year-olds, including the home-bred Hannah By HSH. Now in foal to Phenomene Bleu VDM, she won the three-year-old loose jumping in Millstreet last year.
2. How many broodmares do you have?
We have 14 broodmares.
Our all-time favourite is Adelgonde Z (Andiamo x Mermus R). This was the mare Sven rode at two underage European championships with a team gold medal in 2012. She was a born winner.
Super-careful and fast against the clock, she’s the dam of Harvey HSH (Tyson) and Domanimo HSH Z (Dominator Z) and she has two daughters from our stallion, HSH Harper Du Seigneur, and a colt by our other stallion, Phenomene Bleu VDM.
As she is now 22, we decided not to cover her again, so we sent her over to our good friends in Belgium – Picobello Sport Horses – for a session of ICSI. We have six frozen embryos now by Diamant de Semilly.
Sven Hadley and Adelgonde Z
The main broodmares are ones that Sven competed to a good level, like Cassana (OBOS Quality), Carla (Canto) and Fine Feeling (For Pleasure), so we see the potential in their offspring, as the mares all have strong competition lines. We have mares by Kannan, Plot Blue, Diamant de Semilly, Cumano, Romanov, OBOS Quality and Romeo 88.
3. Your standout stallion(s) on the current international scene?
Phenomene Bleu VDM (Diamant de Semilly) had very little experience at the top level. In 2024, he competed in the Sires of the World at the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) championships in Lanaken, against the best sires, finishing fifth.
He then had three second placings in the stallion classes at the WBFSH studbook championships at Valkenswaard.
We have two young stallions now: Harvey HSH and Domanimo HSH Z. Both these young stallions are showing great potential, with the genes of their dam shining through. We think a performance damline is very important.
4. “Fools breed foals for wise men to buy.” Agree/disagree with this saying?
Disagree. Breeding is like any business, you have to make the right choices from the start with the mare and choosing the right stallion. Then, the care and nutrition of the in-foal mare and nurturing the foal to a four-year-old.
We don’t start our horses off until the autumn of their three-year-old year, and we leave all our youngstock out as much as possible, the colts are in the fields together to mature.
When you breed quality, you have a steady income each year. We sell approximately 50% of the horses we breed as unbroken youngsters and produce the other 50% to sell at a later stage.
5. If you could have bred any famous horse?
Diamant de Semilly or Agnaix Du Seigneur
6. HSH is yours, thoughts on ‘brand names’?
Yes, we have HSH at the end of the horses’ names. We are proud of what we breed and it’s always great to see our horses doing well.
Three horses we bred competed at the RDS last year with their new owners and Emma Egan and My Blue Valentine secured second place in the potential eventers class in the main arena.
This is what makes all the hard work pay off, especially when they are produced so well by others.
7. How do you market your youngstock/horses?
We use social media, have a website – www.hadleysporthorses.net – and returning customers. We find good, well-bred and well-produced horses sell at all levels.
8. “It takes a team” – who’s on yours?
Sven and I run the breeding side. Sven does all the stallion work, with help from Rockmount AI Centre. Philip McManus has a super team on-site and having the use of their facilities and lab is unbelievable.
As our stallions are in sport, it is important that they have a routine. They only ever go to Rockmount for semen collection and they understand this, which then makes life at home on the yard their work environment.
Sven also does all the marketing of the stallions; I take care of the mares and youngsters. We send all the mares to foaling units to foal, using their experience and expertise.
9. Breeding/owning horses. Would you do it all over again?
Definitely, it’s a lifestyle choice, with lots of opportunities to meet people travelling. You are constantly growing the business and are never off-duty.
10. The best part of the business?
Horses are our passion, there is very little downtime in this business, so you have to be passionate about it.
Family is at the heart of everything we do, and we strive to do everything in the client’s best interest. No two days are the same and that is what we love.
We have a proven track record of being at the top of the industry, when it comes to finding talented horses worldwide. Our reputation is everything and that is built on years of hard work, experience and word-of-mouth recommendations. You’re only as good as people say you are!