I live in Glasson, Athlone, with my wife Cathy, and four daughters, Aoife, Maeve, Orla and Sadhbh. I work in the medical device industry and Cathy is a teacher, so horses are a hobby for us.

We bought a farm in Glasson in 2002 and initially bred Irish Draught horses. My grandfather had Draughts and Cathy had ponies growing up. As our daughters started on ponies, we diversified into breeding jumping ponies and horses. All our daughters competed in ponies at different stages and all show jumped at Dublin Horse Show. Two of the girls are still involved in breaking and producing young horses and they continue to compete in show jumping.

We have five broodmares and each year we buy four or five two-year-olds. Most of our young horses are divided between us, our daughters, Aoife and Sadhbh, and Ita McDermott and Shane Quinn of Shore Farm in Killala, Co Mayo. We generally have four to five horses with Ita and Shane, who do a super job producing young horses.

With Shane and Ita, we’ve had lots of luck with our four-year-olds.

In 2017, Shane won the Millstreet National Discovery Final on our four-year-old mare Izzy and they also qualified for Dublin that year.

In the same year, Ita had another one of our mares, Legaland Con Air in the five-year-old event horse final at Dublin, and in 2018, Ita and Katorevel, a mare we purchased as a two-year-old, were reserve champions in the Dublin four-year-old show jumping class.

Last year we had our first crop of home-bred horses qualify in the four-year-olds and Ita and Dunard Lady Dominator won the qualifier at The Meadows. By Dominator Z, she’s out of Lady Amaretto, a mare that Aoife had previously jumped in the RDS. Lauretta, another of our mares, by Lauriston has bred a very good 148cms pony, Dunard Trixie Mix and he has been in the Grade A class at Dublin for the past two years.

Sadhbh, my daughter, produced him up until he was a seven-year-old. Now a nine-year-old, he was sold and ridden by Cáit Kenny who qualified him last year for the RDS. This year Katie Nallon has qualified him for Dublin and we look forward to seeing him jumping there.

Lauretta also had a lovely Luidam, Dunard Luidam. Now a five-year-old, he’s being produced by Sadhbh at 1.20m level.

1. Congratulations, you qualified for The Irish Field Breeders’ Championship at Charleville last Sunday. Tell us more about this pair?

I bought the mare, Legaland Con Air (Air Jordan Z x Cavalier Royale) in 2012 as a foal from Joe Reilly from Cavan. We didn’t start work on her until early in 2016 so their first real competition was in the National Discovery four-year-old final at Millstreet where she came sixth on her first outing with Ita.

The following year, they qualified for the five-year-old young event horse final and finished eighth. We continued to show jump her up to 1.30m but unfortunately, in 2018, she got an injury, so we put her in foal to Tyson and we have, what we believe, is a very good four-year-old.

I sold Dunard Air Tyson to my youngest daughter, Sadhbh, for her Communion money!

Sadhbh has just finished her Leaving Cert and will start producing her. The mare got a great start earlier in the year with Shane, so the rest is up to Sadhbh!

Unfortunately, we lost the mare’s second foal as a two-year-old but we have an I’m Special de Muze yearling from her and this year, a lovely Camargo colt foal. We’re aiming to get her back in foal to Chacoon Blue.

Local showing expert Lorcan Glynn was visiting and, by chance, he saw the mare and foal in the paddock and asked if he could show her. We agreed and her first outing was Charleville last Sunday when she was shown by Lorcan and Killian Bannon.

They ended up winning the class and qualifying for show jumping section of The Irish Field Breeders’ Championship at Dublin Horse Show.

2. What’s your aim as a breeder?

To better understand the breeding regime in other European countries, I went on two very interesting Teagasc trips: in 2015 to Belgium/Holland and in 2017, to the Neumunster and Schleswig-Holstein region of Germany. These were very in-sightful trips and showed both the very large breeding yards and very small but very successful breeding yards with four to five broodmares.

On my return to Holland in 2016, I purchased the three-year-old mare Izzy. My original aim for her was to compete with her and eventually breed her. She went on to win the National Discovery final in Millstreet as a four-year-old with Shane Quinn, and my breeding option never materialised as I sold her as a five-year-old.

Obviously my aim is to breed the very best competition sport horses. I try and match the best traits of the stallion to the mare and the stallion must have performed to the highest show jumping level, with progeny on the ground with good credentials, or if young, show the capability to do so.

For me, the mare must also have performed. However, as we all know, there is a lot of luck involved and then waiting three years to see how the offspring turn out.

Shane Quinn and Izzy, winners of The Irish Field National Discovery four year old Final at Millstreet Horse Show in 2017 \ Justin Black/Millstreethorsephotography

3. Favourite bloodlines?

I currently like Dominator Z. I have a few Luidams and love them and the Camargo foal, which I think will turn into a lovely horse. I like some of the younger stallions, such as Diablue PS.

My wife’s favourite is Cavalier Royale as we had five with this breeding and all were successful. Two mares we are currently breeding from have Cavalier Royale blood, including the foal qualified for the RDS.

4. What’s your view on prefixes?

We use Dunard as our prefix and I feel it’s important for a breeder that the prefix remains with the horse to recognise where it all started.

5. How many mares/foals do you currently have?

I have five broodmares and currently there’s three foals on the ground so far this year.

6. Describe your regime for keeping mares/youngstock?

All broodmares are kept out all year as our farm is sheltered. The mares foal outdoors in their natural environment. Youngstock under two years are housed in sheds for the winter and from three-year-old upwards, they are outside.

I like a natural environment for the horses so they can move more freely, improving their bone and muscle strength.

7. If you could have bred any horse?

Because I like mares, it would have to be Ratina Z.

8. It takes a team - who is on yours?

Cathy and I manage the horses around our day jobs and our daughters Aoife, Maeve, Orla and Sadhbh help out around their studies and work.

A lot of the early training of the younger horses is done by Shane and Ita at their Killala yard.

9. Best advice you ever got?

Buy quality and what YOU like. It makes it easier to look after them in the depths of winter!

10. The horse it was a pity to geld?

Explosion W!