DANIEL Joseph “DJ” O’Sullivan is based in Co Limerick, he has a beautiful newly renovated stables just outside Adare, where he operates O’Sullivan Sport Horses. I’m lucky enough to have seen his set up firsthand – an incredibly well-considered and thoughtfully designed unit for maximum practicality and comfort for the horses in his care. O’Sullivan specialises in breeding, producing and selling top quality sport horses and has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry to help build up his skillset, his stock and his exciting partnerships. O’Sullivan has, like many Irish horsemen, had horses in his life from an early age and made the familiar rite of passage through the local riding school and Pony Club.

All aspects of the sport

O’Sullivan got a great grounding at Ringwood Stud before he headed off to dealer and internationally renowned rider, the late Max Hauri’s in Switzerland. O’Sullivan was with Hauri for 18 months before moving to the highly respected Etter family yard, where he “learned an awful lot” and got to see all aspects of the sport, including young horse production up to Grand Prix level and the ins and outs of the hugely successful Etter family international sales business.

“Coming home from Switzerland, I had the intentions of running my own yard, so I had to build it up from scratch. I started off with just nine stables and over time I’ve built it up to 25 stables, sand arenas, walkers and a small indoor. We also have a cross-country schooling facility.”

As far as young horses go, O’Sullivan carefully considers the size, conformation, movement, type and balance of every horse. Under saddle, once broken and riding, his attention turns to careful, steady production: “Once we have horses under saddle, we like to show them different experiences and varied environments. We always go cross-country. The first fences young horses ever jump with me are natural fences; banks, drains, walls, hedges. I love to try and get them out hunting where possible – I think it’s brilliant. Hunting gives them social skills, gets them forward-thinking. After that, I bring them to a couple of little training shows. It’s important to keep them within their comfort zone, pressure free, always give them a good experience at the start. I think with young horses, time and patience is key.”

When it comes to making a plan for each horse, O’Sullivan is philosophical: “Not every horse is going to be a 1.60m Grand Prix jumper. I think it’s important to identify early what career path each individual animal would be best suited to; jumping, eventing etc.

“Once horses get under saddle, training gets very expensive; shows, events, outings, keeping trucks on the road, staff paid etc. That’s why it’s so important to identify as early as possible, which discipline a horse is best suited to. I think we really need to be realistic with our expectations.”

Exceptionally good horses

At 80 years old, O’Sullivan’s father Dan is still an essential part of his solid team. Alot of good young horses have gone through the yard and O’Sullivan has some stand-outs among them: “I’m lucky enough to have had some exceptionally good horses come through my yard over the years, from Burghley and Badminton horses to European show jumping medallists.

“I suppose most recently was BP Royalty, who won a bronze medal in Lanaken in the seven-year-old final in September, there were a couple of other Lanaken finalists that came through this yard last year, BP Dancing Light and the late Dr Noel Cawley and his daughter Lisa Cawley’s, Luisa, who also won the three-year-olds in Dublin and has been in the final in Lanaken twice.

“BP Pocahontas and BP Khantasticcompeted up to 5* level and Newmarket Venture was one of the first ever to hit the headlines, he was a medallist at the Europeans. I’ve had some lovely horses from Newmarket Stud, from Newmarket Sultan to Gurtera Jimmy Clover competing with Tim Price.”

O’Sullivan’s jumping farm runs symbiotically with the neighbouring new state-of-the-art facility for young horses: “We have purpose-built loose pens, which can house up to 40 youngstock. We have woodchip turnout paddocks and mixed grazing; we have some beef cattle as well and a facility with a slatted unit to house cattle over the winter. I think it works well the mixed grazing.”

O’Sullivan has nurtured a working partnership with Greg Broderick and the team at GBBS International Ltd. “I’m lucky to have the opportunity over the last couple of years to work with Ballypatrick and to see what it takes to produce horses from start to finish at a very high level alongside Greg and the Ballypatrick team. I feel it’s truly been invaluable to me in these recent years.”

Another partnership O’Sullivan has built over the last couple of years, has been working with his business partner and childhood friend, Tony O’Doherty. “We set up Bulimba Sport Horses Ltd four years ago. Our goal was to find the very best of youngstock that we could, mostly focused on fillies with top pedigrees.

“We put together a really nice bunch of young horses, some of the best stock from across Ireland and Europe. The plan going forward is to produce them and breed with the better fillies, either through embryo transfer or naturally. I’m really looking forward to them.”