Ringside Stories: 'giving something back to the shows'

I farm with my father Dan (senior) in Castledaly, just outside Athlone. We keep 20 sucklers and 40 ewes, usually along with 10 Irish Draughts.

Like a lot of people working full-time, it takes a team at home breeding mares and, in the past, showing took up a lot of time. Without support from my father and wife Kirsten, none of the success of my breeding programme would have been possible.

There were no horses here until I got a pony as a kid. I hunted in my teens, often on a borrowed pony, something I’m always threatening to get back to.

I went to the 1995 IDHS national show in Mullingar with Pat Egan, my father’s cousin. Pat was interested in getting into Draughts and bought a Holycross mare shortly afterwards from Patty Hennessy.

This mare had belonged to her late father Mick, who, along with his brothers in Ferbane Co Offaly, bred Draughts successfully for decades under the Creggan prefix.

I remember that evening in Mullingar seeing Roma Blue Wind in the flesh for the first time, as she took the supreme honours. She was stuck in my head from that day on. Roma Blue Wind was bred three miles up the road from us in Doon by the late Mary Flynn.

For the next couple of years, I was stuck in the stallion book researching pedigrees. In 1998, at 14 years of age, I purchased my first Draught, with the help of my late friend Joe Rohan’s eye for a horse, at the last Draught sale in Tattersalls, for the sum of 830 guineas.

Star filly

An Annaghdown Star filly foal, I didn’t get to show her as a yearling due to an injury. As a two-year-old, I took her to Mullingar Show where she was second in a strong class, won by the reigning All-Ireland champion Lady in Red.

I was over the moon and it’s still one of those days that stands out, along with bigger things to come many years later. That class was judged by Michael Casey, who I got to know well afterwards and always appreciated his help and knowledge when making stallion decisions, particularly in the early days.

In January 2005 I got a call from a man enquiring about Cork Arthur, who stood with us, and he mentioned that he knew of a Timahoe Heather mare out of Roma Blue Wind for sale in England.

I couldn’t believe it. I rang John Goulding in Gloucestershire, persevered – as he wanted to sell his youngstock first – and the deal was done.

I remember that evening in Mullingar seeing Roma Blue Wind in the flesh for the first time. She was stuck in my head from that day on

Hawklands Blue Heather arrived a couple of weeks later. I was in Sligo IT at the time, completing an electrical apprenticeship, when the mare arrived, but Joe Rohan and my father were at home. Joe rang and I still remember his exact words: “Danny you have a show mare here.”

While I was naturally delighted to hear this, it really didn’t matter as I just couldn’t believe my luck to get a proper, well-bred broodmare, daughter of Roma Blue Wind, the mare that had caught my eye all those years earlier, at 11 years of age.

She was shown five times that summer as a 12-year-old and took four championships at Longford, Athlone, Moate and the National show in Thurles. At Athlone, Paddy Scarry came over and asked was she entered for Dublin. I said she wasn’t and his reply was “you have to bring her."

We made it to Dublin, where she was initially pulled second and dropped to fifth, which was a huge disappointment at the time.

Now, when I look back, it would have been all too easy if we had pulled it off.

Dublin success

It made me appreciate later Dublin success, winning with Baltydaniel Silver Queen (Fast Silver) in 2015 and the homebred Clogheen Jenny (Fast Silver – Hawklands Blue Heather) winning and taking the reserve mare championship in 2017.

In 2009, the opportunity arose to purchase Fast Silver. Already a household name for Draught breeders when he arrived in Castledaly, his success continued with 10 approved stallion sons, including two in America and New Zealand. His influence on the worldwide Irish Draught herd is also there to be seen in the recent Horse Sport Ireland genetic diversity report.

Above all else, Irish Draughts, the show ring and standing stallions have introduced me to so many new friends along the way. The Bachelor and Clogheen Timmy stand here at the moment, and I take huge pride in hearing about owners’ satisfaction with their progeny.

Last year, I completed the ISA judging course and have really enjoyed judging a few shows this summer, including the All-Ireland two-year-old filly final at Kildysart. For me, judging is giving something back to shows.

I remember the first two days of the course in The Parks Equestrian Centre indoor school on the edge of Connemara in January and February.

It was so cold, but those two days went by like a couple of hours, listening to Philip Scott, our mentor. I believe it is so important that we listen to Philip’s generation and try to extract all knowledge possible.

As Bernard Dunne said about boxing coach Zaur Antia after Kelly Harrington’s great Olympic win: “We need to offload his knowledge,” and others like him.