KS: What do you like most about the Irish Sport Horse breed? JM: The Irish Sport Horse is a fantastic breed. They are extremely versatile and very resilient with stamina that I have yet to see in other breeds. Their intelligence in what they do is amazing; Cruising is a prime example at the age of 29. If he could only talk….
KS: Do you breed Dutch and Holsteiner lines as well? JM: Generally, we try to breed the Irish Sport Horse as much as possible, but of late, we have had to introduce some foreign breeding into our stock.
KS: With an operation that has been around since 1880, can you share any good pieces of history? JM: My great-grandfather bred Clydesdale stallions, which he imported from Scotland. He would travel all around Ireland for three months in the spring with his stallion to service mares and, when at home, he would work two stallions on the one plow. That was unheard of in those days.
KS: How many foals do you breed each year? JM: We have approximately 12 to 14 foals a year.
KS: Can you share with our readers what you feel is most important when choosing a mare and sire? JM: We try, where possible, to stay as Irish as possible when choosing mares and stal- lions! For us, when choosing a mare she must, above all, have good conformation, a good performance record and be well-relat- ed. When choosing a stallion, we follow the same criteria and also try to match the mare to the stallion as best as possible to have the optimum results.
Cruising at the age of 28.
of their discipline—it gives me great pride in my work. Mr. Cruise Control (ridden by New Zealand’s Andrew Nicholson) is a prime example. He is the top Irish Sport Horse in the World Breeding Federation of Sport Horses for 2013, number one in England, and number six overall in the WBFSH in 2013.
KS: Tell us about the stallions you stand. JM: We stand a number of traditionally Irish bred stallions, and hold frozen semen from a large number of Irish and international sires.
KS: Can you share any fun stories about Cruising? JM: Cruising is an amazing character, so cheeky! He has a phobia against donkeys and has abruptly left international show jumping rings at a gallop if he smells or hears one, much to the rider’s discomfort. [A note from the author: an incident recounted by Mary McCann, highlights this quirk. Cruising was in his stall standing in front of his feed bucket roaring and honking, she said. The barn personnel believed he was possibly suffering a heart attack. He was examined closely and even walked from his stall to try to determine the problem. When his stall was examined closely, about 8 donkey hairs were discovered in his feed. The hairs had been brought in by the birds for nests located on a ledge along the top of the stall!]
Cruising when he won the 1999 Aachen Grand Prix.
KS: Do most of your horse sales occur nationally or do you have a good international buyer group? JM: Generally, if we sell foals or young stock it is in Ireland or England, but every year, we keep a few and produce them up to five- and six-year-olds. These horses are sold internationally, with many ending up in the United States.
KS: Speaking of young stock, what do you enjoy most about working with young horses? JM: I really enjoy handling and training the young horses, bringing them on and producing them to the level where they can be sold. I love to see them excel to the top levels
50 March/April 2014
One time Cruising was attacked and chased in the yard by another stallion who had broken out. They got out onto the road and galloped a mile at least. When we caught up with them, Cruising was nowhere to be seen. There were a group of kids on their ponies from the local riding school and behind them, peeping round the corner, was
Cruising, trying to see if it was safe to come out. Needless to say, neither the stallions nor ponies had a scratch on them. Another thing—he was familiar with most of the inter-
national shows we traveled to over the years, but Aachen was his all-time favorite. Every year, when we would ar- rive, Cruising would drag his groom from the lorry to the same stable.
KS: What are the goals for Hartwell? JM: We have plans to expand and modernize our family- run business over the next few years. We hope also to introduce some new stallions to the stud farm in the near future.
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