In February, the breeding world lost one of its greats when Diamant de Semilly passed away at Haras de Semilly in France, aged 31. It is fitting therefore, that the former World Number 1 sire would be the most represented stallion in Doha, with an impressive five offspring entered to compete.

As you know, I strongly believe that Hippomundo is an exceptional service for those involved in the sport horse sector - especially us breeders. There are vast quantities of verified pedigree & performance data, rankings and tools available at the click of a button. The breeder, owner & rider contact pages make you globally accessible.

Who have been Ireland’s highest ranked breeders in 2021, across the three Olympic disciplines of Showjumping, Eventing and Dressage? Let’s delve into the Hippomundo Breeder Rankings and find out.

Well done to each of these Irish breeders on their respective ranking and breeding successes. Your home-bred horses have been fantastic ambassadors for Ireland’s sport horse sector throughout the 2021 season.

The FEI/WBFSH Eventing World Breeding Championship for Young Horses takes place in Le Lion d’Angers, France, this week, from the 21st to 24th October. A total of thirty Irish-bred horses will contest the championship across the Six Year Old (CCI2*-L) and Seven Year Old (CCI3*-L) divisions.

The FEI/WBFSH Jumping World Breeding Championship for Young Horses got underway in Lanaken, Belgium, this morning. A total of thirty-six Irish-bred horses will contest the championship across the Five, Six and Seven Year Old divisions.

Irish-bred horses are represented across all three of the equestrian Olympic disciplines; Dressage, Eventing & Showjumping. In total fifteen Irish-bred will compete at the games. One in Dressage, twelve in Eventing and two in Showjumping.

Today marks exactly 8 years since my very first foal was born in Quarryfield. I can still remember the excitement, and good fortune, of being able to watch from the gate as Knightfield Mena give birth to healthy colt foal (pictured) by the previous year's World Cup winner, Flexible. I was 'as green as grass', had bought Mena with a loan that spring and did not have any existing customer base.

Who have been Ireland’s highest ranked breeders in 2020, across the three Olympic disciplines of Showjumping, Eventing and Dressage? Let’s delve into the Hippomundo Breeder Rankings and find out.

Recently, I was reminded of Equus Live that took place in Punchestown in 2013. The event included a mare championship for Four and Five Year Old mares and it got me thinking about what these mares might have since gone on to achieve, either as sport horses or broodmares, in the past seven years.

Here are the Top Six Irish-bred eventers in the final World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) rankings for 2020.

Here are the Top Six Irish-bred showjumpers in the final World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) rankings for 2020. Two horses are tied for sixth this year - Castleforbes Vladimir & Columbcile De Reve.

The two highest ranked Irish-bred showjumpers, Galway Bay Jed and Luibanta, are both bred by Justin Burke of Galway Bay Stud

The 2020 FEI/WBFSH World Breeding Eventing Championships for Young Horses takes place in Le Lion D’Angers, France, this week. The first horse inspection is currently underway and the organisers at Mondial du Lion have published the start lists for both the Six Year Old & Seven Year Old competitions. Unfortunately however, although this is supposed to be a ‘World Breeding Championship’, both start lists fail to list the breeder of one single horse! I do hope this will be rectified

The third edition of ‘The Breeders Select Foal Sale Ireland’ has drawn to a close. Today proved to be a huge success for the Mayo Roscommon Breeders’ Group and their auction team. The selection, promotion and selling of 70 breeder’s foals is a huge undertaking, but credit where credit is due - they have pulled it off.

With all that is going on in the world right now, and the likely repercussions that will be felt in the (sport horse) marketplace as a result, has this only further increased the importance of critically accessing the mares that each of us are breeding from?

As part of this year’s breeding supplement in The Irish Field, I answer a few questions about my breeding programme and mating plans for the 2020 breeding season.