Bourke’s breeding business

David Bourke has established his breeding operation at the family farm in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow where they also keep 130 breeding ewes and 25 hoggets. He came up through the Bray Pony Club and was always keen on eventing.

However, as a teenager David became interested in breeding.

He quickly became involved in the Teagasc Young Breeders Programme and visited some of Europe’s best studs as part of the programme.

The Young Breeders was a huge influence on David and there is no doubt that it has contributed to the success his current operation is enjoying.

Foundation line

David’s breeding started from humble beginnings. He started breeding with his foundation mare, Enniskerry Tigerlilly (Lilly), a little over ten years ago.

The first foal he bred was a filly by the thoroughbred stallion French Buffet, called Enniskerry Foxtrot (Foxy) who David is currently eventing internationally at CCI3*-L level (previously CCI2*).

“Lilly was a half-bred mare, she was a good old-fashioned Irish mare, great temperament, nice mover. She was a lovely model, athletic yet stocky.

“Really and truly the sort of mare that most Irish farms would have, she wasn’t anything very special but had everything in the right places,” according to David, who evented Lilly up to international two star level (previously one star).

After breeding Foxy David covered Lilly with Powerblade because he had some good progeny jumping at the time, and he later used Loughehoe Guy and Watermill Swatch.

He put a great deal of thought into selecting stallions with blood, a good performance record and good progeny.

Young breeders

The Teagasc Young Breeders was very influential in why David chose French Buffet. He explained the story: “I did the Young Breeders World Championships in 2009, that was the same year that Foxy born. Before I did the World Championships, a couple of years before, I did two things.

“I went on the Young Breeders trip to Holstein. We did a competition there and got to know a lot of the Holstein breeders. Also within that year, I went on a Teagasc equine tour also to Holstein.

“The thing that was coming back from Holstein when I was there was that they were trying to encourage breeders to use thoroughbreds, because their breed were getting heavier and heavier and everybody wanted to use the fashionable stallions that would make the money in the sale rings but they were worried that they were losing their blood.

“I heard all of this and came back home, although the long term goal is to breed jumpers but I was interested in eventing and I decided to use a thoroughbred on Lilly because it worked with her anyway. She needed the blood regardless.

“In Holstein, they jump all of their thoroughbreds, so rather than just approving the stallions because their conformation is good or it’s time-form rating is good they used to jump them over grids, and they would select them.

“French Buffet was standing in Kylemore Stud – a 1.60m show jumper that was a full thoroughbred. Whether that’s a freak or whether it can be genetically passed on who knows but he ticked all the boxes.”

Modern practices

David has been using embryo transfer from the very beginning. Foxy, his first foal was a result of embryo transfer because he was still competing Lilly. Although he has had a lot of success with embryo transfer, he has also encountered problems along the way.

For instance, last year he was unsuccessful in getting an embryo from Foxy while she was eventing.

“I think for a show jumping animal it’s very difficult to do embryos when you are competing them. I think for eventing it’s nearly impossible, because they’re so fit as well.” David was also using frozen semen on Foxy last year which made matters more challenging.

In an attempt to avoid the same thing happening this year David has invested in an Equilume lamp which will hopefully get Foxy cycling earlier in the year, allowing David to take embryos off her and event her later on in the season.

He would ideally love to get a filly from her and keep this line going, especially because there is a risk element to eventing. If he was to get a filly foal then he would consider waiting until her eventing career is finished and breed from her naturally.

David considers himself very lucky and very grateful to have veterinary surgeon Larry Dunne very close by and credits him with a lot of his breeding success and use of modern practices.

“Living very close to Larry Dunne has been an absolute blessing. If we didn’t have him literally up the road I certainly would not be doing any embryo transfers.

“Larry has been amazing and he is a genius.”

Stallion selection

David is very conscious of keeping his breeding operation commercial and this is very much a factor he considers when he is looking at what stallions to use on each mare.

“I only want to use top stallions that are hopefully going to add scope and jump, and commercial type stallions too, stallions that people are going to know.”

“For me it is an interest and a hobby. I want to do it professionally, breed horses that people want to buy, not breed something that you can’t get rid of but wasn’t it lovely to have a foal. I’m breeding for the market. I want to breed horses that I want to ride first and foremost but that I can sell.”

David has maintained a very clear idea of what type of horses he wants to breed and from the beginning he was thinking ahead. His plan was always to add the blood into the line and then to use jumpers.

“I want to breed top jumpers in the long term and I am definitely looking into the idea of going out and buying into top mare lines in Europe as well because I do think it’s very hard to catch up.

“With my breeding programme that I have at the moment, my aim is to breed a jumper but because they are all coming from 75% thoroughbred blood they have that back door of eventing.”

David is lucky that he can produce the horses he is breeding himself which helps to make the business financially viable. He assesses each horse from when they are born and decides how they should be produced. He also closely watches the market.

He has found that although he is keen on traditional Irish breeding that a certain amount of foreign blood is needed to keep up with the market.

“From going to the young event horse classes on my traditional Irish horses who are real blood types and going on some horses that I haven’t bred that were more warmblood, the traditional Irish horse, although I want them in the back-breeding, I just don’t think nowadays they can compete with their warmblood counterparts, especially as young horses.”