Devenish Nutrition, co-sponsors of the senior Irish show jumping team with the Underwriting Exchange, has embarked on a new equine venture with the establishment of a heritage herd of Irish Draughts.

The company chair, Owen Brennan, has been the driver for Devenish’s involvement with the senior show jumping team. However in this case, it is the company’s CEO Richard Kennedy, the current holder of the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award, who is behind this initiative.

Initially intended to be based with the herd of native red deer on the Devenish research farm in the Boyne Valley, it now looks like some of the horses will be based on their second research farm on the Mayo/Sligo border.

Here, Devenish has some very interesting activities in the areas of sustainable agriculture ongoing on marginal land with 60 inches of rainfall.

These include initiatives to increase biodiversity, carbon sequestration, multispecies swards and using silvopasture to increase farmland utilization.

The farm is currently home to a herd of Stabiliser cattle, a four-breed composite breed made up of Simmental, Red Angus, South Devon and Gelbvieh gentics. The breed combines the fleshing ability, marbling, and moderate-size of the traditional breeds with the muscle, milk, and growth of continental breeds. The Stabilisers retain the hybrid vigour, without loss of uniformity associated with crossbreeding and are demonstrating high production capabilities, growth rates and good profitability.

Working horses

Richard is a passionate Sligo man and despite Devenish being a global player has always based himself in his native Aclare. He has linked up with fellow county man John Anthony Cogan to preserve the older type of Irish Draught. In the past in rural Ireland, the Irish Draught mare was driven in the trap to mass on a Sunday, brought the milk churns to the creamery, pulled the plough, spread cart loads of dung as well as playing the role of a riding horse.

Docility and soundness are two of the key characteristics of the breed and John has preserved these traits in a phenomenal band of mares that run free with the stallions on his farm near Castlebaldwin.

In the past in rural Ireland, the Irish Draught mare was driven in the trap to mass on a Sunday, brought the milk churns to the creamery, pulled the plough, spread cart loads of dung as well as playing the role of a riding horse

In 2018, John married another Irish Draught stalwart, Elizabeth Deane from Buttevant, Co Cork, and between them they have provided Richard Kennedy with in foal mares from three distinct genetic lines and an unrelated stallion as the foundation stock for the Devenish herd.

As council members of the Irish Draught Horse Society and members of the Irish Horse Board, John and Elizabeth have flown the flag for the traditional breeder and between them have bred a range of competition and show horses. John bred New Zealander Mark Todd’s outstanding World Equestrian Games eventer Grass Valley, Melanie Young’s Riverstown Express, and his current crop of contenders include Phoebe Locke’s Union Fortunas and his name sake John A previously campaigned by Michael McNally and now with Irish eventing high performance squad member, Suzie Berry. Separately Bridie is being campaigned in Ireland by Amanda Goldsbury and Marie Attley. Bridie and John A are both out of a half-sister to Grass Valley.

Research project

The mares destined for the Devenish herd include Rose of Scur by Shenandoah Prince Holly with her filly foal by Baltydaniel Silver Flight and a three-year-old by Si Gaoithe, the only Music Maker sire alive. Both of these mares are in foal to the Cranagh Hero-sired Balytdaniel Romeo, the sire of the champion Irish Draught colt foal at the RDS in 2017. Another mare heading for Devenish is a jet black mare, Galty Girl by Huntingfield Heathcliff out of a Glidawn Diamond dam who is in foal to Baltydaniel Silver Flight.

The stallion Baltydaniel Foggy Dew is a six-year-old by the Fast Silver horse Baltydaniel Silver Fox and his dam is a descendent of the late Susan Lanigan O’Keefe and Marily Power’s foundation mare at Suma Stud Miss Gethins. He is currently being broken by Alan Keoghan and may have a spin or two with the Ballymacads before joining his band of mares.

Richard Kennedy, a keen stockman, is delighted to get these bloodlines and realises his herd has genetics that have taken John and Elizabeth a lifetime to build.

These horses will earn their keep by playing a part in a research project rehabilitating horse sick pastures. In this project, Devenish is collaborating with a German company, using a specific catalyst, to improve the soil microbiome to rehabilitate pastures chronically grazed by horses.