Royal link celebrations for Mount Temple horse breeder

Mount Temple breeder Michael Doyle has been breeding royalty from his farm at Maheramore, with two of his horses being sold to Royal connections!

Maheramore Rocho was sold as a three-year-old, before being re-sold to the British Royals for use as a parade horse at Buckingham Palace. A second horse, Maheramore Aragon, was sold directly to the Dutch Royals.

"I suppose it's not something you expect," said Michael. "It’s amazing. Nobody knows where your horses are going to end up, and for them to be chosen by Royal families, that’s very high profile.

”Maheramore Rocho was born in 2014. His sire was local stallion Windgap Blue out of Maheramore Beauty.

Michael said, having learned that Maheramore Rocho had been sold to the British Royal family, he visited London to observe the horse on parade.

"Mahermore Aragon was sold to the head of the Palace Guard for the Dutch Royal family. He bought him for his own personal use.”

Michael explained that the head of the Dutch Palace Guard and his wife came to the farm while on their holidays in Ireland. “They had lunch with us, took photographs, and took a look at our other horses.They keep me updated regularly with pictures and videos as to how he is doing.”

Michael prides himself on breeding high-quality horses, and breeds both Irish Draught Horses and Connemara ponies.

”I always had interest in horses. But I bought my first Irish Draught mare Maheramore Beauty back in 2008. It's basically to do with her bloodlines, she had serious breeding which is hugely important," he said.

"I got her inspected and she received her Class 1 rating with flying colours. Her breeding includes some of the Irish Draught greats with dtallions Agherlow, Grey Macha, Sligo Star, and on the fam side Silver Sam and Capa Hinch.

"I breed quality foals each year all from that blood line and its great to see how well they have done and that all the hard work pays off.

He said the fact that the Irish Draught had been classified as a rare breed was another factor that attracted him.

“Last year, I decided I’d like to branch out and go down the road of breeding Connemaras as well. So that’s something that’s relatively new."

The Mount Temple breeder has noted the availability of quality studs in the Midlands is another factor that contributes to the desirability of his horses.

“We are very lucky here in the Midlands area that we have a lot of quality stallions close by with local stallion owners Windgap Stud, Tullaghansleek Stud, and Clogheen stud. That is an important point because you’ve got people who are travelling from all over the country to try and go to stallions - you could have to go two or three times to a stallion to get your mare covered.

“The beauty of the Midlands is we’ve got some excellent Irish Draught stallions here locally within about half an hour of where I live. It takes a lot of stress off the mare as well."

The temperament of the Irish Draught horses and the Connemara ponies is something Michael believes makes the horses attractive to potential buyers.

"The Irish Draught horses are rock solid even in noisy environments like football matches or concerts. They’re very quiet natured horses, easy to train, and they don’t spook easily. They're big, strong, and ideal for work like police and guard duties.

"The difference with the Connemara would be size, the Irish Draught is a lot bigger, stronger, and the Connemara is like a pony. They have very similar temperaments."

The farm is a family affair, with Michael's wife Lisa and his children Chloe, Jack, and Allie all playing their part in the business.

"The whole family is always on hand to help out which is great for the horses, and especially the young foals, as it leaves them very quiet and easy to work with. The hardest thing is you can get very attached to them, they're like pets. They get along very well with people."