The Sligo man breeding world class horses
JOHN Anthony Cogan from Corlisheen near Castlebaldwin, Co Sligo is not the most conventional breeder in the country – he runs his stallions loose with the mares but once again he appears to have bred something special
His name sake, “John A” a grey gelding out of a Cruising mare by the Irish Draught stallion Baltydaniel Silver Fox has emerged as the champion 4 year old event horse in the Horse Sport Ireland sponsored young event horse league, set up to identify rising stars.
Amazingly, for a four year old, the horse ridden by Michael McNally from Summerhill Co Meath, competed eight times this summer and never failed to impress.
This horse is related to other good horses that have emerged from the Cogan farm including Grass Valley who won a bronze medal at the 2010 World Equestrian Games for Mark Todd of New Zealand, Riverstown Express who represented Ireland successfully at young rider level with Melanie Young and Union Fortunas currently representing Britain ridden by Phoebe Locke.
John Anthony is an elected representative on the Irish Horse Board for Region 5 (Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan, Longford, Roscommon)
“I have bred a few good horses over the years,” John told The Sligo Champion.
“I’m a lover of horses, I’ve been breeding horses for around 50 years,” he added.
But he remains tight-lipped on his secret to success.
“I just try and match them up, the stallion and the mare and hope for the best,” he said.
Over the years, John says he has bred a few hundred horses, which have then been sold on.
“I sell them as foals, when they’re around six months of age. It would help that they are sisters or brothers of some very successful horses too.”
From a young age, John worked on horses with his father. His interest was always in breeding sport horses, rather than work horses.
Tractors, though, have now taken over the job of work horses, says John.
“Some people follow football, and I never had an interest in anything else other than horses.
“I would have an interest in other farming, the cattle and the sheep as well as the horses, though,” he added.