The rise to prominence of Boleybawn Horses in Co Wicklow over the past decade saw it win the Equestrian Business of the Year at the Zurich Farm Insurance Farming Independent Farmer of the Year awards this past May. So we spoke to owner Ronan Rothwell to find out what they’ve been doing right in Tinahely.
They say success breeds success. For Ronan Rothwell, he’s known nothing different when it comes to the breeding of sport horses from his native Tinahely in Co Wicklow, where the family farm is located.
Indeed breeding both sport horses and thoroughbreds has been a part of the Rothwell family for generations, with both of his grandfathers having been involved in the breeding and training of horses while his father was a dairy cow farmer all of his life.
Following a stint of work with showjumper Marion Hughes, Ronan returned home one day and told his parents that he’d be moving away from the farming end of the business and concentrating on a future in the equine end.
Before long, Boleybawn Horses was born and the mission continues to be ‘Foal to Full Grown’ for Ronan and his team.
“We’re here in Tinahely, Co Wicklow and we’re established 13 years now in total,” explained Ronan. “I’m the owner of the company and I’ve two others working with me full-time here and basically what we do is breed, produce and sell sport horses, right through until they are ready to sell.
“What we do is aim to produce show jumpers and the main focus is to produce high-class show jumpers. We breed them with that intention.”
Surrounded by green hills and lush landscape, Boleybawn Horses is nestled in the beautiful and pristine Tinahely Village in the ‘Garden County’ of Wicklow.
They have concentrated on breeding, producing and selling sport horses and racehorses for the best part of 15 years now and throughout this time they’ve focused on improving the quality of horses in their yard which remains their top priority.
The main source of the high quality horses at Boleybawn Horses are bred from their own mares which remains an important focal point. They invest years of experience and the utmost care into all aspects of their work in order to insure customer satisfaction.
A wide variety of horse training facilities is provided at Boleybawn Horses, catering for all weather exercise and care.
Indeed the facilities at Tinahely are second to none, as Ronan himself outlined.
“We’re located on the family farm here in Wicklow which is about 240 acres, we’ve a river flowing through our land and we have an indoor and outdoor arena that we use for the horses,” he stated.
“Altogether there are 25 stables and my brother Philip, who is a race horse trainer, also has horses here – he’s been training horses for about 20 years now.”
According to Ronan, who is also a founder of the successful Irish Breeders’ Classic, the two brothers are following in the footsteps laid down in the family two generations back.
“Both my grandfathers were heavily involved in breeding and training horses and altogether there are 55 horses on the farm right now,” he said. “Since January 2016, we have sold on 15 horses that would have been bred here and we expect the selling to continue to go well right up to next January.
Indeed the goal at Boleybawn Horses has always been to sell suitable horses to their clients and they always stand over them and their description, with every effort into their preparation in order to give their horses and clients the best opportunity to succeed.
Boleybawn Horses has grown a glowing reputation for producing successful showjumpers, eventers and racehorses which has led to their ever widening client base. The majority of horses that they have to offer for sale are their own; however they do offer horses that they feel they can stand over for sale on behalf of clients.
Boleybawn Horse make use of social media to let clients know about sales and their horses. On Facebook they are boleybawnhorses and on twitter @boleybawn. Ronan says it is a crucial part of their business.
Boleybawn Horses is also regularly represented as all leading Irish and British auctions and take pride in excellent turnout and attention to every detail. Clients who send them horses to compete with a view to sell are often offered flexible rates.
Indeed many of the horses to come out of Ronan’s stables have gone on to gain profile and healthy notoriety, with one prime example being Boleybawn Ace which was a part of the Dutch team at the recent Olympic Games in Rio.
“Some of the show jumpers that we’ve had here would be Boleybawn Dynamo, which went on to jump at grand prix level in the United States,” said Ronan.
“Boleybawn Perfection would be another and Boleybawn Actor went on and won a four-year-old jumping classic in Dublin. Boleybawn Mystic won a five-year-old qualifier in Dublin as well.”
The list goes on, as does the new ground that Boleybawn Horses continues to break when it comes to embryo genetics.
One could say that when it comes to equine transferring, Ronan is pushing new boundaries and it shows when you consider how quickly the new business venture has taken off for him.
“We just started doing embryo transfers in May of this year and it has been very popular,” he said.
“I provide recipient mares for people to use and since May we’ve had 25 positive transfers, which is very good and, like I said, it has been very popular.”
In May, Ronan’s company also scooped the Equestrian Business of the Year at the Zurich Farm Insurance Farming Independent Farmer of the Year awards in Dublin, which he described as “a great honour”.
“The awards ceremony was on May 22nd at the Ballsbridge Hotel and I found out I was nominated for an award about three weeks before hand,” he said.
“It was a great honour to win it and it (equine genetics) has been a great process for me and my colleagues.”
In concluding, Ronan points out that while things are going well for his business, he still feels that the state could be doing more for the industry as a whole.
“The real challenge for people in my line of work is the amount of funding that we get from the state,” he stated. “The entire industry gets about €4million for the year and it’s worth something like €1billion to the state, which just isn’t right.
“It would be great for the government to analyse the return that they’re getting from the sport horse industry and put it back in because it’s getting more and more difficult for people in the industry.”
Boleybawn Horses
Address: Tinahely, Co Wicklow
Mob: +353 (0) 87 6482155
Web: ballyboleyhorses.com
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 4 No 8, October 2016
