We along with our canine and equine family, live on the beautiful Ards peninsula, just 30 minutes from Belfast City airport and only 5 mins from the stunning Strangford loch. This part of Ireland is beautiful, we are only ever 15 mins from the coast here and the dogs can have the run of miles of beach, often to themselves as well as their home turf.
We only breed a litter
when we feel that we need something for ourselves and we certainly don't
subscribe to any of the current fashionable fads such as breeding for the "
American" or the "European" type. To us a sighthound should be well constructed
first and foremost regardless of where its parents come from. We believe that if
it is made right it will move right!
Our breeding policy with regard to the borzois concerns trying to keep as close as possible to the lovely old Falconcrag line of Sylvia Marston. Her bloodlines took many years of hard work to perfect and are now sadly disappearing in the UK, a trend we hope to reverse. The whippets are based on the famous lines from Margaret Martin's nearby Barnesmore Kennels which are combined with the very best of International & English lines if we feel that they will compliment each other. We are not too proud to ask others for advice, many have been in the breed for much longer than we have, and unlike some, who feel that after one litter they are an authority, we feel that we still have something to learn from the great breeders.
Along with the canine we also keep, breed and show horses, for ourselves and others too. The star of our stables is the thoroughbred broodmare "Monday Mourne", a sister to the Champion steeple Chaser "Florida Pearl". She will be mated this year to the top producing thoroughbred stallion "Silver Patriarch" (Who is standing at the National Stud) whilst last years foal, "Very Valentino", by Arian, will be shown in riding horse breeding classes till he is old enough to be backed and ridden. Ponies bred under the "Hawkwell" prefix have won championships at most of the UKs major shows including the Royal, Royal Windsor, Royal Bath & West, Royal Welsh and the N.P.S. as well as breed shows both in the UK and in USA, Belgium, Canada and Sweden. Both of us show horses for others and have won all the "Royal" shows, Balmoral, and the European Arab show as well as most of the major breed shows in the UK. In addition Michael is an international judge, and being on six different breed and national judging panel, he has judged horses and ponies all over the world.
Our animals are very important to us and as such are only available to loving permanent homes, which is far more important to us than wither they will ever be shown.