Tributes have been paid to Womanizer, a prominent breeding stallion who has died at the age of 23. Owned by Olive and Ivor Broderick of Kylemore Stud, the Heartbreaker son was known for his successful progeny in eventing and showjumping. He had been standing at Gemini Sport Horses for the last year.
Womanizer, a much-loved son of Heartbreaker, passed away at age 23, as reported by Horse & Hound on February 19, 2026. Olive Broderick described him as "such an exuberant stallion; there was never any badness, but not everyone could ride him. He probably looked a bit mad at times, but it was all blood and enthusiasm."
Olive and Ivor Broderick purchased Womanizer as a rising three-year-old from Paul Hendrix in Holland. He competed as a four-year-old under Sheila White and as a five-year-old with Stuart Harvey. Conor Swail later rode him, but at age seven, Womanizer suffered a serious tendon injury. After being nursed back to soundness over the next year and a half, he did not return to jumping and instead pursued a breeding career.
His offspring include five-star event horses such as CHF Cooliser ridden by Tom McEwen, Cooley Quicksilver by Liz Halliday, and Ballycoog Breaker Boy by Will Rawlin. Young horses sired by Womanizer have fetched good prices at sales like Goresbridge Go For Gold. Olive noted, "He has plenty of five-, four- and three-star event horses and he has some horses doing 1.40m-1.50m showjumping. He also bred good show horses; he had very good conformation and was very correct."
Womanizer's progeny are not the easiest young horses to ride without patience, exhibiting busy mouths and heads typical of Heartbreaker bloodlines. Despite his energetic nature, he paired well with mares carrying blood from sires like Cavalier, Clover Hill, and Cruising, thanks to his good temperament.
Olive highlighted his gentle side with an anecdote about her daughter Chloe, then nine or ten, who rode him happily around the arena using a crate to mount. "He was a real sweet horse, he was happy in the field, in the stable, being ridden – it didn’t matter what he was doing," she said. Womanizer helped establish Kylemore Stud and will be greatly missed. "He was a bit like part of the furniture... It’s horses like that who get a piece of your heart," Olive added. She recalled his confident daily demeanor: "like a cool teenager going to the disco."
