Issue 24 – September 2011 A must for all breeders
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Issue Contents:
Front Cover: Copyright MFS Studfarm Scotland
Page 3 Welcome to our new format, from the HBM Team
Page 4 Boyd Martin on : Neville Bardos, his first Burghley, and the Australian Thoroughbred, by Ginny Smith
Page 8 Stars of the Future? The Winners of the Dubarry Burghley Young Event Horse Finals by Ginny Smith
Page 11 A Little Method and a Little Madness, William Micklem’s recipe for event horse breeding
Page 16 The Backing Diary for Crofts Hill Selene, by Canda Atkinson
Page 20 Hormone of the Month, Equine Chorionic Gonadotropin, by Amanda Bliss
Page 21 Afrika, Blog 10 –“ Final Prep”, by Sarah Cooper
Page 24 Southern Cross Stud Blog, “Premiums All Round” by Jill Walker
Page 27 Larkshill Stud Blog, “100% Premium at the Oldenburg Verband Inspection”, by Heather Stack
Page 31 Five Go To Lanaken, 2011, by Shirley Light of Brendon Stud
Page 34 James Hart, “A Breeder’s Profile”, by Anna Bruce
Page 38 Emile Faurie Opens A New Facility At Mount Mascal Stables by Jill Walker
Page 43 Contact details for the team
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Welcome To Our New Format
From the HBM Team
Whilst we have enjoyed having a completely web based magazine, it has also been obvious that a printable and downloadable copy would be helpful to our readers. Many have asked how to subscribe, good news though…it is still free! Also, it has been mentioned that in future more and more electronic devices will be unable to read flash content. Whilst the hosts we use for the magazine make their software easy to use, it is flash based.
We are looking forward to improving and adding to the content in the coming months and welcome ideas and suggestions, letters to the editor and question and answer pages where you can send in your questions for other breeders to answer.
So please do email [email protected] with any content suggestions.
If you have suggestions for articles and would like to submit your own story, please email [email protected]
For all advertising enquiries, email [email protected]
We will be keeping the website and all our previous issues, stallion and business ads will continue to run as will latest news and other web based content.
So please do join in with the magazine and keep us up to date with your competition results and breeding successes. Alas, we are all employed elsewhere in full time jobs so sadly cannot follow up all results we see, but would love to include them in the magazine.
We also have some wonderful news! A Television Production Company in Canada contacted us recently requesting to use the magazine as the backdrop for one of their shows. It involves an agent going undercover as a journalist, but until the show airs in November, we can say no more…..however prior to airing, we can divulge the name of the show. Sadly it has only just been purchased by a UK company so will not be on our screens for some time, but it is possible to view online. Needless to say we were very pleased to be asked – though are hoping they do not show the issue they made up with “Cleveland Bray” emboldened on the front page!
Thank you
HBM Team
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Boyd Martin on :
Neville Bardos, his first Burghley, and the Australian Thoroughbred
by Ginny Smith
I met Boyd Martin immediately after the prize-giving in the main arena at Burghley, where he was seventh in the winning line-up – an impressive achievement for his first Burghley (and his first visit to the UK). His slightly glazed look of exhaustion was a reminder of the physically punishing nature of a 4-star event for horse and rider. To compete at this level both need to be at maximum fitness.
All the more astonishing then that it was three months earlier to the day that Boyd’s horse, Neville Bardos, had been rescued from a horrific fire at the barn that Boyd rented from Phillip Dutton. Neville was suffering so badly from smoke inhalation that he had to be rushed to the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine’s New Bolton Centre. Here he spent three weeks in a hyperbaric chamber breathing pure oxygen to aid the healing of his trachea and lungs. No-one had previous experience of treating a horse that had smoke inhalation problems, so the vets relied on researching cases involving humans and hoped that a similar approach would work with horses. In June, Boyd was still unsure whether Neville would ever be able to compete again “but the horse has come back so strongly”, he said, “it’s just amazing. It’s such a positive to set against the experience of the fire”.
This was not Neville’s first escape from a near-fatal experience. Boyd bought him from his trainer in Australia when he was about to be sent to the knackers, having proved too slow for the track; Boyd acquired him for the princely sum of A$800, which the horse must have repaid many times over, given his subsequent performance!
Neville’s pedigree carries many of the names seen so often in the breeding of eventers; his sire Muhayaa carries the blood of Neartic through Northern Dancer on his topline, and Princequillo and Tom Fool through his damline. Through his dam Zambia, Neville has Exbury as his great-grandsire, an outstanding French TB who won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, the Coronation Cup, the Prix Ganay and the Prix Henri Foy. Exbury’s Hors Horse Breeders Magazine Page 4
damsire was the great Mossborough, a son of Nearco; on the bottom line Son in Law links back to Dark Ronald. Exbury’s sire, Le Haar, a useful stakes winner, carries Blandford on the topline of his pedigree, one of the sires that William Micklem identifies as being “hugely beneficial in the production of the event horse”.
Whilst he was competing in his native Australia, Boyd also ran a small breeding enterprise which he handed over to his parents when he left for the US in 2006. Whilst both his parents had been highly successful sports Above: Zamazaan, Neville's damsire people in their own right, (his mother was an American speed skater who competed in the Olympics, and his father Ross was an Olympic skier), they were less comfortable dealing with some of the youngsters in the breeding barn. “They didn’t like taking the weanlings into a trailer” said Boyd, so the breeding operation has been run down. Where he would previously have imported his own horses from Australia, he now buys unbroken youngsters from contacts in the States. “I got a nice Irish 3 year old from Bruce Davidson the other day” he said. He does, however, continue his interest by breeding dressage horses for his wife, GP dressage rider Silva Martin.
Boyd has an enormous respect for the Australian and New Zealand Thoroughbred: “They are all bred as stayers, in contrast to the US Thoroughbred, and that’s why they are so desirable. They are more robust and have the stamina that you want for eventing”, but the option of importing has been almost closed down, he explained, through the massively increased costs, which now amount to about $17,000. The escalation in charges was caused by a change of flight rules, with the result that there is no longer a direct route to the US, as Boyd says, “The horses have to go halfway around the world before arriving in the States.”
Apart from Remington, who Boyd describes as “a freak”, all the eleven 4-star horses that he has owned have been full TBs. He says that he feels uneasy if the horse that he is sitting on carries less than 60% TB blood, but does have what he calls a “two stage” plan, choosing TB x WBs for his 2- and 3-star horses and full TBs for Advanced and 4- star competitions. He regrets the loss of the long format in eventing, but says “that’s why it’s still so important to have the Burghleys, Badmintons and Adelaides, which still really test the best horses in the world. You have to have the best to succeed in these competitions – and that means not only the horse, but the rider and the trainer. Boyd on Neville Bardos at Lexington 2010 The role of the trainer is so important”.
Boyd arrived in the US in 2006, having already built an impressive reputation as an eventer in Australia. He was taken on as an assistant trainer by Phillip Dutton, who has been his mentor, coach and friend over the last five years, “the ultimate guide in preparing a horse for a four-star” Boyd says of him. His own passion for the sport and Hors Horse Breeders Magazine Page 5
determination to succeed was rewarded in 2010 by gaining a place on the US team at the Alltech FEI WEG with Neville Bardos, coming 10th (the top US placement); he was in the ribbons at Rolex Kentucky CCI****, and at Pau CCI****, achieving 5th place in the FEI World Rider Rankings. We will certainly be seeing him back in the UK in 2012. Boyd says of his first experience of Burghley, “I’ve loved the experience, met some amazing people, in fact, I’ve loved every minute of it!”
Some background facts on Neville Bardos :
12 year old chestnut TB gelding by Muhayaa out of Zambia, bred by Woodlands Stud, Scone, NSW, Australia Trained and raced at Kembla Grange racetrack, with no success Bought by Boyd Martin as a 3 year-old off the track for A$800 Boyd imported him into the US a year after his own arrival in 2006 “Nev” is named after a notorious Australian gangster called Neville Bartos – Boyd made the one letter change in case, as he confided on the online site Horse Junkies, the “real” Neville got out of prison and came looking for him, angry about a horse being named after him. Boyd thought the name suitable as “he looked like a tough, scrappy sort of horse” when he first saw him He has had a number of “escapes”, his first after throwing Silva Martin on the XC track at his first competition, when it took over 15 minutes to catch him ….. Syndicated after WEG, with Boyd owning two shares and the other eight distributed amongst friends and supporters Successes to date include 9th at Rolex Kentucky CCI**** 2008; shortlisted for the 2008 Beijing Olympics; winning Fairhill CCI*** 2009; 10th Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (2010;,4th Roles Kentucky CCI****(2010) and 7th Burghley (2011).
Links :
Boyd Martin Eventing : http://www.boydandsilvamartin.com/Pages/boyd/eventing.html
Neville Bardos : http://www.sporthorse-data.com/d?d=Neville+Bardos&sex=&color=&dog_breed=any&birthyear=&birthland=
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OPPOSITION LORE
2 year old bay filly to make 16.1hh
By the much-acclaimed Fleetwater Opposition, whose competitive record illustrates his almost unique ability to excel in any sphere, out of Lady Guinevere, an SHB(GB) Head Studbook graded eventer by Catherston Dazzler, competed to Advanced level by Antoinette McKeowen.
This home-bred filly’s remarkable pedigree gives her many of the attributes required to become a top-class eventer, and she will offer someone the fantastic opportunity of investing in a young horse who could go far. She is an excellent candidate for the Young Event Horse classes in the future, with the added bonus of top quality breeding credentials.
Well developed and eye-catching, she has great presence and movement. She is friendly and confident - a very sociable young horse, she is used to the farrier and has been regularly wormed.
SHB(GB) Stud Book passport, microchipped and vaccinated.
Further pictures available
Visitors welcomed
Offers invited in the region of £6,500
Syndication discussions invited
Telephone: 07808 962560 (Winchester, Hampshire)
or email [email protected]
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Stars of the Future? The Winners of the Dubarry Burghley Young Event Horse Finals
By Ginny Smith
Above: Cekatinka, winner of the 4-year-old finals
The horses in the 4- and the 5-year old Young Event Horse finals at Burghley have qualified from one of nineteen competitions held around the country during 2011. At the finals they are assessed on three sections initially – dressage, jumping, and conformation and type, with each section being judged and scored separately. The ten highest scoring horses are then brought back into the ring for the final assessment of suitability and potential – “star quality”. The judge of the final section (this year, Bridget Parker) reviews them as they walk, trot and canter around the ring, and each in turn is asked to show a gallop. The judge then indicates a final line-up in which the horse pulled in first receives ten marks, the second-placed nine marks, and so on down the line. The final section often sees a re- ordering of the leading horses, and that was indeed the case this year. The Puissance youngster Peruising, ridden by Oliver Townend, who was in first place after the first three sections on a total score of 80, followed by Billy Cuckoo and Opposition Supremacy on scores of 79, and Ask the Boss and Cekatinka on 78.3, found the order significantly changed after the Suitability and Potential section.
Cekatinka, the winner of the 4-year-old finals (who also received the prized for the highest placed mare), showed off her paces to perfection in the final section of the class, with a very enthusiastic gallop and this obviously stood her in good stead! Cekatinka was one of three horses entered in the finals by Judy Bradwell, the 1970 winner of Burghley, known not only for her successful career in Eventing but also as an outstanding selector and producer of young horses. (Of the over fifty different horses that she won on during her Eventing career she found and produced all apart from her Burghley winner Don Camillo).
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The Dutch Warmblood mare is by King Kolibri, the handsome grey stallion competed internationally by Jos Lansink and now standing at stud with him. King Kolibri’s sire Kolibri (photo left) also had an eminent career, jumping in the World Championships and Olympics, and continuing the reputation of his grandsire the Mecklenburg stallion Komet as a sire of top showjumpers. (Komet apparently had a lucky escape from being castrated, the fate of all unapproved stallions in East Germany at the time.)
Cekatinka’s damline carries many stars: her damsire was the TB stallion Julio Mariner, whose bloodlines appear in many continental sport horse pedigrees. His contribution to showjumping is underlined by the number of his progeny who have competed in International showjumping. Dinky Toy (Michael Whitaker), Harley (Bruce Goodin), Marinero (Gilbert de Rooch), Eurocommerce Lima (Gerso Shroder), Ingmar (Steve Macken) and Resolute (Molly Ashe) are just a few examples. He was approved in seven studbooks, including KWPN, Holstein, Hanover and Oldenburg. He is viewed, still, as one of the best thoroughbred sires to have been approved by the KWPN, and was highly valued for his courage, quick reflexes and excellent jumping technique. Like his sire Blakeney he was a robust and long-lived campaigner, living to the ripe old age of 29; Blakeney himself died at the age of 27. Tourbillon’s son Djebel and grandson Hugh Lupus appear in the top line of Julio Mariner’s pedigree; through his dam Set Free He has Blandford, Teddy and Precipitation in the fourth generations, all outstanding contributors to sport horse breeding.
So Cekatinka combines in her pedigree the old Brandenburg and Mecklenburg bloodlines through her sire, and the great Hanoverian sires Granit and Gotthard and the TB blood of Julio Mariner through her dam Katinka; the result is an athletic quality mare whose outstanding jumping technique was acknowledged by the award of the highest mark in that section of the class.
Zeno das Gluck, (photo left), the winner of the 5 year old class, impressed with his presence and style in all three sections, gaining the highest marks for dressage and showjumping, with a powerful and accurate jump. He went beautifully for his rider Piggy French, and looked to be an enjoyable and responsive ride. He finished the day 4.5 points ahead of the second-placed Shadow Boxer, winner of the previous year’s 4 year old class.
Meike Weber, who helped to find Zeno for Chloe Newton, tells the story of his discovery, and provides background on his breeding. He was bought from his breeder by Astrid Habersetzer as a yearling, with the aim of keeping him to produce as an eventer. Astrid apparently had the choice of three yearlings, and although Zeno was the smallest and not immediately impressive he did strike her as very pretty, with clean elegant limbs and also, “the right colour”(!), and somewhat resembled his sire, the Trakehner stallion Grafenstolz, who had an impressive series of successes in his Eventing career in Germany under Michael Jung.
After spending some time out in the field he was eventually cut in June 2008 and Astrid took him home to start his training. She described him to Meike as “always very interested in everything, easy to work with and very fond of ‘his’ humans”. After doing some basic training with him – loose schooling, lunging, getting him used to saddle and bridle – Astrid sent him to a professional yard in Ingolstadt, Bavaria in September 2009 to continue his training. She
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was always impressed with his loose and powerful gaits and his willingness to work and learn, and realised early on that he needed a more competitive home that would use his ability to the full. There wasn’t a great deal of interest from buyers in Germany, but a good contact of Meike’s had seen him loose-jumping and contacted her to suggest that she came to see him – which she did, with Chloe Newton. “Although he didn’t look like much at first,” she says, “we were both very surprised when he was let loose in the school and he just floated round”
Zeno’s dam Zarah Leander (photo left), is graded into the Trakehner Head Stud Book, and arrived at the stud farm in Klosterhof Medingen via a circuitous route. She was bred in Italy before being brought to Poland, where she was registered into the main studbook of the Polish Association of the Trakehner, eventually arriving in Southern Germany. She is described as a sensitive mare with a lot of potential, with great balance and compactness. The ‘magic’ that she is credited as transmitting comes from a pedigree that, as Meike says, “in terms of Trakehner breeding probably couldn’t be better for a potential eventer”. She is by Donauwalzer who is line bred to Habicht, an outstanding eventing and dressage sire, and who created one of the most significant male lines in the Trakehner breed after World War II. Her dam, StPrSt Zauberei, contributes the thoroughbred blood of Sir Shostakovich through her sire Donaumonarch, himself a highly successful showjumper, admired for his outstanding athleticism over an obstacle.
Through his sire, Zeno carries a repeat of Habicht through the élite dressage stallion Polarion, and the prolific dressage sire Ibikus on the top and bottom lines.
There is always an exciting sense at the Burghley YEH finals of potential and future success ahead for many of the young horses appearing on the day – not only the winners. But both Cekatinka and Zeno impressed with their quality and presence, and we will anticipate a continuation of the winning streak in their future Eventing careers.
Links :
Dubarry Burghley Young Event Horse finals, full results: http://www.burghley-horse.co.uk/YEH/YEH.htm
Meike Weber has successfully sourced a number of young horses for event riders through her excellent contacts with breeders and producers in Southern Germany, and although she is now in the UK studying for a PhD she is happy to offer a search service to anyone interested. Contact details : Meike Weber, +44 7875 336604, email [email protected]
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A LITTLE METHOD AND A LITTLE MADNESS William Micklem’s recipe for event horse breeding, and the extraordinary story behind the breeding of Karen O’Connor’s USA team horse Mandiba
There were just two of us at the bar. The barman facilitated an introduction after discovering I was at the hotel for a meeting about developing an equestrian facility. Minutes later I was going down a country road outside Ennis in Co Clare, in the west of Ireland, being driven to see a mare “worth seeing, just five minutes down the road”. Ten minutes later and I was beginning to sweat about being back in time for my meeting not to mention the foolishness of travelling at night with a stranger to some unknown destination.
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT We eventually stopped outside the entrance gate to a modern house with detached garage and the driver turned the engine off. As he stayed in the car I was asked to get out and go over to the garage. In the light of the car lights I went to the garage and lifted up the roll top door. There, blinking in the headlights, was a small bay mare standing on a deep litter bed, and with pricked ears doing her very best to say how pleased she was to see me!
The owner, still sitting in the car, had been forbidden by the courts to step foot on the property after a marital dispute, but there was no doubting how much he loved his little 8yo mare, High Dolly (photo top of page). We trotted her on the road and then jumped her on a rope under the moonlight. I was smitten and three days later I drove all the way across Ireland with my wife Sarah to ride her. The fact that the trailer was attached to the car did not improve my negotiating position but the deal was done and I was in seventh heaven as I knew she was so very special.
GREAT GENES…PROBABLY High Dolly had no papers to confirm her breeding but with her other virtues I always thought of her as an exciting brood mare prospect, especially as she was said to be by Chair Lift, the outstanding TB jumping sire, out of a Prefairy mare. Carling King, 4th in the Athens Olympics show jumping, was out of a Chair Lift mare, and Abbervail Dream, who had a record number of Nations Cups show jumping appearances for Britain, was by Chair lift. Prefairy was a son of the truly great sire Precipitation who also Hors Horse Breeders Magazine Page 11
produced Furioso, the most successful TB sire in warmblood history with 38 approved stallion sons. Almost eight years later I was able to prove that this was indeed her breeding and as a result I was a very fortunate man. However from an event horse breeding point of view it is probably more interesting to look at why I thought I had struck gold that night in Ennis.
BRAIN, BRAWN & BEAUTY I evaluate all my horses out of 10 under the headings, Brain, Brawn and Beauty and it has stood me in good stead over the years, including with those great Olympic medalists Biko, Custom Made and Giltedge, who I found in Ireland for Karen and David O’Connor. What is interesting about this is it confirms it is possible to assess event horses accurately even as young horses. I rated Biko the highest I have done for any horse for his Brawn, as he had the paces, jump and scope that were super special. However his Brain was a different matter as he took a long time to trust humans and move into the area of a true partnership. Giltedge was the opposite because he had such a great Brain but less Brawn, while Custom Made was supreme overall in terms of being competitive. However all three were head and shoulders above any other horses I have found for clients apart from High Dolly herself and High Dolly’s offspring, which include Mandiba and High Kingdom (7th at Blenheim 3* with Zara Phillips), who may well compete against each other at Badminton this year.
BRAIN - THE SPACE BETWEEN HER EARS Everything that Dolly did suggested that the space between her ears contained a brain that was exceptional. She immediately showed herself to be alert, quick thinking and bursting with enthusiasm. This can be mistaken for being ‘hot’ but this was not the case with Dolly. She also had that winning combination of gentleness and courage combined with the willingness and awareness that makes a horse motivated but also careful. She loved being ridden and having contact with her rider, my wife Sarah, who Dolly would recognise at 100 yards, whinny, and canter over.
What we need to remember is that mental ability and personality is heritable and when I talk about a mare or family breeding ‘true’ I refer to both their physical and mental attributes. Successful performance mares and sires pass on these mental qualities as much as the physical and in this respect the influence of the forward thinking TB is hugely important in the breeding of sport horses. High Dolly family certainly breeds true and she has passed on her brain to her offspring and to the next generation. I have a full sister to Mandiba, Nuff Kisses, who is breeding wonderfully well and a 4yo full brother called Jackaroo who has a damaged foreleg and therefore will never compete, but he is a colt and I intend to give him his chance at stud.
The other side of this genetic coin that worries me enormously is that I believe that far too many of the sport horses being bred today lack this brain, lack this willingness and lack the sense that is the foundation for a good ‘fifth leg” across country. This sense is particularly abundant in native breeds and is what I call the X factor. Dolly had the X factor of being 1/8 Irish Draught and I have no doubt that the survival instincts, courage and coordination of the Irish Draught is an important factor in the breeding of event horses and the huge success of Irish event horses at all levels.
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BRAWN & SPINAL FLEXIBILITY
As Dolly trotted down the road in Clare I was reminded of Biko as her natural spring and athleticism gave her a very short stance time, making her light on her feet. This same athleticism was displayed when she jumped. In particular she showed the spinal flexibility in the vertical plane that allows a horse to lift the back when bucking or that allows cats to be supreme athletes. We tend to spend a great deal of time assessing a horse’s paces, which are obviously hugely important but far less time assessing or even noticing spinal flexibility. I have a 4yo mare out of Nuff Kisses, by the TB Power Blade (above) who was recently acquired for Ollie Townend’s breeding operation, who displays such wonderful spinal flexibility that she could be an international show jumper….but we are going to be in trouble if she does buck!
BEAUTY & WHY SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL Dolly was no show horse, being slightly light of bone and short from flank to point of buttock, not unlike her sire Chair Lift, and she was small, barely 16.00. However when I assess Beauty I also include the paces, despite having already including the paces in the Brawn section. This seems to give the right value to the paces and certainly a horse with good paces is immediately more beautiful.
The fact that Dolly was a little small I consider an advantage. Pound for pound smaller horses pack a greater punch and have greater longevity, in the same way that ponies do but to an even greater degree. In addition the majority of riders in the equestrian world are female and do not ride at an elite level. These riders do not suit a massive horse and if you add the worlds young riders then a small horse has many more potential homes. Breeding desirable horses is only common sense but why therefore do we breed so many one trick, slow witted, giants that have no homes to go to if they fail to perform in their elite specialist area? It is madness and commercial suicide.
Flexibility is a real key to commercial success. I want to breed brave, sensible and sound horses that are 15.2 to 16.1, with paces that are good enough to win in third level dressage, a jump that is good enough to jump a 1.40 track and with sufficient quality and gallop to easily go round a 2* cross country….and then any extra talent on top of this is a bonus! This runs against the modern trend of specialisation and big horses, but presented like this there are many commercial breeders who might change their strategy. And what is also fascinating is that the horse I describe is actually a fabulous event horse and, if not quite making the grade or in retirement, this horse will also be ideal for the amateur or pleasure rider who wishes a safe conveyance to ride in a variety of activities with a fair degree of ease. The same cannot be said for so many modern sport horses.
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GENETIC TRANSPARENCY The reality is that it does not suit the breed societies to market a flexible use horse and instead they concentrate on marketing their brand in relation to elite performance. This can be very misleading for owners and riders and leads to misunderstandings. The first thing I would require for all warm blood stallions directed towards the eventing and show jumping markets would be to insist that their amount of TB blood is stamped on their details. It is a fact that the majority of successfully elite event horses are at least 3/4 TB and this includes those in the Hannoverian stud book that, for the first time in 2010, was the leading stud book in the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses figures.
Therefore as a priority we need to take steps to both convey this message and help breeders produce this type of horse, which for the 15 previous years enabled the Irish stud book to top the ratings. However the TB has lost ground as the continental commercial breed societies and stud books promote their ‘products’, build their brand and create a fashion. In the process they have successfully sold the message that TBs do not have the jump and paces required for the modern event horse. This is a slight of hand that does not stand up to examination.
A HUSBAND FOR DOLLY It was a no brainer to choose the TB Master Imp as a husband for High Dolly. The recent overwhelming success of TB sires in elite eventing is no coincidence with Heraldik (Ist in WBFSH event horse rankings), Master Imp (2nd), Fines (5th) and Primitive Rising (6th), not forgetting Stan the Man the sire of World Champion La Biosthetique-Sam. In dressage, show jumping and eventing TB horses remain an important refining and athletic influence in all the stud books and if the TB stud book was represented as a separate stud book in the WBFSH rankings they would win the eventing section every year. NB In 3rd and 4th place were two more Irish stallions, Cruising and Cavalier Royale. Contrary to what one hears both of these sires have slightly over 50% TB and have done extremely well with their 3/4 TB offspring out of TB mares.
With regard to safety across country TB blood and gallop is essential because it means that they do not have to go across country using anywhere near their maximum speed. This not only saves energy and avoids tiredness but it increases the room for error as a horse works well within their maximum and well within their comfort zone.
GENES TO INCREASE THE CHANCE OF SUCCESS As a result of the union of High Dolly and Master Imp, Mandiba is strongly related to the European TB dressage sires Bolero and Lauries Crusador, and the jumping TB sire Julio Mariner with a number of sires in common including Djebel, Hyperion, Court Martial, Tourbillon, Hurry On, Umidwar and Pinza.
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I would be so bold as to suggest that a strong sprinkling of the following five groups of sires, with some double, triple and quadruple crosses, is hugely beneficial in the production of the event horse. They are bloodlines that produce good brains, paces and jumping ability. Not all horses with these genes are great horses but the fact is that there are very few superstars without these genes in abundance. 1. Blandford (left) (and his offspring—Umidwar and Wild Risk) 2. Fairway (and his brother Pharos and his son Fair Trial) 3. Tourbillon (and his son Djebel and grandson Hugh Lupus) 4. Hyperion (and his offspring Owen Tudor and High Hat) 5. Precipitation (and his offspring Furioso and Prefairy)
THE FUTURE It is not vital to have pure TB sires or mares. Undoubtedly over time more purpose bred performance tested approx 3/4 bred stallions as well as a bigger pool of quality event mares will become available as breeders respond to demand. A small number of quality sires can make a huge impact and they will probably also contain some Irish Draught blood. However in the meantime we still need a small number of TB sires with the right temperament, jumping ability and genes. The best advice is probably still to breed the best to the best and hope for the best!
OH THE PLEASURE! There is another angle on breeding horses that is not mentioned nearly enough. That is the pleasure that can be gained from horse breeding. To see your own foal enter this world and to first care for and then follow their progress over the years is good for one’s heart and soul. It can be a wonderful hobby and I take issue with all those who want just large professional studs and would prefer that ‘hobby breeders’ were a thing of the past. A hobby is a little madness in one’s life and we should all make room for a little madness. The hobby of horse breeding can be life enhancing and richly rewarding emotionally, and most importantly the investment of hobby breeders is hugely important to the industry as a whole.
So keep within a budget that you are comfortable with, treat profit as icing on the cake, and use the best of expertise to keep you on the right track. Then there is a high degree of probability that breeding becomes a win win situation with the right results both on the scoreboard and in hearts and minds.
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CROFTS HILL SELENE Barracaberry Orbit RID x Shanacloon Rose RID (Gortlea Ruler) aka “Weasel”
by Canda Atkinson
Background
Crofts Hill Selene is basically the end result of my mare’s two successive injuries from which she took a long time to come right. I felt a year off and a foal might do the trick and, after many road miles and deliberations, I chose a stallion standing in Lancashire - Barracaberry Orbit, RID. He ticked all my boxes, which I had prioritised as temperament, conformation, all round ability and availability by AI.
Two cycles later, my lovely 15 year old RID mare, Shanacloon Rose, was in foal, and after an uneventful pregnancy, a chestnut filly was born in May 2008 – she had already been named “Weasel” whilst in the womb (the reasons are far too convoluted to go into here). I had the intention that this baby would be my future riding horse and I knew I would be far too wet to part with her.
I was inexperienced with foals and youngsters; this was my first! I tried very hard to do things correctly, seeking advice where possible from neighbours and friends, and have the huge advantage of being a member of Horse Breeders Forum online, an endless and patient source of reassurance and where I have made some rewarding and lasting friendships.
Weasel always looked mature, never went through the gangly 2 year old stage and delighted me by taking everything in her stride.
Our first show as a yearling was Suffolk County (photo right) - enough to blow a youngster’s socks off but no, this was no big deal. We came 2nd in Hunter Youngstock. Two other smallish shows followed that year with consistently calm behaviour and good results.
As a 2 year old we did Suffolk County again, winning the Irish Draught Youngstock and qualifying for the NFU Mutual Youngstock Challenge at the Irish Draught Horse Society (GB) Breed Show in September. We duly set off for the Breed Show at Arena UK on 19th September in huge trepidation; I had competed on my mare many years previously at this show but this was a big challenge for Weasel and me. I shouldn’t have worried: she was more on her toes than ever before, which was a result of being stabled with no turnout, but she didn’t put a foot wrong. We were 5th in an enormous NFU final class, being third 2 year old in the line-up. On the second day, we were forward in the 2 year old filly class and were placed 3rd in another big class, behind the same two 2 year olds that had beaten us the day before. I am always ambitious but I have to say I was delighted with this consistent result.
I made a conscious decision not to do any competitions in her third year, mainly due to financial constraints coupled with a slight health problem on my part. So, we concentrated on prep for backing. A friend of mine has far superior facilities to mine and lives a healthy mile away, so we started walking in hand over there. This might not sound too challenging but does involve crossing a very busy A road which has heavy HGV traffic. We would walk there, use the
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round pen or her lovely school for starting to lunge and then walk back again. We used a grass arena at home to walk over poles, weave our way through wings, firstly just in a bridle and then fully tacked up. Then came stirrups and leathers, children’s pedal cars, balloons, etc. Etc. Finally, a pair of stuffed legs was lent to me with clips for saddle D- rings and for stirrups. These I firstly lay over her, then used to simulate mounting and swinging a leg over, then to sit astride her bareback, dismount, etc.
Along with standing on stepstools and lots of jumping up and down next to her, flapping of saddle flaps, swinging of girths, I tried very hard to desensitise her. Not quite a question of desensitising really, rather one of resigned acceptance on her part, a sigh, and a questioning look of “When is it teatime?” One thing I did not do with her was long reining, which was new to me and something I did not want to make a mistake with.
Arrangements were made to send her away for professional backing in September 2011 to old friends locally, Patrick and Debbie Edmundson, with the plan to turn her away for the winter on her return. All being well I would then send her back for a few weeks in the spring for a “refresher”, ride her there for a while and then bring her home to ride away gently.
So, this is a diary of her backing!
Day 1 - Monday 29th August Very happy that Weasel loaded in trailer fine (note to self: very remiss not to have done loading practice over the summer). She has grown so much that she seems enormous in the trailer now and much bigger than her mother. Travelled safely to Rookery Farm where she was unloaded and shown to her stable. In inimitable style, she was completely unfazed, happy to be next to a handsome gelding, but more interested in her haylage. Was asked to phone next evening for report on her first day and to arrange when I can see things happening. I was told that the first few days would be spent assessing her. They tend not to do too much in the school and prefer to get them hacking up the lane quietly after which they do 5 minutes in the school on the way back. She will be long reined and lunged and will learn to go on the horse walker. Patrick very taken with her, said “That head needs painting!”.
Home to see to her mother who, on being turned out, inspects the far fields for her daughter and when she realises she hasn’t come home, gets on with the business of filling her face. She can see my neighbour’s geldings two fields away so is not completely alone.
Day 3 - Wednesday Wea has been away three days so I phoned for a report. Not sure how to feel about what I heard!! They said that she is a strong-willed young lady, big and strong! Apparently they lunged her Tuesday and she tried a few tricks so they took her to a much smaller area and she was fine, and then worked fine back in the school along with another horse working in there. Wednesday, they leant over her and she was a bit unsure about it but all in all, nothing out of the ordinary. They plan to lunge her tomorrow and long rein her Friday, phone for a report on Friday night!
Day 5 - Friday Well, I jumped the gun by mistake and phoned a friend about something else. She happened to have Ellie, Patrick’s rider, with her and put her on the phone. Ellie sat on her today!!! She said that after long reining, she leant over her and she was so chilled she got on, walked up the drive and back and even had a little trot. Woohoo, grown up Weasel!
Day 7 – Sunday Two friends accompanied me to watch Wea being long reined and lunged, no rider today as she has the weekend off. No problems, Wea compliant and forward. After leaving the school she was long reined around the huge pond twice,
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a new experience for her. A little spooked up the far side but on the second lap no hesitations, then up to the main road and back.
Day 10 – Wednesday After a few minutes on the lunge, Weasel is leant over and walked up the track, halted and Ellie slips her leg over. On the lead rein we go for a little hack, over the main road and up the lane towards the place where I learnt to ride when I was 6. Two little trots, wait for cars, no problems.
No visits days 11 – 14 but Wea’s education continues.
Day 15 – Tuesday Repeat of last Wednesday only we go for a longer hack, take some time to inspect a really scary house with barns, black bales, honey and eggs for sale, lots of activity, a longer trot and then off the lead rein. A few halts, walk ons and another trot. Wait for motor bike at the main road and two vans. Then into the school and a few laps at walk and trot accompanied by Patrick but not on lead rein, then Ellie is flying solo and Wea is trotting on both reins around the school. She hangs towards two mares with foals flat out in the sun in the next field but Patrick tells her she is not a foal anymore and that she is in a grown up world now! Next lap she is nice and forward.
Arrangements are made to bring her home on Thursday, before which she will most likely hack out with a quiet companion.
The homecoming – Thursday 15th September Weasel arrives home, is greeted noisily by her mother who then pretends she is furious for Wea being away for so long, ears back, threatens to wallop her. Next moment they are eating the same blade of grass.
Patrick stays to chat. They have loved having Weasel and wished that they had more like her as it would make their lives so much easier. Since I last visited, Weasel has been out for a couple of short hacks with another horse and this was very uneventful, Weasel being calm and happy.
The verdict? An easy, straightforward mare with a nice, outward looking manner. Built in such a way that it is easy for her to fall into a natural outline. Takes everything in her stride. Patrick thinks I will have great fun with her and asks what my plans are. I tell him I would like to do a little bit of everything, low key dressage, showing - ridden and in hand, hopefully some working hunter, pleasure rides and, of course, hacking. We are lucky enough to be on the edge of vast tracts of Forestry Commission land where I have ridden since a child and hope I will have the opportunity to ride there for many years to come – on my (mostly) home produced horse!
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My thanks must to go to Patrick and Debbie Edmundson for their patience with me scrambling alongside Weasel with camcorder and camera at the ready, my endless phone calls “When can I come and see Weasel doing something?”, and their wonderfully light and capable jockey, Ellie (who got to sit on Weasel first, grrrrrrr)!
September 2011
Weasel went for backing to:
Patrick Edmundson, Rookery Farm, Grundisburgh, Suffolk Tel 07833 316402
Weasel thoroughly recommends him!
QUAINTON STUD CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE
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Hormone of the Month: Equine Chorionic Gonadotropin
By Amanda Bliss
What is it?
Equine Chorionic Gonadotropin (eCG) is a hormone secreted by the endometrial cups in the pregnant mare. It has also been called pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG) in the past.
What does it do?
While it's not fully understood exactly what functions eCG has, a few things seem clear. Equine Chorionic Gonadotropin is secreted by the endomedtrial cups, which are formed by day 40, and regress after day 120 of pregnancy. It serves as a luteinising hormone, resulting in the formation of secondary corpora lutea, which secrete progesterone to help support the pregnancy. It has also been hypothesised that eCG has an effect on the mare's immune response to pregnancy. In some other species, eCG has a follicle-stimulating effect, and is used to promote superovulation for embryo transfer.
Why does it matter?
The foetus and placenta are genetically different from the mother, which would normally provoke an immune response resulting in rejection of the "foreign" body. However, eCG appears to play a role in preventing the rejection of the foetus. The endometrial cups form when cells from the chorionic girdle invade the endometrium. The mare's immune system eventually destroys them at around day 120 of gestation. If the pregnancy is lost during the time that the endometrial cups are present, they will continue to secrete eCG until around the same time as if the pregnancy had continued. The mare will not usually return to cyclicity until they regress normally, and blood tests for pregnancy which test for eCG may be inaccurate if the pregnancy was lost during that time. Lending credence to ideas about the role in immune response, the endometrial cups will persist for longer in mares carrying foals more closely related to them (brother-sister matings, for example), while in mares carrying hybrid foals such as mules, the endometrial cups are smaller and are destroyed by the mare's immune response at an earlier point in pregnancy.
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Afrika
Blog 10 - “Final Prep”
By Sarah Cooper
Grassy meadows in the sunshine, evenings in deep shavings beds with lashings of hay and side orders of his favourite feed...... num num num...... being woken by the sound of...... “AFRIKA!! – AAAAAAAAFRIKAAAA!!” What?????
“Afrika, for goodness sake pick your feet up - leg yielding is no time to drop off to god knows where!”
Honestly, he was in the middle of his favourite day dream - anything to drown out the constant demands of that German woman, trot over here, canter over there, back to walk, back to canter, honestly you would think that these humans would make their minds up. Round and round and round, stop, go sideways – I mean, honestly you would think that he was some kind of work horse, not an animal born with blue blood and a delicate disposition.
The work had progressed and we were demanding more of Himself. First of all it had been fun, but now he was developing unsightly muscles – really not necessary for a grazing and sedate lord of the equine kingdom. Steffi had decided that Afrika needed to be pushed as he had “too much time to mess about”, showing that he was obviously intelligent (yep, I was struggling with that diagnosis too!) so the push to move up was on.
Apparently, after all his training to canter on the right leg (and whose decision was it, which was the right leg anyhow??), he was now being told to canter on the wrong one. When he had offered this at the start of this carry-on, he was told off; now, he was actively encouraged to do so. Then, and this was frankly intolerable, he was expected to work harder to cover MORE ground in each pace at the whim of Mother. Then, and he couldn’t quite believe it, and he was sure that nobody else would when he told them, he had to put the same effort into trot and canter but carry even MORE weight on his bottom!
Not only was he now sweating but he was developing a foam between his hind legs. This was truly embarrassing. This was not the way his public should see him. He should be graceful and float like a supreme being, not thunder around exerting himself. This just would not do!
He had tried to show his displeasure at his second outing by doing his best break dancing display, however Mother had developed – now, how did the humans put it? - sticky bum ability. She didn’t come off and she even laughed. He still had to go into the giant metal box and prance around inside the white lines. The only upside of this was the full length reflective material, where he did manage to see himself in all his awesome glory. People even came in to watch him strut and cavort. He was not so sure about the metal box with round black blobs underneath that sat menacingly at one end of the white lines. When he was finished his round and round thing, he had to head straight for this box and once he had stopped he could see two humans inside. Mother said one was the “judge” – of what, he wondered? Hopefully it was a beauty contest (which of course he would win, hooves down). He was also going to Hors Horse Breeders Magazine Page 21
have to rethink the break dancing thing. He did think that he may have put his back out or something, as it certainly was not as much fun as he remembered when he did it as a foal.
He never thought more about it but apparently they had “qualified” for something. Mother was pleased with him and he got loads of pats and carrots. Maybe “qualifying” was going to bring him the kind of lifestyle he had been day dreaming about?
Well, a few days later, he was minding his own business, discussing the benefits of his new feed over his old feed, with his new friend Leo (or Commodore Leo to his equine friends), when the yard owner approached with his head attire. Hmm, what is this about? Well it can’t be bad as Mother is not here, and there’s no sign of a saddle...... OK I will be caught - there may be hay after all.
His hair was put into some kind of loose set and he was stripped naked. His eyes narrowed and he was approached with a small buzzing metal item with a very long tail. Ooooh, a curious thing it was. He didn’t mind it at all, but oddly he was feeling colder, and colder. How very strange. He didn’t mind the vibration on his neck but he was getting slightly unsure of the approach to his nether regions. The odd thing was that wherever the small beastie went, it left him cold. The yard owner let the beastie under his belly which was tickly, and he wanted to nicker as it was sooo tickly but he had to “stand still”. Soon this became tedious, and he found himself drifting off into his favourite meadow dream num num num num num...... only to be woken sharply when the yard owner barked “DONE”. He was placed in his bedroom and left with a net full of hay – sweeeet. He did wonder if perhaps the clouds had covered up the sun as it was definitely not as warm as he remembered it before he nodded off!!!
Then he noticed a mound of something being swept up – THAT...... IS...... MY...... HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIR
OH – MY – GOD
I AM NAKEEEEEEEEEEEEEED
OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD......
His ordeal was not quite over yet.
It smelt like the farrier was here …. yup it is definitely the farrier.
Hold on - it is not his usual one. Apparently he was on holiday and HRH’s efforts at getting out of work by removing a shoe appeared to backfire. This chap put his shoes in a small metal box that was making a rather loud noise...... usually he just gets a new shoe secured by his servant farrier, but when this chap brought his shoe back out of the small box it was red in colour. Ooooh new RED shoes – cool!
There was the usual banging but instead of leaving the shoe in a bucket he brought the odd-coloured shoe to him, put it on his feet and then the trouble started!!!! WHAT THE HELL!!!! I am on FIRE, FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRE FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRE, GET A HOSE. THERE IS SMOKE EVERYWHERE, HELP, HELP, HELP...... FIRE!!!
Cue snorting and a kind of soft shoe shuffle. The shoe was removed and HRH’s heart rate returned to normal, the second shoe was worked on but this time HRH knew what was coming and the snorting and mono ear was produced with attitude. He was looking around, frantically nodding his head towards his hoof in an attempt to draw the attention of the humans to his predicament. More smoke and more shuffling, followed only by a kind of spread-eagle stance more akin to being “checked for blades or drugs” by the local constabulary. The shoes were then dropped into a bucket of water which let out a heart-stopping hiss (well, if you were Afrika, heart-stopping). I thought he was going
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to pass out, but his fear kept him from blinking, never mind falling over. He had no idea what would come next and he needed his wits about him.
The shoes were secured in the usual manner, but by this time he was shaking making a tapping noise with his newly shod feed. He shuddered his way back to his box, eyes slightly glazed and muttering incoherently to himself.
Artwork by Stephanie Greaves
The best was yet to come, well he had to be kept warm, I brought out his snuggy hood, he did see me coming and the full realisation of what was going on only came when I put his rug on over the top. He stood there, eyes glazed, slightly shuddering, like a member of the equine SAS, definitely not feeling the love.
He was turfed back out to enjoy the rest of the day. He didn’t move far from the gate, the trauma of the day had stripped him of the ability even to speak to Commodore Leo when he approached (cautiously, as he too had heard of the equine SAS). Just standing there, gazing into the distance......
God, I hope he recovers ready for the finals on Saturday. I wouldn’t want him to lose any of his sparkle. He is looking a bit huffy though!!!
Afrika waited until Mother had wandered off - “I’ll show you sparkle – just you wait, Mother! Cut off all my hair leaving tufts, set me on fire and then do me up like a bank robber – I will have the last laugh – I’ll show you impulsion and elasticity of steps alright.”
With that, he stuck his nose in the air and wandered off. It’s 5 days to the final, and it’s going to be a long week!!
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SCS Blog September 2011 Premiums all round!
By Jill Walker
The highlight of this month was hosting our first ever date on the Oldenburg inspection tour, and we were absolutely thrilled that ALL of our foals received a premium from the inspectors! On top of that, all the mares we presented were successfully graded into the studbook, and the Oldenburg representatives were very complimentary and encouraging on the quality of our mares and foals. The day didn’t run entirely smoothly as we had gale force winds and torrential rain but even that wasn’t enough to dampen our spirits!
The Oldenburg inspectors Dr Karsten Kuhl and Lois Allard, who is the Oldenburg representative in the UK, were due with us in the afternoon so the morning was spent frantically bathing and plaiting all 11 horses to be presented. Our mares and foals live out and it had rained the night before so you can imagine the scene that greeted us that morning! The SCS team rose to the challenge and everyone pitched in to form a production line of bathing, plaiting and foal wrangling! We entered into the German spirit by consuming vast quantities of strong coffee and cake to keep us going and eventually managed to get everyone looking smart for their inspections. Jules and Paul were nominated for running round with the mares and hanging on to the foals and we all found the sight of Jules attempting to run around a soggy sand school in full wet weather gear highly entertaining.
Above: Jules’ whites hidden under his waterproofs as he presents Zananke and Byzantine . Hors Horse Breeders Magazine Page 24
It was a really useful day for us as the feedback given was open (anyone could listen in), instant (so you could watch the mare or foal in question as the feedback was given) and extremely helpful. There was plenty of opportunity to ask questions and ideas were put forward for future breeding choices. The feedback given was great and it felt like a real endorsement of our breeding choices and mare selection. It is the first time we have done this as most of our foals have been born in Germany to date but with the bulk of our mares now in the UK we will definitely do it again next year.
Well from Oldenburg excitement in the UK, we move to Oldenburg excitement in Germany. One of our two year old colts, Berringar, is currently undergoing preparation for the stallion selection days. It is very exciting and of course we hope that he goes through. I love the atmosphere and camaraderie at the Oldenburg stallion licensing so it would be wonderful to have one of our own horses there. We have two others that we hope are stallion material but we didn’t feel that they were quite ready yet so we may look at presenting them at a later licensing. We also wanted to have a bash with one of the boys over here, so
Above: Berringar (Breitling x Mon Cherie x Rosenkavalier) after a few delays with transport etc, Ballarat (or Kevin to his friends), has made the trip over. It is pretty tight time wise to get him prepared for the WBS UK stallion grading, and as is typical of sod’s law he caught a cold after travelling across, so we will have to wait and see whether he can be prepared in time. I shall keep you posted in my next blog! We decided to bring him over so that we could be more involved in the process; it also allows us to support a British studbook and if he is good enough to remain a stallion he will stand, train and compete over here.
Ballarat is by the Grand Prix stallion Berkeley who is one of my favourites due to his amazing temperament and charisma. Berkeley competed internationally with Wolfram Wittig and so it will come as no surprise that he is by Breitling. He was more focused on his competition career rather than his breeding career so there are not many other Berkeley babies out there. We have been lucky enough to watch him in training at the Wittig’s yard and he never fails to impress.
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On Ballarat’s mother line we have a heavy Trakehner influence; his Hanoverian mother Pepsi Cola is by the Trakehner stallion Preussianprinz, who sadly died this year age 24 but who combined some very old and well established Trakehner lines. Pepsi Cola’s mother is the wonderful State Premium mare Coca Cola whe is by Consul, who is a solid supplier of sport and breeding horses. His offspring include many outstanding stallions (e.g. E.H. Rockefeller) and champion mares (his Hanoverian daughter Cleopatra produced the champion stallion Don Frederico, and also the Olympic Gold medalist Bonaparte is out of a Consul-daughter). Coca Cola herself has produced State Premium daughters, one of which is the mother of Fiona Bigwood’s stallion Wizenzo who won his 70 day test with exceptionally high scores including four 10’s! So whilst Ballarat perhaps doesn’t possess the most fashionable of pedigrees it is an interesting one nonetheless.
Above: Ballarat’s father Berkeley W
So, after some lovely highs such as the afternoon with the Oldenburg inspectors we have an awful low. I am very sad to report that we lost our beautiful mare Blue Hors Silvia. She was the sweetest mare and had achieved so much in her career that we are devastated not only to have lost her, but to not have had the chance to have a much wanted foal from her either. Loppy was by the stallion Silvermoon who was also the father of the spectacular Blue Hors Matine. She trained to Grand Prix with Emile Faurie and then went on to be a hugely successful Young Rider’s horse being best of British at two European Championships with Lara Griffiths. RIP Loppy, you will be much missed.
Blue Hors Silvia at the European Championships
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Larkshill Stud September 2011 Blog
100% Premium at the Oldenburg Verband Inspection
By Heather Stack
The last few weeks have mostly been taken up with the foal inspection by the Oldenburg Verband. Although they only come for a day, the weeks in the run up are spent making sure the Stud looks smart and making sure the mares and foals are all used to being plaited, trotted in-hand and generally looking their best for the inspection. The week afterwards was spent celebrating as we were absolutely thrilled that all four of our foals received the coveted Oldenburg Premium Foal Award!
We had 3 visiting mares and foals in addition to our own foals, so it was lovely to meet new and old friends alike and the weather was very kind to us and the sun shone all day. We were very honoured that the Vice President of the Oldenburg Verband Herr Bodo Willms visited the Stud to inspect our foals, along with Dr Karsten Kühl and Lois Allard from the Oldenburg Verband.
We presented our Totilas colt first as I couldn’t stand the suspense and I was keen to know what they thought of him. I needn’t have worried as they were very pleased with him and praised his exceptional movement and particularly good conformation. Herr Willms said that he had inspected six Totilas foals in Germany and Holland and our “Toto” was the best one! He even asked for a photo for the Oldenburg horse magazine – you will see from the photos I am grinning for ear to ear!
Above: Herr Bodo Willms Vice President of the Oldenburg Verband, Germany and Heather Stack of Larkshill Stud and Larkshill Total Triumph by Totilas out of St.Pr.St Show Hit - Oldenburg Premium Foal
I would like to announce here for the first time that we have actually sold Toto. We have had enquiries from the US, Australia and Holland but we decided that he is just too good to go abroad and we have sold him to the UK – just in case there is a chance of him representing the country one day!! His wonderful new owner adores him and it is a top class competition home – well it’s actually top class in every way - and we are thrilled he is going to be given every opportunity to fulfill his potential.
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We are currently in discussions with a client in the US who wants us to repeat the Totilas / Show Hit breeding for a 2013 foal for her so we will see what happens!
We were particularly pleased for Mirella’s new owners who had travelled up from Exeter to watch the inspection when she received her premium. Mirella, by Rohdiamant, is the first foal from Pr.St Machita (bred by Oldenburg Supremo Georg Sieverding, breeder of Fürstenball, Sieger Hit and many more!) and they particularly liked her expression and her way of going, praising her rhythm and athleticism.
Next came the two black beauties! These two fillies take my breath away they have so much presence and that X Factor! They liked both Rheindancer and L’Amour; they thought
Above: Larkshill Mirella looking purposeful for the judges L’Amour has extraordinary type and presence while
Rheindancer was praised for uphill movement with good knee and hock action! There is always so much to take in on a special day like this; I almost want to record everything so I make sure I can remember all the nice things they said!
What I think is so good is the continuity of judging, both Lois and Karsten come every year and they spend a lot of time giving you feedback on each foal. They compare the foals from one mare year on year and as a breeder it is really helpful to get this feedback, as well as continuing my education – after all we can all learn something every day.
Above: A Real Black Beauty – Larkshill L’Amour by Dimaggio
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Above: Larkshill Rheindancer by Sarkozy being inspected in the yard
We have just about come down off Cloud 9 after the inspection and life has returned to normal. We are now starting to prepare for weaning, fingers crossed it goes smoothly, we do everything we can to make it as stress free as possible for mare and foal. I think the mares actually breathe a sigh of relief when they are turned out in my friend’s 20 acre field full of grass with no pesty foals to bother them. They seem to know it’s their time to relax and enjoy life before next year’s foals start to appear.
Above: Larkshill Supremacy looking serene in the field
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We have one more outing with our homebred 3 year old Pr St. Larkshill Supremacy (De Niro x St.Pr.St. Show Hit). Although she graded Premium in Germany last month we are also taking her to the Hanoverian Show at Addington to present her for grading into their studbook too. That way I have full flexibility of stallions we want to use. She is looking a bit more in foal and relaxed about life, but knowing Supremacy she will rise to the occasion!
Above: The Three Musketeers - Total Triumph with his two girlfriends L'Amour and Rheindancer
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Five Go To Lanaken, 2011
By Shirley Light, of Brendon Stud
So, after being selected to represent GB, we were on the road to the World Breeding Championships at Zangersheide, Lanaken in Belgium. Me, Lou Pavitt and my sister Trish are all packed and loaded. A cooked chicken and spuds [always easy dinner on first night!], along with ready meals, crisps and other healthy junk food are packed! Oh and Jamieson’s of course!
We’ve got Don VHP Z [Diamant de Semilly x Voltaire] and Sussex Caretino [Caretino Glory x Hamilton III] [aka Paris and Klarins] with us and we’ve picked up a couple of hitchhikers in the form of Lou’s sister, Nicole with her 6 year old Festiena van Texelhof [Bentley van der Heffinck x Stew Boy] and Amy Carnet with her 5 year old Cloudland [Corland x unknown].
The front partition is crammed with shavings, haylage and feed, along with a wheelie and Festiena’s kicking panels, as she can sometimes kick through the walls of the temporary stables! Just as we’re about to pull out, Nicole’s boyfriend rings to say the M20 is closed due to an accident – yup, that’s the very same M20 we want for Dover!
We hang about for half an hour then decide we’ll truck on and have a detour if the road is still closed when we get there…… It’s open but very slow moving. We get to Dover a bit later than we wanted, but that’s why we left early!! Paperwork is sorted and we then set sail for Calais on the 1.30pm boat. Ramp dropped, horses checked and we go up for some lunch and duty free [which is now expensive by the way!]
We have a good run through France and drop into Brussels area right around rush hour; somewhere along the E40 motorway I nearly crashed when a friggin spider crept down my window pane. Now I don’t DO spiders – yes, I know, very funny! But I’m a proper loony about them, so Trish quickly passes me her shoe and spider is duly splatted; truck is in one piece but only just!! There were a few more little dramas en route, but not really printable!!
So we pull into Zangersheide at half seven, find our stables easy enough out of the 800 or so there [plus the 110 stables for stallion grading!] sort neddies out, then get truck sorted, spuds in the microwave and Jamieson’s in glass!
Wednesday we rode the horses early-ish and had a wander round. I first came here 15 years ago and every year I’ve been, the red carpet in the auction marquee always makes me smile - it still does! All the GB horses passed the trot up, and then we walked the courses for the next day, got the start lists and saw there were 240 x 5 year olds, 260 x 6 year olds and 205 x 7 year olds! Umm, an early night, methinks, so we watched a film in the truck!
Thursday saw my two both have a fence; Klarins just got a bit tense in the warm up, not sure if it was the marquee roof on the warm up or the fact that it was bedlam in there *I saw 3 get kicked+, but she wasn’t quite happy. Anyway she rolled a pole on a vertical so that was that: at this show in the 5 year old class, any fault and you’re out of the final. End of!
Paris was probably also a warm up issue; over there, there are usually 3 horses in the ring, one finishing his round, one about to start and one just going in. Well we went in when called and I think Paris fell asleep, he jumped the first fence 6 inches too low, then jumped all the tricky fences super! Amy had a part of the double down on Cloud and Nicole was super quick but Festiena anticipated the turn and had a drift over the 2nd last fence and took the back rail down.
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Half way through the day we went to watch some of the stallion grading, but they were on their lunch break!! And by time we had finished jumping, they had finished.
On Friday we made sure we were in and out the warm up quick-smart on Klarins and she was back to her usual brilliant self to jump a lovely clear round. Amy had an unlucky pole and a time fault.
Paris’s class was a speed on Friday and the 6 and 7 Years qualify on points, so until every horse had been we wouldn’t know if we could still qualify, so it was do or die! Lou was in full AP McCoy mode, took a stride out in every distance and as she spun back to the 3rd last fence, Paris just turned too bloody sharp and ended up half as stride from the plank he was supposed to jump! He did make every effort to launch over it but Pegasus he ain’t, and down it came. As it turned out, even if we had won this qualifier we still wouldn’t have qualified - Michael Fursedon on his British bred
Caretino Glory mare, Caretino Vantarsi had jumped a clear the first day but had one time fault, then he won the second qualifier on her and still didn’t qualify - now that is how tough it was out there. But it was great to hear the National Anthem playing for him and his parents were super proud. Nicole was late to go in the 6 yrs and she was flying, spun back to the last and was just too tight and Festiena went past it. Bugger.
Today we had time to have another look round the foals, and to be fair, they were a right nice bunch of foals, all 60 of them! My favourite was number 17, a filly by Diamant de Semilly out of a Cassini I mare, who ended up making 18,000 euros - cheap compared to the Casall at 43,000!!! Best I give my Casall one at home a good try out!! We also missed the loose jumping of the stallion grading again: bit of a bummer but that’s life!
Saturday was consolation day, and sadly that meant all the Brits jumping: it just hadn’t been our show. We were drawn 60th out of 152 in the 5 years but I moved Klarins up to 40th as we were going to clash with Paris in the 7 year consolation. I figured it was going to be crazy fast so the draw was irrelevant! Another in and out warm up, and Klarins was pedal to the metal from fence 3 onwards, [we went for a proper tight turn from 2 – 3], strides out everywhere and Lou fair galloped to the 2nd double, turned back to an oxer and galloped over a tall skinny vertical to finish. Hoo-bloody- rah, into the lead she went, now we just had to wait for the other 110 to jump………Irishman Ivan Dalton very nearly caught us, half a second I think; later that evening he kept saying he couldn’t believe we were quicker, he had heard about Klarins but missed her round.
A Dutch fella *that just calls Lou “Unbelievable Darco”!!+ said all the Dutch thought it was a good job we weren’t in Sunday’s class as they couldn’t believe how quick we’d gone and she hadn’t touched a pole! Amy had a run out at the first double and then rolled a couple of poles but this was a big step up for her and she was really pleased with Cloud.
Paris in the 7 year class was off from the start with 132 starters, [all the consolation classes were speeds], a stride out from 1 – 2, turn back to 3, stride out to 4, jump the double at 5, spin back to 6, kick like hell to get 4 strides not 5 to fence 7, another stride out to the style at 8, then an oxer and 6 or 7 strides to a second double, spin back to another oxer and gallop to the last vertical, we had one going in the second double, he only just touched it but that’s all it takes when the cups are all extra shallow!! Michael Fursedonn was placed 15th on Zovidius R [Ovidius x Nabuur]; things went awry for him on Caretino Vantarsi when she didn’t quite get down the 4 strides from fence 6 – 7 and they went splat, both seemed fine the next morning. Steven Franks jumped a steady clear on Abdul Aziz [Diamant de Semilly x Vert et Rouge].
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Nicole jumped a fairly quick clear to finish 9th on Festiena in the 6’s; she decided not to go full tilt as she has 2 classes at HOYS next week and she had already gone super quick twice! Steven Franks was 19th on Renoir du Rock [Chin Chin x Quidam De Revel]. Will Funnell was clear on Billy Mexico [Cevin Z x Le Mexico], and Tracy Priest was also clear on Millfield Ultymate [Ulysses M2S x Condios]. Barry Dove was also a steady clear on Gentle S D [Cardento x Nonstop] to finish 33rd in the 5’s.
So all in all I was still really pleased with my 2, and after a 9 hour drive back we were only 23 miles from home when the motorway was closed due to an accident. For 2 hours we were stationary on the M23, just to reinforce that Lady Luck was not with us!!
Lanaken is tough, proper tough, but you gotta be in it to win it! Klarins obviously thought she’d follow in Unbelievable Darco and Warrior’s footsteps by winning the consolation, if it’s good enough for them….. I wish she had followed in Lord Pachat’s footsteps though, it’s 15 years ago that we won the 5’s here with Guy Williams!
Roll on HOYS!! Photographs taken of pride of place photos at Brendon Stud
The lack of clarity does not hide the amazing ability of these two youngsters (top, Don VHP Z; bottom, Sussex Caretino)
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The A, B, C of breeding according to Kiteroa Performance Horses
by Anna Bruce
Vanessa and James Hart (photo above) have a wealth of equestrian knowledge. Vanessa can claim to have horses in her heart and veins, as she was born to a family of racehorse trainers to show jumpers in New Zealand. Indeed, her grandfather bred and trained Thoroughbreds, and was also the manager of the Manawatu race track in Palmerston North NZ. James grew up in the UK to a life of hunting and hacking. Together they recognized the value of a horse with Ability, Brain and Conformation but, on settling close to Auckland, found buying such a horse was almost impossible. Vanessa recalls, “I decided that to have a sound, reliable steed, I’d have to breed it for myself.” Word spread and various early offspring, sold to friends, started to shine in eventing, creating a demand and this demand led to the Kiteroa Stud itself being born.
Vanessa says, “We pride ourselves on breeding horses that are keen to please and, when we decided to become a stud, we spent hours discussing the pros and cons of different bloodlines with competitive riders, and set ourselves strict criteria to choose only mares with the bloodlines, conformation and ability to pass on a workable temperament.”
But finding suitable stallions was also immensely difficult. James explains, “At first, finding a Thoroughbred sire with the right attributes to enhance the movement of the mares without losing any generosity in nature was difficult, and we resorted to using a Trakehner stallion but eventually a truly world class Thoroughbred stallion, Haajii was to enable us to breed full Thoroughbreds of the world class quality we were looking, for along with impeccable temperaments.”
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epitomised everything James and Vanessa dreamt of; bringing the endangered bloodlines of the traditional New Zealand Thoroughbred to the fore. Vanessa explains, “I was aware that despite being a nation of horse breeders envied across the world, we were losing the temperament, type and long term soundness we were famed for in an attempt to appeal to modern demands of early maturity and explosive speed.” Fewer racehorses were then able to achieve a second career as an eventer, show jumper or riding horse, and fewer Thoroughbreds still were viable stallions specifically to breed sane, sound and spectacular horses specifically for these disciplines. Haajii proved this could be achieved however, retiring sound after some 43 races on the track to sire several competitive steeplechasers, hurdlers and a few competition horses, with his most notable being Chesterfield, who attained a bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in the team event and winning Burghley CCI**** 1998.
Vain, Haajii's sire, was a sprinting to middle distance race horse, but his blood was rich with the Thoroughbred heritage found on almost every great jumping pedigree. Vain was a grandson of Court Martial who on his sire line carries the blood of Phalaris, a hugely influential sire of jumping horses, and another equally important sire, Son in Law, a direct descendant of the legendary Bay Ronald. Vain has produced a wealth of competition offspring with three notable sons: Hi Vain, Brilliant Invader and Haajii.
Hi Vain has competed in Grand Prix show jumping in the USA Brilliant Invader sired World Cup show jumpers Pirate, Mitavite Imperial, Gingernut, Scarlett and Dunstan Flower Power, as well as several other better than average horses. He ranks second on the NZ jumping sires list with just 10 offspring competing. An impressive record considering his progeny were recycled racehorses rather than purpose-bred jumpers. Brilliant Invader has also sired his fair share of exceptionally talented eventers. The most famous of his New Zealand offspring is Ready Teddy, who took Blyth Tait to individual Gold at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 at eight years old, taking the World Equestrian Games Gold two years later in 1998 and winning Burghley CCI**** in 2000. Brilliant Invader was also the sire of Andrew Nicholson's top three-star horse Mister Maori. The most successful of Brilliant Invader's stock in Australia was Street Talk, who went to World Cup show jumping level for Michelle Clark of South Australia. In Victoria, Jane Griffin's Koyuna Mousetrap, a successful eventer and show jumper, and Angela Dobbins' Mini Prix horse Hush, were also by the son of Vain. Haajii's progeny were more notable on the race track, particularly for hurdling and steeplechasing which meant that once they had finished their racing career most were retired. Haajii's most notable competition son was Chesterfield, ridden by Blyth Tait. He was always considered the anchor for the team event due to his reliability. They attained a bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in the team event and he won Burghley CCI**** 1998. After winning Burghley he was being prepared for the Sydney Olympics and was a hot hopeful for a gold. Tragically, he died of a suspected heart attack in quarantine in the UK. Today, it is Haajii’s only son to stand at stud, Haajiisan, who is continuing in this vein for the Kiteroa Stud. Truly impressive at 17.1hh, Haajiisan has the lines of Precipitation through both his dam sire Reindeer’s sireline, and his dam’s damsire, Agricola. Agricola produced many well-known jumpers, including Australian Vicki Roycroft's great showjumper, Apache. Agricola was one of the last sons of Precipitation, who was perhaps the most influential jumping sire of them all through his son Furioso, whose stallion sons dominated jumping breeding in France, Germany, Holland and Belgium for many years. Agricola's dam Aurora was by Hyperion.
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Passing on such impressive talents to his progeny, Haajiisan’s offspring include:
NRM Lowenberg - a contender for the 2012 Olympic Games for Matthew Grayling, following a string of successes that have continued since he boasted four consecutive wins at CCI* and CCI** level. Now successfully competing at CCI***. Kiteroa Sartoria - winner of the seven year-old Gwahir Young Event Horse at Sydney International three-day- event. Clifton Housemaster - exported to America, he proved so consistent in eventing that he was placed on 60% of occasions and advertised as a schoolmaster for being so talented, versatile, sound and easy to do!
James says, “It is very exciting to think one of our foals may head back to my own birthplace and compete at the 2012 Games, but it is equally thrilling that our horses continue to be successful at all levels for amateur and professional riders, as that means we are achieving our aim of breeding horses with ability, brain and conformation for long-term soundness.”
Haajiisan Bloodlines
Wilkes Court Martial Vain Fr 1952 Sans Tares Aus 1966 Elated Orgoglio Haajii Aus 1957 Rarcamba Aus 1977 Persian Book Pherozahah Persian Countess GB 1943 Bellehiem Aus 1963 Haajiisan Almira Midstream 1994 Aus 1946 Leila Vale Chestnut Santa Claus Chamossaire 17.1hh Reindeer GB 1961 Aunt Clara Ire 1966 Reine des Bois Bois Roussel Megs Gem GB 1950 Queen of Shiraz NZ 1977 Agricola Precipitation Vini Vichi GB 1956 Aurora NZ 1968 Flying Florence Contact NZ 1953 Florence Mills
For further information about the stud and their performance horse breeding programme, as well as a wonderful collection of photographs, please visit www.kiteroastud.com
EXTRA!! Products include those for mobility, joint health, muscle function, immune support, well-being tonics to detox tonics and training aids to improve concentration or calmness. James Hart is scheduled to visit the UK this autumn from 24th September to 17th October 2011, James is available for individual consultations, yard visits, to offer talks and join nutritional debates. Contact James at [email protected] or his UK contact, Anna Bruce at Eventerprise PR on 07970 285781, [email protected]. Visit www.equineherbals.com and, why not take advantage of a 10% discount on James Hart Solutions Equine Herbals range as available at www.naturallyanimals.co.uk (Quote JHS11.11 – offer valid until 31.10.11).
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European Team Medalist Emile Faurie Opens A New Facility At Mount Mascal Stables Thanks To Funding From HOOF
By Jill Walker
Having just returned from Rotterdam where he helped Team GB secure their first ever Team Gold at the European Dressage Championships, a delighted Emile Faurie helped Mount Mascal stables in Bexley, Kent celebrate the opening of their newly covered arena.
Mount Mascal Stables is situated just inside Kent in the London Borough of Bexley. It is the largest Pony Club centre in the UK and provides youngsters in the area with the chance to participate in all the Pony Club activities without having to own their own pony. They applied for £25,000 of match funding to build a roof over the existing outdoor arena so it could be used all year round by its 389 members. The funding was awarded by HOOF, an Olympic Legacy project being delivered by the British Equestrian Federation, to help riders, start stay and succeed in the sport. Owner of the stables, Alison Window, said: “A roof covering the surface enables us to offer greater opportunities to disadvantaged groups, facilitate more lessons, extend opening hours and finally to provide a suitable area for competitions.” Emile proved a huge hit with the young Pony Club representatives who were there for the presentation, particularly 6 year old Daisy-May whose smile looked like it couldn’t possibly get any bigger when Emile let her wear his gold medal for a few of the photos! The young riders were given the chance to ask Emile some questions and after a nervous start, they were quickly put at ease by his charming, relaxed manner.
The first question was “How does it feel to win a gold medal?” to which he replied “Imagine every birthday, Christmas and all your favourite things happening all at once, well it was even better that that!”
Above: Emile Faurie with representatives from HOOF and the owners of Mount Mascal
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Above: Emile passes his gold medal to a delighted 6 year old Daisy-May
Having enjoyed fantastic success himself, in dressage being a veteran of two Olympic Games and now a European medallist, Emile set up the Emile Faurie Foundation in 2006. This charity aims to give disadvantaged children the opportunity to ride and experience the magic of horses. Emile says, “Whether you want to win a gold medal or just get out of the house, horses have the ability to develop life skills such as self-confidence, responsibility, discipline and can have a positive impact on academic performance too.”
Mount Mascal Stables welcomes this aim, with proprietor, John Window, explaining, “Our philosophy at Mount Mascal is that riding should be accessible to everyone. Our new space means we can continue and further develop our community links to enable more people to learn and enjoy riding - especially those who may be disadvantaged or discouraged by their perception of the sport. They can now benefit from a safe and attractive outdoor riding environment, all year round, which is especially important in our ever increasingly urban society. And, with 2012 just around the corner now, we are looking forward to encouraging new fans of our sport, inspired by the Olympic equestrian events in Greenwich, to convert from spectating to participating."
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The Emile Faurie Foundation is holding a “Strictly Come Dressage” event to raise funds at Oldencraig Equestrian Centre on the 13th November. For more details on the Foundation and how to become a friend please see www.emilefauriefoundation.org.uk – click logo below.
AVANTI AMOROUS ARCHIE RID –owned by Rita Jennings
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H Tobago, Arabian Stallion, owned by Kate Fox
Peppermill, stallion ridden by John Whitaker
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OFS Capital T (Holstein x TB)
An elegant and athletic yearling gelding by the international SJ Capitalist (Capitol I), out of the TB mare Milebush Girl. “Teo” has light, floating paces, a ground-covering gallop, and moves with swing and freedom from his shoulder and through his back. He has an excellent temperament – he learns very quickly, and is bright, willing and trainable. He is fully pink papered with the AES. Sire Line : Teo’s sire, Capitalist, is a son of the famous grey jumping stallion Capitol I. Capitol I is the sire of several fabulous jumping horses and stallions including Cento - winner of the CHIO at Aachen with Otto Becker, Gold Medal winner at the Sydney Olympics with the German Team and winner of the World Cup Final in Leipzig and Cassini I - winner of several Nations Cup and International Grand Prix with Franke Sloothaak.
Dam line : Teo’s dam Milebush Girl was brought over from Ireland in foal to Capitalist, and is an athletic, well- balanced, correct TB with exceptionally good paces.
£3,750 ono
For more information call 07817 492279
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Legrande Arrayan Numa
Owned by Lynaire Sport Horses Owned by Chamfron Stud
http://www.lynairesportshorses.com/ www.chamfronstud.com
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3 year old Gelding by Icons Image
Standing around 16.3 hands and registered with SHB GB
Easy to catch, halter broken with basic handling but totally unspoilt. Farm reared so seen all farm traffic, lived with cattle and donkeys
£2700
Tel 07772 050807 or 01759 318941
Near York
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