‘I look for all the raw materials’: Billy Twomey picks out his horses of a lifetime

Je T'Aime Flamenco Euro. Showjumping Champs. Madrid 17. 09. 11 G.P. Billy Twomey on Je T'Aime Flamenco (Ire) — Je T’Aime Flamenco jumping at the 2011 Europeans with Billy Twomey.

(Image credit: Trevor Meeks)

Irish showjumper Billy Twomey has won some of the highest accolades in the sport, from the Rolex Top Ten Final to a hat-trick of grands prix wins at CSI4* Liverpool. But none of this success came without a phenomenal string of horses and in a recent webinar for British Breeding in association with Stallion AI Services, Billy picked out just a few of his all-time greats.

When it comes to sourcing future talent he says: “I look for all the raw materials – they need to have a good temperament and be careful — they need to be almost scared of the fences, they need to be that careful these days — and obviously if they have the scope to get over the big jumps, that’s important too. But a lot of horses can develop that with the right training and the right production — as long as they’re fighters for you in the ring.”

“On the back of those two horses, Sue and Eddie purchased Luidam then Tinka’s Serenade,” says Billy. “She took me to the Olympics in London then WEG in Kentucky where she finished 10th. But honestly she took some time to get going in the beginning – I think it was about a year it took for me to find the key to her, as it were. But when I got her, she won and won and won. She was hugely successful, winning grands prix all over the world, and was consistent in a lot of championships.”

“Luidam was my first special, special horse the Davieses had bought for me,” says Billy. “He was a horse you could count on – he was a clear round machine. Again he was very successful, he won the grands prix in La Baule, he won Nations Cup in Aachen, St Gallen and Dublin. He had a super temperament as well. He’s left a legacy in his youngstock and he really stamps his stock – that bouncing and bucking when he lands.

“It wasn’t all plain sailing though — the day after he arrived at the Davies’ farm, I told the groom Robbie Jennings to build a course in the sand arena, but he hadn’t measured the distance of the double correctly, so I came into this one-stride double and instead of it being 7.5m, it was about 5m, so he bounced it and ended up getting confused and had a bit of a crash and driving me head first into the sand. I remember Robbie coming running over to me and asking me if I was alright and I said ‘Don’t mind me, just get the horse, quick!’ I was far more concerned about the horse!”

“He was super talented,” says Billy. “I bought him when he was five years of age and I remember the day I tried him, it was just mind-blowing how talented he was that day. He won a lot – the Belfast grand prix, Horse of the Year Show grand prix – he won everywhere. He was really prolific for me. The horse I ride now, Kimba Flamenco, is by Je T’Aime and is a real star. He won his first grand prix when he was eight years of age, so quite early. He was very mature, he wasn’t a spooky horse or a difficult horse.”

“He’s a beautiful looking stallion, as are his youngstock actually – talk about stamping stock, I saw 10 or 15 of his foals and yearlings and they look really like him and they all get this little bit of white everywhere just like him,” says Billy. “He’s a mega-talented horse, a little tricky to ride but I think he’s coming my way and hopefully he can go from strength to strength when we get back competing. But he’s already had very good results — he was second in Ascona five-star grand prix, he won in Dinard and had a good result in Gijon in the Nations Cup. He’s getting there with me, we’re just trying to build a relationship with him. It depends how Covid works out, but I’ll be getting him up to speed and finding out where the shows will be.”

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Jennifer is passionate at showjumping and her role as H&H’s showjumping editor has taken her around the world reporting from shows and interviewing riders, connections and those involved behind the scenes. Since joining H&H from BBC Sport in 2005, she has written on every subject across the equestrian sphere — from turnout rugs to stable management — and has interviewed gold medallists, world champions and winners galore. She also has first-hand experience of working in the equestrian industry as a riding instructor and yard manager.

‘I look for all the raw materials’: Billy Twomey picks out his horses of a lifetime

1. Anastasia: the mare who ended up really successful

A chestnut mare by Argentinus with whom Billy won some good classes including the CSI3* in St Tropez in 2007 and on the Spanish Sunshine Tour in 2006.

2. Tinka’s Serenade: the mare who won and won

Now aged 23 and producing some tremendous offspring, this chestnut daughter of Tinka’s Boy x African Drum took Billy to two championships, major grands prix wins and to success on Nations Cup teams.

3. Luidam: the clear round machine

The Guidam stallion, who died three years ago at the age of 24, won the CSI5* grand prix in La Baule and was part of the winning Irish Nations Cup team in Aachen in 2010.

4. Je T’Aime Flamenco: the stallion with mind-blowing talent

Continued below…

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