A clone of the late showjumping stallion Pacino turns three this year – as his owner says the similarities between them are “uncanny”.

Pacino, by Diamant De Semilly and out of a Muguet Du Manoir mare, was bought as three-year-old and produced by Clem McMahon. Pacino competed at the World Breeding Championships for young horses in Lanaken as a six-year-old, and as an eight-year-old was making his mark on Nations Cup teams. Clem and Pacino were on the Irish team that won the Hickstead leg of the Nations Cup in July 2012, and the following month did the same in Dublin, resulting in Ireland lifting the Aga Khan trophy. Pacino finished the year as the leading eight-year-old showjumper in the world.

Clem told H&H that at the end of 2012, there had been a lot of “serious interest” in Pacino, and he felt “on top of the world” thinking about where they would go the following year.

“I was looking forward to all the big shows and the championships. He was very well bred and the plan had been for him to also have a breeding career. But then in January 2013 we discovered an issue with his kidneys,” said Clem.

“Within three weeks he was dead and buried. It was a terrible blow for the whole family. We always thought if he was ever to get injured we would have him in a stud capacity, so to lose the whole lot brought very low times.”

Clem said he decided to take tissue samples from Pacino.

“I had heard of horses being cloned previously,” he said. “I just really believed in Pacino; the quality he had, the level of scope and carefulness, and the rideability – those three things rarely come together in one package.

“I made a few inquiries. I knew I wasn’t able to [clone him at the time] but I thought it might give me the option later down the line, so I decided to take skin samples and put them in storage.”

Two attempts were made to clone Pacino, in 2015 and 2016, which were unsuccessful, but Clem tried again in 2019.

“I sold a mare called Paparazzi who was placed in the Dublin grand prix, and selling her gave us the opportunity to try cloning again,” he said.

“The other thing that encouraged us to try again was seeing how successful Pacino’s offspring were that were coming through. From very limited numbers he had an unbelievable strike rate for producing top level showjumpers and some very good four-star event horses.”

Pacino II, the clone of Pacino, was born in 2020.

“He was a cracking foal – and three years on he is a beautiful, big, scopey model that is like a carbon copy of the original,” said Clem.

“It really is uncanny. The way he even looks at you, you have to do a double-take. They are so similar in personality. I had Pacino from when he was three which is nice, and this horse will be produced exactly the same way, so it’s interesting times ahead.”

Clem decided to keep the birth of Pacino II quiet until he was older while they watched how he would turn out, but now the MacMahon family is looking forward to Pacino II’s future. Some of Pacino’s offspring include Bertram Allen’s Tokyo Olympic ride Pacino Amiro and Max Kunher’s five-star grand prix winner Cooley Jump The Q, and the plan is for Pacino II to be used as a breeding stallion.

“Pacino was very successful, so that’s why this was done as a breeding project. From April we’ll be supplying semen from Pacino II,” said Clem.

“Maybe later down the line he might compete, but this was about breeding. I want Pacino offspring back in the yard again. We were lucky to have them for three, four years, but I have to say you really miss them in the yard. They were all good types, all really nice to ride – and then you had the chance of also falling on a superstar.”

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A stallion has been disqualified from a competition – resulting in the loss of a prestigious title – after failing a dope test.

Last September Bernadette Brune’s San To Alati was crowned the winner of the four-year-old stallion class at the 2022 Bundeschampionate, Germany, under rider Mareike Mimberg. This month the German equestrian federation (FN) announced San To Alati has been disqualified owing to the prohibited substance decyclopropylmethylfirocoxib, a metabolite of firocoxib (a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication) being found during a medication check.

“San To Alati has now been disqualified and thus loses the title of Bundeschampion of four-year-old stallions,” said a federation spokesman.

FN added that the disciplinary procedure, in which it is to be clarified whether San To Alati’s rider is at fault as the “responsible person” and whether action will be taken against her, is “still ongoing”.

FN legal advisor Constanze Winters said the disqualification had initially been disputed, but “those affected” did not succeed in refuting the result of the medication test – and therefore the disqualification has been announced.

“Fair sport is one of the prioritised goals of the FN. For this reason, the FN carried out a total of 74 medication controls on participating horses at their own tournament, the Bundeschampionat in Warendorf, last year.”

Bernadette, of Brune Stud, told H&H they were “very surprised” at the result of the test as they had bought San To Alati two weeks before Bundeschampionate – and he did not arrive in their stable until October 2022, after the competition.

“Then when we had him in the stable and he was just fine, healthy and great to ride with the same quality as on the Bundeschampionat. So it made no sense why he would get medication whatsoever,” she said.

Bernadette added that San To Alati “remains a great breeding stallion” and they will concentrate on his sport career for the future. She also confirmed he will go for his stallion test in Verden on 15 March.

In a statement San To Alati’s breeder Kerstin Klose – who previously co-owned him with Philipp Hess – said the situation was “not only very sad”, but a “mental low point” in her career so far.

“Philipp and I have owned this wonderful horse together. San To Alati has had an exceptional and successful sports career up to the Bundeschampionat,” she said.

Kerstin added that Mareike Mimberg, Philipp’s wife, “stepped in” to ride San To Alati while his usual rider and trainer Stefanie Wolf was recovering from an injury sustained earlier in the year.

“I am incredibly sorry that Mareike now has to deal with a disciplinary procedure as a rider,” she said.

This is a heavy burden for me because I had the idea of asking Mareike to act as my deputy. But it is also a heavy burden for me because I am absolutely in favour of clean sport. I would never tolerate one of my horses being given illegal substances to compete.”

Kerstin added that San To Alati was in the care of another stables last year – the then base of Stefanie – and that he was “always healthy” and had no pain-related problems. She said there was no reason to administer medication, no instruction had been given to the stables to administer medication, and no vet had visited the horse.

Kerstin said she does not know how the drug got into San To Alati’s system.

“We consider ourselves innocent in every respect. I don’t see how we could have prevented this. It is impossible to clarify the true facts and how the administration came about and to arrest someone responsible for it. I never expected to be drawn into such a process,” she said.

Kerstin told H&H everything she does is “for my horses” and they continue to seek “clarification”.

“The horse is simply fantastic, has a very loving character, a rare charisma and, above all, is extremely healthy. I’m sure he will continue on his way,” she said.

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Rock Of Gibraltar, who clocked seven Group One wins on the Flat including the 2,000 Guineas and the Irish 2,000 Guineas in 2002, and who then went on to have a prolific career at stud, has died at the age of 23.

Racing giants Coolmore announced today (24 October) that the stallion, who won £1,164,804 during his racing career, “passed away last night due to heart failure”.

The son of Danehill, bred by the late Joe Crowley and Anne-Marie and Aidan O’Brien, was the first horse ever to win seven consecutive Group One races in the northern hemisphere breaking Mill Reef’s 30-year-old record.

Rock Of Gibraltar was crowned world three-year-old champion in 2002 and he sired a total of 16 Group One or Grade One winners worldwide. These were headed by Criterium International and Eclipse Stakes winner Mount Nelson and Golden Jubilee Stakes and Haydock Sprint Cup winner Society Rock, along with Irish 1,000 Guineas and Garden City Stakes winner Samitar. He was also a notable broodmare sire; his daughters produced two recent 2,000 Guineas winners in Kameko and Poetic Flare.

Rock Of Gibraltar, who was trained by Aidan O’Brien throughout his career, was stabled at Castlehyde Stud, a branch of Coolmore, at the time of his death.

Castlehyde manager Paddy Fleming said in a statement: “He was healthy and looking great right up to the end. He was a fantastic racehorse and a very good sire who will be missed by all the staff here.”

Rock Of Gibraltar retired to Coolmore for a private fee in 2003 and shuttled between Australia, Japan, Chile and Brazil as well as continuing to cover a few mares in Ireland in recent years.

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Millbry Hill Stud’s influential stallion Willowcroft Regal Bronze has died aged 20.

Willowcroft Regal Bronze, who was known as Skippy at home, was bred by Margot Maitland, and was the first British riding pony to be imported from Australia. He was by Urubula Regal Promise out of Willowcroft Saphire.

Jerome Harforth bought Skippy after visiting the Willowcroft Stud in Australia. Jerome had judged at shows throughout the country and had placed Skippy’s full brother, Willowcroft Regal Emblem, at the top of the line on several occasions.

“Amongst a herd of around 20 colts and geldings, in a paddock spanning 150 acres, one horse in particular caught my eye,” said Jerome. “This colt turned out to be Skippy.”

Skippy arrived in the UK in February 2004. He was shown in hand as a youngster with much success, lifting the part-bred champion at the Royal Welsh, among others. As he was 25% Welsh, all of his progeny are eligible for over-stamping, and a few years later, Skippy’s daughter, Love Affair, lifted the same Royal Welsh title.

Skippy also competed under saddle and was a Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) finalist under saddle with Lucinda Elliot, who also campaigned him at novice dressage.

“One of the first things that really impressed so many visitors was his flamboyant, light elastic movement, a wonderful feature that he very much passed onto the majority of his progeny,” Jerome said. “Skippy was an absolute pleasure to have at Stanley Grange, always having his ears pricked when you approached him. He enjoyed nothing more than showing himself off to visitors with his amazing extravagant trot; he knew he had it! He was the kindest, gentlest, and most polite pony to handle and a real true gentleman.”

Some of his offspring include HOYS winners, DJP Royal Heir, Westerdale Regal Max, Bankswood Jacaranda and Moluccas Bengal Beauty. He also sired the Royal Windsor and Royal International Horse Show (RIHS) riding horse champion Times Square, as well as RIHS show pony winner Rotherwood Royal Flight. This year’s Royal Highland Show hunter supreme champion Double Mocha is also sired by him.

Skippy became known for stamping his progeny with “ground-covering movement”.

“He was a dear friend from down under, that has left a legacy in the UK,” said Jerome.

Skippy lived out his days at the Millbry Hill Stud, which still has his frozen semen available.

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Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Austrian showjumper Max Kühner said he cannot put into words how much Chardonnay 79 has given him, as the top-track stallion bows out from competition aged 15.

Chardonnay, by Clarimo and out of a Corrado I mare, joined Max’s stable in 2014 after starting his career with German rider Helmut Schönstetter. He jumped his first grand prix with Max the following year aged eight, and went on to have a successful career with placings at five-star around the world.

In 2016 Max and Chardonnay finished 14th at the World Cup final, and in 2019 they were ninth. They were sixth individually at the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon, and were part of the Austrian team at the 2017 and 2019 European Championships.

Yesterday (23 August) Max announced Chardonnay’s retirement from sport and thanked him for the “wonderful years” as his “sport partner, best friend and soul mate”.

“When someone asks me which show, course or success with you was my best, I can’t give them a clear answer. I enjoyed every moment with you as soon as I was allowed to take [my] place on your back,” said Max.

“Whether it was on one of our rounds on the racetrack at home or in one of the most difficult courses in the world – your incredible strength, instinct, joy and the feeling that ‘anything goes’ with you, have given us wonderful emotional moments and great successes.”

Max said the “fear gene” is not present in Chardonnay, whose impressive record includes winning the Spruce Meadows CSIO5* six-bar in September 2019.

“It always seemed as if you were above it all,” he said. “This look from you – which radiates so much strength and willpower – is still a daily motivation, incentive and role model for me. You have definitely made me a better horseman. Without you, I would not have come this far in my entire career.

“But words cannot truly describe how much you gave to me, my family, our former groom Alex and the whole team at home.”

Max said he was “grateful” to call himself Chardonnay’s rider and said the stallion will now start a “new chapter” as he concentrates on breeding duties.

“I look forward to taking the first rounds with your promising progeny and making you proud in the process,” he said, adding that he has entered into a partnership with a “renowned breeding station” – but the identity of this will be kept “a secret” at the moment.

“So far we can say, he will be available as fresh and frozen semen,” said Max.

He added that Chardonnay’s first offspring, who are two years old, are “very promising” and already showing their father’s genes in terms of their strength, looks, character and “unlimited bravery”.

“Perfect genes that allow us to hope for great things,” he said.

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A promising young dressage stallion who had to have his right eye removed owing to uveitis has made a winning return to competition after nine months off.

Grand prix dressage rider Fenella Quinn and her mother Jacqui Ross bought Daily Diamond son Mambo Chachacha at six weeks old at an auction in the Netherlands in 2017. He remained abroad while he grew up and was backed, then moved to Fenella’s Aberdeen-base to continue his education.

“At the auction it was like Mambo picked us. We had planned on bidding on him anyway, but he left his mum and came trotting directly to our table and I remember the auctioneer saying ‘It looks like he wants to go home with you’,” Fenella told H&H.

“When he came home aged three he was just perfection from day one. I couldn’t believe how easy he was and how balanced. He was just a dream in every way.”

Last year Fenella campaigned Mambo in the British Dressage young horse series and the pair qualified for the semi-final at Hartpury, where they were 16th in the four-year-old class.

“After we got back from the semi-finals everything started to go wrong,” said Fenella.

“Mambo got uveitis quite severely and quite quickly. Immediately we got our vets, Ardene House Equine Vets, and they referred us to Ben Blaclock, an ophthalmologist at the Royal Dick Vet in Edinburgh. We went through treatment plans and Mambo was put on quite aggressive treatment. Over the next few months it would clear up but then flare up again and it was really hard to keep on top of.”

In September Mambo was fitted with a special implant behind his eye in the hope this would get on top of the uveitis.

“We thought this would be the last port of call, but unfortunately for us we were one of the eight per cent of cases where it didn’t work. The uveitis came back so aggressively and the ophthalmologist said he had never seen a case as aggressive as Mambo’s,” said Fenella.

“We were treating him with eye drops eight times a day, he was off work because he was sore, and he couldn’t go in the field because we had to try to keep everything dark.”

Fenella said despite continued treatment and trips to the vets in Edinburgh, it was decided that the “kindest thing to do” was to remove Mambo’s eye.

“It was really difficult and a horrible decision to have to make when he’s so young and so talented. You have no idea how they are going to adapt – he’s such a sweetheart but you wonder if they will change, or become spooky and nervous. You just don’t know how they’re going to take it, but there really was no option and we couldn’t stand to see him struggling,” she said.

“The operation took place in November and then we began the healing process of trying to get him used to life without an eye.”

Fenella said throughout the treatment and following the operation Mambo has been a “sweetheart” and “adapted incredibly well”.

“He’s been unbelievable the whole way through. He’s never been difficult, and he’s taken to only having one eye so well. He had nine months off work overall but it’s like he’s never been off,” she said.

“To start with we wouldn’t approach him from the right side and we talk to him a lot so he always knows where you are. When I get on I always start on the right rein first so his left eye can see the wall, and give him a chance to get his bearings.”

Fenella – who has a string of horses from youngsters up to grand prix level – has high hopes for Mambo and believes he could be a grand prix horse in future. On 13 August he returned to competition for the first time since and won both his novice classes on scores of 70.32% and 71.88% at Tillyoch Equestrian.

“I didn’t really know what to expect because we’ve not been away from home recently apart from going to the vets, but he didn’t put a foot wrong and did two gorgeous tests,” said Fenella.

“Of all my horses he’s probably the one that excites me most about the future. His talent is phenomenal, he’s just incredible. He has the sweetest nature and you would never know he’s a stallion, he’s is in a barn with my mares and I can ride him with mares.”

Fenella plans to take Mambo to some more local shows over the winter, and next year hopes to do some Premier Leagues.

“I have no plans to rush him, no matter how talented he is. But now we can get going again which is great because I’ve really missed him.”

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Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

I Love You Melody, the prolific Connemara stallion who has sired performance ponies all over the world, has died aged 26.

“Melody” had been in good health and was still happy in his breeding duties, when he had a suspected heart attack while being led in from his field by his owner Jimmy Canavan of Fernville Pony Stud, in Galway, on 30 July.

Jimmy bought Melody from his breeder Hubert Laurent in France, having seen him shown as an unregistered three-year-old colt in 1999. He was by Idenoir, and the first foal out of Equinoxe Melody, who is now in her 30s.

“When my dad came back to Ireland he spoke about Melody for a few days and my sister Carmel said ‘Go and buy him’,” John Canavan, Jimmy’s son, told H&H.

“Dad rang Hubert and asked to bring him over to Ireland for inspection but Hubert only wanted him to go to Ireland as a registered stallion, so he was classified in France before he came over.”

John said initially his father received some negativity for bringing a Connemara over from France.

“There were loads of people saying we shouldn’t be bringing in a stallion from abroad when we have the best ones in Ireland. But everything being bred at the time was so closely related, and Dad thought Melody would be the perfect outcross for the breed so he became one of the first people to bring in an outcross,” said John.

“A lot of the well-known people in the Connemara world started bringing mares to Melody, and that first year the foals were going out and winning the foal classes. People started realising he was a really good addition to the breed. He came into a yard of established stallions, we had Moy Hazy Cove, RossCastle Fred – but he always stood out. He was a star for us.”

During his prime Melody covered on average 70 to 80 mares per year and he remains a much sought-after performance stallion. He currently has more than 100 offspring registered with Showjumping Ireland, almost 20 of whom are grade A.

“He leaves behind such a legacy all over the world. When people are buying performance ponies they are looking for that Melody line. When my father bought him he always said that the Carna Bobby [Melody’s great-great-grandsire] bloodline was going to be the bloodline that was going to bring that performance back into the breed. It was a lovely thing for Dad to do that,” said John.

“Dad was offered a lot of money through the years for Melody and could have sold him, but there was no way. He’d have sold everything in the house bar Melody, he was so loyal to him.”

John said Melody was an “amazing” pony, who loved children.

“He would always put his head down to the kids so they could pat him. My other sister Marion’s kids used to ride him bareback with just a headcollar, and that was in the middle of the covering season. Carmel used to ride him a lot and would hack him up the road and into the lake just behind our farm. He had a really sensible head and knew his job.

“He really was such a kind animal, we were so lucky with him – and we knew we were, we always knew exactly what we had with Melody.”

John, who owns one of Melody’s sons – four-year-old stallion Clonfert Melody’s Boy – with his partner, showing producer Amy Smith, said Melody’s death was very unexpected.

“He’d never had a sick day or cost us anything in vets’ fees in the 23 years we had him. He was such a healthy pony to the final minute. I believe he waited for Dad to come down, he didn’t want to go without saying goodbye and he died in his arms,” said John.

“We can’t get over the reaction we’ve had following his death, our Facebook post has been shared 375 times and we’ve received messages from people all over the world; America, Australia, the Czech Republic. It’s been really emotional reading through them.

“He was such a special pony and we’ve kept him on the farm so he has his place in his paddock where he lived most of his life. He’s left a gaping hole in our family.”

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Influential pony competition and breeding stallion Caesar 171, the foundation sire at the Brown family’s Godrics Stud, has died aged 33.

The 13.3hh stallion, by Condor and out of an Askan mare, enjoyed a successful competition career in his own right, and leaves behind a flourishing legacy in the form of his many progeny.

Many British team ponies in the last decade have been sired by Caesar 171 and in 2017, four of his offspring were long-listed for the British team for the pony Europeans.

“He was a magical being,” said owner Beverley Brown. “He was so kind, and he was pomp and parade all day. When there were flags and music, he grew to 18 hands. He was incredible and he loved life. He was our king.”

The pony was born in Germany in 1989, approved by the Pferdestammbuch Weser-Ems (studbook) as a two-year-old and completed his performance test in 1994.

He was imported to the UK in 1999 as a 10-year-old, forming a solid partnership with rider Victoria Molloy. The pair won the medium restricted winter championship title in 2000 and were part of the British pony side that brought home the team silver medal at the Europeans that year.

Natalie Allen also enjoyed success in the saddle with him on the national circuit.

In 2006, Beverley bought the pony as a foundation sire for Godric’s Stud and a ride for her daughter, Samantha.

“We were looking for a pony stallion to set up the stud, and Ian Woodhead said, “He’s only 13.3hh but come and see him,” said Beverley. “He did look small in the stable, but he takes up the leg and as soon as Sam sat on him, it was incredible. She beamed from ear to ear! His aids were whisper-sensitive and he was so finely tuned that you had to ask him correctly in order to get the right response. He taught Sam everything – a huge amount. She knew every fibre of his being. Their connection was astonishing.”

The pair enjoyed a two-year campaign in FEI pony tests at Premier League shows and he retired from competition in 2008, aged 19, by which time his career at stud had taken off.

His prolific dressage offspring include Cruz III, who is competing at inter I, plus LE Chiffre, Ell BS and George Clooney BS. He also has progeny competing in showing, eventing and showjumping.

In January 2011, Caesar was awarded the prestigious British Breeders SPSS [Sports Pony Studbook Society] performance and breeding award in recognition of his own international successes, as well as his influence on British pony breeding. In 2015, he was awarded the SPSS dancer medal as a result of the many successes of his progeny in 2014.

“When we retired him, he took to pipe and slippers very well. When he was competing, he didn’t particularly enjoy being in the field, but in retirement he thoroughly enjoyed it. Though he did look for a saddle every day! He loved to work,” added Beverley.

“He was in tip top condition and he looked incredible right until the end. He was sound, fit and active and we even had to put him on a diet. But we knew on the Sunday that he didn’t look himself and we owed him the duty that he wouldn’t suffer.

“It was the day of the Venus and Jupiter alignment, and as he passed away an amazing firework display could be seen over the valley. It was his time to gallop off.”

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The world-class showjumping stallion Diamant De Semilly has died aged 31.

The Le Tot De Semilly son died on Tuesday (15 February) in his own field, where he was “enjoying a pampered retirement”.

A spokesman for the Semilly Stud in France said even though Diamant was 31 and they knew they could expect the “inevitable separation” one day, the “emotional shock” remained the same.

“Some pages of history are more difficult to turn than others, because this force of nature was not a horse like the others. He became a member of our family and our lives were deeply connected,” the spokesman said.

Diamant De Semilly was an orphan foal as his mother Venise Des Cresies died following his birth. He had success as a young horse, qualifying for the French championships aged four, five and six.

He won multiple grands prix during his career, and in 2002 was on the French team that won gold at the World Equestrian Games, with Eric Levallois – who formerly rode Le Tot De Semilly. Diamant was crowned French champion that year, and the following year he was part of the silver medal-winning team at the European Championships with Eric. In 2004 the pair were selected for the Athens Olympics, but Diamant was ruled out owing to injury. In 2008 he retired from competition to concentrate on stud duties, and the same year survived three colic surgeries.

“So many memories in more than 30 years. A whirlwind of flashbacks break out like a tsunami of emotions… your first bottles, your charisma that set you apart from others, your victories, tears of happiness with gold at the Jerez World Equestrian Games. And then the moments suspended in breath during your three colic operations, then your coronation of best [showjumping] world stallion in 2015,” read Semilly Stud’s tribute.

Diamant topped the World Breeding Federation of Sport Horses showjumping sire rankings in 2015 and 2016, and last year he was second, behind Chacco-Blue. Among his offspring are countless horses who have dominated the showjumping and eventing worlds. Some of these include Tom McEwen’s Olympic team gold medal-winning ride Toledo De Kerser, Marcus Ehning’s retired star stallion Comme Il Faut, Scott Brash’s former grand prix ride Hello Guv’nor, and Don VHP Z, who took individual silver at the 2017 Europeans with Harrie Smolders.

“You changed the destiny of our lives. You have also marked the lives of many people, breeders, riders, and owners who have been blessed to be able to appreciate your many qualities, in particular strength, courage and the will to do well,” said the Semilly Stud spokesman.

“You have left your mark on the world of sport horses for all of that, thank you Diamant, for everything, you will always be in our hearts and history.”

Eric added that Diamant enjoyed a “beautiful, well-deserved retirement until the end surrounded by a loving and caring team”.

“I lost my horse, but above all my best friend. Goodbye Diamant,” he said.

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The great dressage stallion Björsells Briar, who competed at nine senior championships during his spectacular career with Sweden’s Jan Brink, has died aged 31.

The Magini son, out of Charis (by Krocket), was owned by his breeder, Hans-Yngve Göransson, who set out to breed a top competition horse with an emphasis on all-round ability.

“Briar is living proof that a good sport horse can do both. He would have been able to have a career as a world-class jumping horse, too, if that was the choice,” Hans-Yngve told H&H for the Legends of the Sport feature in this week’s issue (20 January).

Jan prepared him for stallion licensing on the flat, with Olympic showjumper Rolf Göran-Bengtsson producing him for the jumping.

The decision was made for Briar to pursue dressage. With the help of Kyra Kyrklund and sponsor Åke Björsell, Jan developed the talented youngster into a sporting legend, featuring on senior championship squads for the best part of a decade. Their achievements included representing Sweden as part of the team at three Olympics – Sydney, Athens and Beijing – finishing in the top 10 individually at the 2004 and 2008 Games.

“Briar is a legend and for that he will always be remembered,” said Jan.

“For me he was so much more. We were a perfect match mentally and we knew each other inside out. He taught me a lot on horsemanship, and with care and proper management we have experienced and achieved so much together – memories that will last a lifetime.

“I am thankful that I got to be such a big part of his life and grateful that so many people including my own kids got to know him and understand his greatness.

“He has made a great impact on the world of dressage and he will be missed.”

The pair contested more than 250 grands prix, won four European medals (one silver, three bronze), as well as competing at two World Championships and eight World Cup finals. They also scored the coveted Grosse Preis at Aachen in 2005 – the same year that Briar rose to world number one – and won seven Swedish national titles.

Briar stepped down from competition in 2009, living with Jan for several more years before retiring to spend his last 11 years with Hans-Yngve.

He also leaves behind a legacy as a breeding sire.

Read Björsells Briar’s remarkable story in full in the Legends of the Sport series in the current issue of Horse & Hound (20 January).

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Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits. 

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Sandro Hit has topped the World Breeding Federation of Sport Horses (WBFSH) dressage sire rankings for the first time – as Chacco-Blue retains his title in the showjumping rankings for a fifth consecutive year.

Oldenburg stallion Sandro Hit, who died in August from an infection aged 28, moved up the from third place in 2020. Former leader Johnson is now 2nd, and Jazz is third. While Sandro Hit has been in the top three since 2016, he has never taken the top spot before.

Bred by Reinhold Harder, Sandro Hit was bought by Paul Schockemöhle at auction in 1993. He went on to have more than 200 licensed sons, including top breeding stallions San Amour, San Remo and Sir Donnerhall I, and also has more than 490 daughters who have been awarded state premium status – including Poetin, the world champion and double Bundeschampion.

“Our celebration of the breeding achievements of the great Sandro Hit is tinged with a little sadness, as he passed away only days after we witnessed outstanding performances by his progeny at this year’s Tokyo Olympics, which saw the entire US dressage team mounted on horses that were either direct descendants, or grandsons. On the gold winning German team, we enjoyed a wonderful performance of Showtime FRH under the saddle of Dorothee Schneider, with Salvino, ridden by Adrienne Lyle, helping to secure silver for the US team,” said a WBFSH spokesman.

“In this year’s rankings we encounter his genetics twice more in the top 10 with his son Sir Donnerhall I in fourth and his grandson Spielberg in eight.”

Chacco-Blue, sire of Tokyo Olympic champion Explosion W, has retained his top spot in the showjumping sire rankings for the fifth consecutive year. Diamant De Semilly takes second place, and Casall is third. Bred by Karl-Heinz Köpp, the Mecklenburger stallion Chacco-Blue by Chambertin out of a Contender mare was the most represented stallion at the Tokyo Olympics with five offspring.

Selle Francais stallion Jaguar Mail climbed to the top of the eventing sire rankings from third. Diarado remains in second and last year’s leader Grafenstolz is now third. By Hand in Glove XX out of a Ladanum X mare, Jaguar Mail’s offspring include Andrew Hoy’s Olympic team silver and individual bronze medal-winning ride Vassily de Lassos and Austin O’Connor’s Olympic ride Colorado Blue.

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A fundraising campaign has been launched aiming to create “a lasting memorial” for the four event horses killed in a road collision.

The Archie Legacy, founded by Pammy Hutton and Islay Auty, with support from eventer Nick Gauntlett, will raise funds towards an ongoing breeding project using frozen semen from Nick’s stallion Party Trick, who died in the accident on the way to Blair Castle International Horse Trials on 24 August, along with Sophie Hulme’s Ice Cool Cooley, Charisma TH and Farytale Cooley. The aim is to breed a son or daughter of Party Trick, a Sports Horse Breeding (GB) champion stallion by Chilli Morning, who could go on to compete at future Olympic Games.

Nick explained the idea is to use some of Party Trick’s limited amount of frozen semen to put some of the best and proven mares in foal, using embryo transfer and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), a lab-based technique where a single sperm cell is injected into a matured oocyte. The resulting foal will be owned by Nick.

“Pammy, who has been a huge part of my career, said to me, ‘You’ve worked so hard with this horse – he was your comeback horse and he was the horse that was going to put you back on the map. There needs to be a legacy,’” Nick told H&H.

“Without a doubt Party Trick was the best horse I’ve ever ridden, and he was more than that – he was passing great qualities to the next generation. The more I’ve thought about the legacy, it’s allowing him the opportunity to be great as a sire when he didn’t get the chance to be great in his own right. It would be amazing to have a son or daughter at the Olympics or winning a big competition.”

Islay told H&H the legacy is about keeping Party Trick’s name alive and supporting both Nick and Sophie.

“People, not just from the equestrian world, have asked if there is a fund they can support. We wanted to create something people would want to support not just because of Nick, but because they are supporting the future of the line, and the development of good stock. If we get a large pot of money it will be used with great judgement and care with regard to the development of the sport we all love,” she said.

Nick added that the support he has received since the accident had been “incredible”.

“Everybody has been very kind. The horse world is an unbelievable family, and while I’m not saying it takes something like this to show that, when something like this does happen, it really does,” he said.

A Gofundme page set up by Sarah Ettridge, a friend of Nick and his wife Amanda, after the collision will be used for the fundraising. Donations can be made by visiting the Gofundme page here.

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One of the most talked about horses at the Dressage World Breeding Championships for Young Horses in Verden, Germany, was undoubtedly Kjento. The stunning black stallion, owned by Van Olst Horses, blew away the opposition to win the six-year-old title, ridden by none other than Britain’s Lottie Fry, who is based with the Van Olsts in the Netherlands.

This was Lottie’s second World Breeding Championship title, and if the career trajectory of her 2018 seven-year-old winner, Glamourdale, is anything to go by, we can expect to see big things of Lottie and Kjento over the new few years. Here are some things you should know about the exciting stallion as he embarks on his career.

1. He is by the same sire as the great Valegro

Kjento is by Negro, the Ferro son who also sired Charlotte Dujardin’s double Olympic champion Valegro, and out of the elite KWPN mare Zoriana. She in turn is a daughter of the great stallion Jazz out of a Juventus mare Poriana, so combining the very best in Dutch bloodlines.

2. He impresses the judges across the board

In the final, Kjento received marks of 10 for his trot, canter, submission and perspective, and an eight for his walk, and his total mark of 96% left him comfortably in the lead. He was the only horse in the six-year-old final to receive marks of 10 in any area, and judge Peter Storr commented: “I could just sum up the whole thing with one word, by saying ‘wow’.”

3. Kjento has showed huge potential all his life

The highest scoring three-year-old stallion at the 2018 KWPN autumn performance test, Kjento scored 8.5 for his walk, nine for his trot and 9.5 for his canter, and showed super ability to collect.

“He can naturally piaffe already. He hasn’t been trained at all, it’s just in him,” said Lottie last year. “He has huge movement, but also finds it so easy to collect. He’s a dream horse.”

4. Breeders already love him

Kjento is one of the most popular young breeding stallions in the Netherlands right now, and breeders across Europe have also been taking note. His first foals were born in 2020 and he has over 230 registered offspring to date. He stands at the Van Olst stud in the Netherlands, and is available to UK breeders via Stallion AI Services.

5, He loves to perform as much as Lottie doe.

It was easy to see from Kjento’s performance at the World Breeding Championships that he is a true showman, and Lottie confirms as much.

“He loves to work and he loves nothing more than to go in an area and show off: to know that he loves it as much as I do makes it so much fun,” said Lottie.

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The news of Sandro Hit’s death earlier this month rocked the dressage and breeding worlds, but the famous breeding stallion’s impressive legacy is something quite astonishing.

Sandro Hit’s influence on dressage breeding cannot be underestimated – he can be credited as being behind a whole dynasty of modern dressage horses. Among the many Sandro Hit offspring are some well-known breeding stallions, as well as countless horses who have made their mark in sport at top level.

We bring you pictures of just a few of the successful Sandro Hit offspring out there…

Showtime FRH

The 15-year-old gelding (Sandro Hit x Rotspon) has won three gold medals for Germany under Dorothee Schneider, competing at the Rio and Tokyo Olympics, as well as winning double individual European silver.

Salvino

A son of Sandro Hit x Donnerhall, this 14-year-old stallion is the top ride of the USA’s Adrienne Lyle. They won team silver together at the World Equestrian Games in 2018, and the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Sir Donnerhall II

Another of the Sandro Hit sons in action in Tokyo, this 15-year-old stallion, out of a Donnerhall II mare, is the championship ride of France’s Morgan Barbançon.

Sintano Van Hof Olympia

The 11-year-old gelding (Sandro Hit x Silvano) is one of the top grand prix horses in Britain at the moment – he and Gareth Hughes were travelling reserves for the Tokyo Olympics and have been selected to compete at the 2021 European Dressage Championships.

Sir Donnerhall

This super Sandro Hit x Donnerhall son was reserve five-year-old world champion at Verden in 2006 with Ulf Möller, and Bundeschampion 2006, and has gone on to become a very successful dressage sire himself, with offspring competing at the highest level.

Stedinger

Born in 2000, Stedinger is a son of Sandro Hit x Landadel, and is another who has become a very popular and successful sire of dressage horses.

Santana

Sweden’s Minna Telde partnered this black stallion (Sandro Hit x Rubinstein I), who famously had only one eye, at two European championships, a WEG and the London Olympics.

San Amour

San Amour, now 17, is currently ranked ninth in the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses sire rankings, behind Sandro Hit himself in third.

Samba Hit III

Now 18 years old, this Sandro Hit x Brentano II stallion stands in the UK and has proved popular with breeders, and was competed up to international small tour by Britain’s Gareth Hughes.

Santano II

Sandro Hit has done more than just produce top dressage horses; Santano II was Australian Chris Burton’s eventing ride in Rio – they won team bronze and were also fifth individually.

The recent Tokyo Olympic Games acted as something of a Sandro Hit showcase, as eight of the horses in the grand prix were his direct offspring. Plenty more were Sandro Hit descendants, though, including these three…

Sanceo

The breakout stars of Tokyo were Sabine Schut-Kery and the 15-year-old Sandro Hit grandson Sanceo (by San Remo). They lead the USA to team silver and scored over 81% twice.

Suppenkasper

Completing a trio of Sandro Hit offspring on the silver medal-winning USA team in Tokyo is the 13-year-old Suppenkasper (Spielberg x IPS Krack C), who was the ride of Steffen Peters and finished in the top 10 individually.

Sambuca

Sambuca and Heike Holstein were the sole Irish representatives in Tokyo. The Samarant x Limmerick mare, who is 12, is a home-bred.

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The illustrious dressage stallion Sandro Hit has died aged 28, after suffering from an infection.

Sandro Hit died at the Schockemöhle stallion station in Germany, where he has been based throughout his life. Bred by Reinhold Harder, he was by Sandro Song and out of the Ramino mare Loretta.

“Sandro Hit was especially close to my heart. He was something very special and the real founder of my stallion station. We are very affected by his loss,” said his owner, breeding mogul Paul Schockemöhle, who bought him at auction in 1993 as a foal.

Sandro Hit’s influence on dressage breeding cannot be underestimated – he can be credited as being behind a whole dynasty of modern dressage horses. He has more than 200 licensed sons, including top breeding stallions San Amour, San Remo and Sir Donnerhall I, and also has more than 490 daughters who have been awarded state premium status – including Poetin, the world champion and double Bundeschampion.

Sandro Hit was himself world champion and bundeschampion as a six-year-old under Ulf Möller. He was trained to grand prix, but stopped competing as a seven-year-old in order to focus on breeding. 

Among his offspring are countless horses who have made their mark in sport at top level. Among these is Dorothee Schneider’s world number three dressage horse Showtime FRH, winner of two Olympic team gold medals for Germany, most recently at the Tokyo Olympics, as well as being the individual European silver medallist in 2019. 

His influence as a sire of modern horses is shown by the fact that eight of the horses in the grand prix at this year’s Tokyo Olympics were sons or daughters of Sandro Hit, including Salvino, the ride of Adrienne Lyle, who won silver as part of the USA team. In fact, all three horses on the silver-medal winning USA team are descendants of Sandro Hit, with Sabine Schut-Kery’s Sanceo being by San Remo, and Steffen Peters’ Suppenkasper being by the Sandro Hit grandson Spielberg. A total of 14 horses who competed in the Olympic grand prix are descendants of Sandro Hit, with British reserve rider Gareth Hughes’ Sintano Van Hof Olympia also being a Sandro Hit son.

He is also the damsire of the current world number four – and former world number one – dressage horse, Isabell Werth’s Olympic and European gold medallist Weihegold OLD (by Blue Hors Don Schufro).

“I’m very happy to have quality sons of Sandro Hit who will secure his wonderful genes. It’s a very difficult farewell,” added Paul. 

Sandro Hit is currently sitting third in the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses sire rankings, having been second in 2017 and 2018.

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A prolific pony breeding stallion “admired by many” has been put down aged 25.

Deanshill Royal Portrait, a son of Sandbourne Royal Ensign, was put down on 10 June following the discovery of a cancerous growth.

Romanno Stud owner Jennifer Gilchrist told H&H she bought 128cm Portrait as a 10-year-old from his breeder Robert Cockram of Deanshill Stud. The stallion, who was partially sighted in one eye as a result of an injury he sustained as a youngster, enjoyed a brief showing career before concentrating on breeding duties.

“He was much admired and thought of by many people. He was one of the original stallions right at the top of the riding pony breeding programme many years ago,” Jennifer said.

Portrait’s progeny have competed at the Horse of the Year Show and the Royal International, and taken multiple titles at county shows.

“Although he was an older boy there’s still many out there by Portrait doing very well,” said Jennifer, who added that another breeder welcomed a foal by the stallion a few weeks ago.

“He’s thrown some cracking stock for me and many others. It’s not just showing – he’s bred sports and driving ponies.

“He was a very versatile stallion and always threw stock that were so easy – true childrens’ riding ponies. They were correct and pretty, but level-headed, which is what you want for a child’s pony.”

Jennifer, who owns Potrait’s full brother Deanshill Royal Jubilee and son Romanno Serendipity, said Portrait was the “kindest boy you could come across”.

“In his 25 years he was never sick or sorry, he was never lame. We used to use him for leading youngsters and teaching them how to load – anything you needed help on the yard with, Portrait was there. He could be stabled next to mares, and I would use him to nanny yearlings – you would forget he was a stallion,” said Jennifer.

“We also used him for teasing mares without doing the covering work and as long as he got two or three Polos he was happy – he was so easy to deal with. All his life everyone loved him, he was an absolute darling in all respects and ticked all the boxes.”

Jennifer said Portrait will be greatly missed.

“He was an integral part of the stud, not just as a breeding stallion but a member of the family,” she said.

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The much-loved thoroughbred stallion Primitive Proposal has been put down aged 21, leaving a “wonderful legacy”.

Primitive Proposal, by Primitive Rising and out of Louella With Love, had been owned by Charles Upham of Langaller Stud for the last eight years. “Percy” competed in eventing, showjumping and dressage in his youth; he qualified for the Burghley Young Event Horse final as a four-year-old and in 2008 qualified for the British Dressage winter regionals. He went on to concentrate on his breeding career.

Charles told H&H Percy was put down on Wednesday morning (12 May) owing to cancerous melanomas in his sheath.

“He was becoming swollen and was obviously in a fair bit of discomfort, and there was no way back,” he said.

“On the morning he was put down we stuck to his routine. I took him out and he trotted across the field and was whickering and calling to the mares at the bottom of the hill then came trotting back to the gate as he usually does, and we put him down there.”

Charles described Percy as a “lovely person”.

“He was always pleased to see you, he greeted you and wanted you close to him,” he said. “He would always put his head in your hands and stick his tongue out through his teeth. Whenever you left he would call to you as if to say ‘don’t leave me, stay and talk to me for longer’.

“He was really good to handle and to collect from. For a thoroughbred and an older horse you couldn’t have wished for a nicer or more genuine horse. He used to go in the paddock every day, but after 10 minutes he’d always be back at the gate kicking it, wanting to come in. He wanted to go out, have a buck and a roll and then he’d say ‘I’ve done that now I want to come back in’.”

Percy’s offspring include advanced eventers and show horses, and stallion The After Party, owned by Nick Gauntlett.

“Percy was a very popular stallion. He was an incredibly good-moving horse and was a true-breeding bay – he only ever threw a bay,” said Charles.

“We’ve had some foals by him this year and he has foals due to mares next year.”

Charles said Percy will be “very much missed”.

“When you work with stallions they get under your skin; they’re just a bit different to any other horse. Their work is so instinctive for them and in that instinct they would be fairly dominant yet they become very submissive in as much as they respect their handler, they wait to cover mares. You really build a lot of trust together,” he said.

Continued below…

‘A great loss to British breeding’: much-loved stallion dies aged 19

“The best thing about him was every time you walked on the yard his head was straight over the stable

Sport horse stallions – does breeding or sport come first? *H&H Plus*

Selene Scarsi investigates the factors that make up a stallion’s career, and asks whether it is breeding or competing that

Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

“We still keep walking past his door, looking in and realising of course he’s not there. The response we’ve had from people has been amazing and the impact he’s made on people over the years.”

A spokesman for British Breeding said the organisation is very sad to hear of the passing of the “wonderful British stallion”.

“He has left a wonderful legacy,” said the spokesman.

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade to access our H&H Plus online service which brings you breaking news as it happens as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Leading stallion Sir Shutterfly has died aged 19, in what has been described as a “great loss to British breeding”.

Sir Shutterfly (Silvio I x Forrest XX), a full brother to Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum’s legendary ride Shutterfly, qualified for Germany’s Bundeschampionate for five-year-olds and went on to compete to 1.50m in showjumping, before moving to a career as a breeding stallion.

Fairlight Stud owner Jo Sholls-Evan told H&H the loss of “Fly” will be felt by the stud, and by the wider community.

“For me one of the most important things is that he is remembered for having the most fantastic character,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a horse who loved life quite like he did.

“He never ran out of energy but he was incredibly easy, my husband Martin used to fling on his tack and take him for a hack. My small children could go into the stable and groom him and it never worried me because he was so kind.

“The best thing about him was every time you walked on the yard his head was straight over the stable door. He was a horse who used to make eye contact with you, he had an ability to make a connection with people.”

Fairlight Stud bought Fly seven years ago when he had finished a two-year loan period at Drumhowan Stud in Ireland and had been due to return to his owner Paul Schockemöhle in Germany.

Sir Shutterfly has produced a number of successful offspring competing in international eventing and showjumping. Csf Sir George and Darragh Ryan took silver in the five-year-old class at the 2018 World Breeding Federation (WBFSH) Championships for young showjumping horses in Lanaken, Belgium. In 2017 Sir Papillon and Laura Collett were fourth in the six-year-old class at the young horse eventing championships at Le Lion d’Angers, France, and in the same year Shutterflyke and Mirsolav Trunda took eighth in the seven-year-olds’ class.

“When you’re a mare owner you have to look at your mare’s good points and bad points, work out what you’re breeding for then find a suitable stallion. I personally wouldn’t waste my time with a stallion that wasn’t going to be able to produce what I was looking for, and that was one of the things I felt was so unique about Fly; he jumped well himself and he comes from a very long line of extremely good horses. He’s been an incredibly reliable producer of competition horses,” said Jo.

Jo said during his breeding duties, Fly’s manners were always “impeccable”.

“You could bring him down to the dummy on a headcollar and he’d stand and wait politely. There’s not many stallions around who are that polite all the time,” she said. “He also had the most hilarious sense of humour, he would pick a brush up and look so funny with it in his mouth as if he was saying “do I need to brush myself?”.

“If you took his tack to the stable he would get very excited because he knew he was going to be ridden. It didn’t matter where you went; he enjoyed hacking and going in the arena but fences were his favourite thing. The minute he knew he was going to be jumped he was very happy! He never bucked, reared, napped or spun – he really was perfect. Obviously I think he was amazing because he was mine, but he was so much more than just his ability to produce offspring.”

Since announcing Fly’s death Jo said she has received messages from around the world about him.

Article continued below…

‘I never wanted it to end’: Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum on her legendary partnership with Shutterfly *H&H Plus*

Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum retires Shutterfly at Aachen

Shutterfly, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum’s popular showjumper, was retired in front of a crowd of 40,000 at CHIO Aachen yesterday (17 July).

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“I’ve been overwhelmed with the most fantastic messages from people saying that they’ve used him and how lovely their offspring are,” she said. “That’s the sort of thing that makes me feel really happy as a stallion owner to think other people have had that same level of pleasure of being part of his life. It’s very comforting to think that your horse‘s spirit is living on in his youngstock.”

A spokesman for the British Breeding Futurity said the organisation was “incredibly saddened” to hear about Fly.

“A great loss to British breeding, our thoughts are with Jo at the very sad time,” he said.

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade to access our H&H Plus online service which brings you breaking news as it happens as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Top dressage sire Rubin Royal OLD has celebrated his 25th birthday in the “best of health”.

The stallion (Rohdiamant x Grundstein II) counts grand prix stars of the British dressage scene Rosalie B, Rubins Nite and Rubin Al Asad among his many progeny.

“We are very proud that this main sire is enjoying the best of health,” said the stud’s operation’s manager Wolfgang Stagge, adding that it was “not an easy task at all” to get him to pose for a birthday photo.

“He [has] always [been] so full of energy and this joy of movement and willingness to perform certainly explains his own placings [at] grand prix and the outstanding successes of his offspring.”

Rubin Royal Old, known to his breeder Harli Seifert as “Rubinchen”, was standing at stud until last year (frozen semen is still available) and remains the star at Dressurpferde Leistungszentrum Lodbergen in Germany.

He was the first colt out of Harli’s favourite mare, Rumirell (Grundsetin II x Akzent II) — a direct descendant of top international eventing mare Chica (breeding name Rudilore II), whose progeny include 30 licensed stallions.

Rubin Royal OLD had a successful dressage career of his own, with top national results under Dieter Weichert before moving to Hendrik Lochthowe, with whom he achieved numerous top-10 international grand prix finishes.

In 2015, he made it into the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses’ top-10 list of dressage sires for the first time, and was ranked third in 2017 and 2018.

Article continues below…

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Sport horse stallions – does breeding or sport come first? *H&H Plus*

Selene Scarsi investigates the factors that make up a stallion’s career, and asks whether it is breeding or competing that

His progeny are among British dressage’s top pairings of recent years.

Rubin Al Asad, owned by the Bechtolsheimer family, was crowned British Dressage national champion with rider Lara Butler in 2018. The consistent pair have rarely been out of the top placings at international grands prix and were also reserve for the Olympics, European Championships and World Equestrian Games between 2016 and 2018.

Hayley Watson-Greaves’ multiple international-winning stable star Rubins Nite is another of his sons and have also claimed the British Dressage national champion title (2017), while Laura Tomlinson’s grand prix ride Rosalie B is among the leading competition mares sired by him.

He has also sired successful showjumpers and eventers, including CCI4* (now five-star) eventer RF Demeter.

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade to access our H&H Plus online service which brings you breaking news as it happens as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Selene Scarsi investigates the factors that make up a stallion’s career, and asks whether it is breeding or competing that contributes most to his value

BREEDING or sport – which comes first for a stallion? Is it a better commercial strategy for a stallion to be the “hot new thing” – fashionable and successful as a young horse – then retire from sport in order to focus solely on breeding to maximise his gains as a sire? Or, conversely, is it more beneficial for a stallion to compete to higher levels – with less likelihood of competitive glory but more exposure?

Most stallion owners in the three Olympic disciplines are unanimous in preferring to prioritise sport over breeding, both as a way of increasing their stallions’ value, and as the most effective advertising campaign for their stud. Indeed, it is rare that a stallion is deemed so valuable as a sire that he is retired early from sport. But a stallion’s career path is dictated by many elements, not least the logistics of collecting semen, which forces some breeders – especially in Britain – into an either/or situation.

Woodlander Stud’s Lynne Crowden feels strongly that stallions should compete, but explains that it can be a struggle to balance breeding duties with competition training for logistical reasons.

“I don’t think anyone in this country has the kind of set-up that’s common in Germany, Denmark or the Netherlands, where the dressage stallions are ridden and breed from the same location,” she explains. “Here we have some fabulous stallions but in order to collect semen, we need to travel them to a different location, and that makes it a harder process.

“Our Woodlander Rockstar, for example, had only frozen semen available as an international grand prix horse, as it was logistically impossible for him both to breed and train,” adds Lynne. “You have to be able to either compete and collect your stallion from the same place, or make a strategic decision to sustain interest in the horse by taking him out of breeding and putting more training in, so that you can build his competition credentials.”

Working from home

EVEN at large studs in Europe where stallions can, effectively, work from home, the priority firmly remains on sport. Saskia Conredel of Gestüt Bonhomme, the German dual-purpose stud standing, among others, D’Egalité and Grey Flanell, explains: “Some stallions, like Morricone or Cadeau Noir, don’t have any problem having two jobs, so we can easily keep training and collecting fresh semen at the same time. Other stallions find it harder, and in those cases our priority is the sport.

“For instance, our dressage stallion Fiderdance was having a hard time concentrating on his grand prix training while breeding. To make it easier for him, we decided to make him available as frozen semen only, precisely because we want to concentrate on the sport,” says Saskia, adding that the 12-year-old Fidertanz son will return to breeding when he retires from dressage, but emphasising that he will not be retired any earlier than if he was not a breeding stallion.

“Irrespective of the discipline, our priority is always the top sport – whatever that means for each individual horse, as obviously not everyone is going to reach grand prix and, while one jumper might get to 1.60m, another’s limit might be 1.45m or 1.50m.

“When we look at a young stallion, we try to make our best assessment of his future potential – looking for a great hindleg, outstanding temperament, and so forth – and then, after that, we’re actually quite chilled. We take everything slowly, and do not aim for the Bundeschampionate or other intensive young horse classes at all.”

Bonhomme pride themselves on keeping their stallions healthy and motivated, and are careful not to do too much too early. Dressage stallions tend to start competing towards the end of their four-year-old year, having bred lightly from three, while their showjumpers might not compete until they are five.

“In some cases, we leave it even longer. Our jumping stallion Zinedream was so cool and easy-going that we knew he wouldn’t need to show much – he only started to compete properly at six.

“We become more interested in competitions when they are seven or eight, and their bodies are more able to cope with the pressures of training,” adds Saskia. “But we are lucky to be in this position because the stud owner, Rebecca Gutman, runs various businesses. The stud needs to be viable, but it’s not a tragedy if a stallion has 200 fewer mares in his first year because he hasn’t competed as much as others of his age. Other studs have to do what the market dictates.”

Lynne agrees that success in young horse classes will not usually be enough to create a sustained, lucrative breeding career. She points to the example of German Kristina Bröring-Sprehe’s Olympic medallist Desperados FRH, whose lasting popularity as a sire came only after he reached the very highest levels of the sport.

“Either you keep changing your stallion roster so that you always have the ‘next fresh thing’ – but that’s something that only very large studs can afford to do – or you invest in training to high levels. I always tell would-be stallion producers that they have to invest in the capital value of the stallion, because in the end they will go out of fashion,” Lynne says.

“Not to mention that, financially, you are much more likely to get revenue from selling a stallion as a grand prix horse rather than through stud fees. So you have to think of competitions not only for their advertising potential, but also because at some point, a stallion might no longer be desirable in breeding, and will need to have a value, and that value will depend on his competition success,” Lynne concludes.

A career in both camps

BUT the market can be wildly disorientating, with demand for young stallions varying between disciplines and countries, making it a challenge to work out how to structure a stallion’s dual-career.

At the beginning of the breeding programme at Gestüt Westfalenhof, the home of renowned dressage sire Belissimo M, stud manager Kathrin Sudhölter was adamant that she would focus on getting the Dimaggio son Desario, then seven, to grand prix before focusing on his breeding. It was Andreas Helgstrand who retorted that for Desario to become a successful foundation stallion for the stud, he should breed while he was young.

“Guess who was right? Andreas,” Kathrin says. “A lot of breeders on the Continent want the latest fashion, the most recent licensing champion. I think this is connected to the fact that a lot of dressage breeders don’t really care about breeding a grand prix horse, but want a foal with a flashy trot and spectacular front legs. Those breeders are less likely to be interested in a proven grand prix stallion, as they tend to go for the next hot thing.”

But Kathrin believes that this is quite discipline-specific, and that jumping breeders tend to be more performance-orientated.

“In showjumping, things are totally different: the stallions get mares when they reach the highest levels of the sport,” she explains. “A case in point is our Heartbreaker stallion Vancouver D’Auvray, who didn’t breed for years, but excelled in sport. Breeders started using him when, and because, he became successful internationally.

“You also don’t tend to get quite so much money for a showjumping foal, so you have to invest more in the training,” she adds. “That’s why jumping breeders want to breed more international sport horses, rather than foals. A showjumping breeder has to invest in the future; it’s a totally different world.”

Performance is key

ULTIMATELY, allowing a stallion to reach his own competition potential is something that stallion owners owe breeders. British dressage team member Lottie Fry, who rides the Van Olst stallions in the Netherlands, stresses that, despite many dressage breeders’ desire for flashy foals, the sport is always more important than breeding for their stallions.

“The goal for every horse is grand prix – even for those stallions who are extremely successful in young horse classes and start breeding at four. If they are successful only until they are six or so, that’s not very exciting for a breeder,” she explains.

“Those breeders who do use our young stallions like to continue following their journey all the way to grand prix.”

While a stallion’s early popularity with breeders appears to vary between disciplines, it is clear that it is sporting performance that drives success as a sire.

“Breeders who choose your stallion need to be able to talk about the father of their foal and say, not, ‘Oh he was a pretty horse and I used him in his first year,’ but rather, for example, ‘He had three internationally licensed sons, and now he’s training for grand prix’,” concludes Lynne, citing the example of her stallion Woodlander Wild Child. “Then, they can look at their own Wild Child and say: ‘Yes, that was worth doing.’”

Career spin-offs

Some stallions’ career paths veer in unexpected directions. Catherston Stud’s popular stallion Timolin was bred for dressage, but is proving a popular eventing sire, producing talented progeny in both disciplines equally.

Jennie Loriston-Clarke says: “We first noticed that he had an amazing jump in him when he loose-jumped for his grading; Totilas, his father, does have jumping lines on the dam side. He ended up eventing at intermediate level. Now we’re focusing on dressage because, at 10 years old and with small tour wins under his belt, he’s nearly reached grand prix.

“But he’s proved himself as an eventing sire as well as a dressage sire, producing trainable and bold offspring, and is perhaps right now even more popular as an eventing rather than a dressage stallion.”

Sometimes the decision to put competition first is taken away. Suzanne Lavandera purchased Dimaggio, one of the leading dressage sires in the history of the sport, as a three-year-old, and admits she wanted “a competition horse we could breed with”.

Suzanne went on to win the five-year-old World Breeding Championship with him in 2000, but aged eight Dimaggio contracted hormonal laminitis, which put an end to his sport career and he became a breeding stallion.

“We never stopped him being a competition horse; his laminitis did that,” points out Suzanne. “The competitions were the priority, but it was amazing that, when he wasn’t able to compete anymore, he still could enjoy a career as a breeding stallion, producing dynamic movers who are also trainable.”

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This exclusive feature is also available to read in H&H magazine, 18 March 2021 issue

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Je T’Aime Flamenco – a world-class stallion for breeders on a budget *H&H Plus*

12 tips to help you choose the right stallion for your mare

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We find out more about Je T’Aime Flamenco, the world-class showjumping stallion whose stud fee is unlikely to make your eyes water...

“WHEN I went to try him, I left thinking, ‘I have to buy that horse.’ Je T’Aime Flamenco was an outstanding jumper and already a beautiful-looking horse, with real breeding stallion potential.”

Ask Billy Twomey about his first memories of this special horse and this is the Irish Olympian’s response, drawn from trying the then six-year-old at Pennie Cornish’s yard.

Fast forward 15 years and the Belgian warmblood is one of the most popular stallions standing at Stallion AI Services – he has covered more than 100 mares in the past year – after a hugely successful showjumping career.

Pennie first saw Je T’Aime Flamenco – or “Doug” – when he was a three-year-old.

“I was in Belgium looking for some horses and saw him. He was too expensive for me, so I didn’t buy him,” she reveals.

But the horse Pennie bought didn’t work out and she ended up swapping him for Doug.

“He was the one I wanted anyway, though I got him in a bit of a roundabout way,” she says. “I always loved him. I liked the fact he wasn’t overly flash, but he was light and quick off the floor. He always made a good shape with his front feet really up.”

Pennie says that Doug was easy to break in, but that he went through “a really naughty phase” as a four-year-old.

“He came through it and was just so consistent,” she says, adding that Doug was somewhat overshadowed by Talan, who is the same age and was also produced by Pennie, and who went on to be a championship horse for Britain’s Robert Smith and Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal Al Shalan.

“Talan was very, very flash. Peoplewouldn’t take much notice of Doug because he wasn’t flash, but I always preferred Doug because he was naturally more athletic. He came off the floor like a coiled spring.”

Pennie sold Doug to Sue Davies and her husband Eddie, who died in 2018, for Billy to ride.

“It’s always tempting to keep them, but it’s never the right decision,” says Pennie. “If you do so, something happens to them and they are never quite as good. I can’t afford to keep them, but I have a lot of nice young horses and there is always something else coming through.

“It’s nice to see the horses go to people like the Davies and Billy, who you know are going to get the best out of them and will jump them at world-class shows.”

Successful from the start

JE T’AIME FLAMENCO was successful from the start with Billy, finishing third in the six- and seven-year-old classes at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) and winning the seven-year-old national championships.

“He was a clear-round machine and very careful,” says Billy. “He was mature in his head and never spooky – nothing really fazed him.”

By the time he was eight, Je T’Aime Flamenco had won the grand prix at HOYS.

“He was a little tricky to train at home as he got worked up, but he had fantastic technique so there was nothing really to train,” says Billy. “When I knew at home wasn’t really his place to work, I used just to keep him in condition at home and jump him loose or on the lunge, then take him straight to shows. He did his job in the ring and didn’t need me to remind him.”

Over the four years he was in his prime, Doug won seven international grands prix, three of them at five-star level. Billy’s favourite memory is winning in Amsterdam in 2009, a victory the pair repeated the following year.

“The jump-off was super fast and the Italian rider Gianni Govoni had gone so fast no one thought anyone could beat him,” he remembers. “We managed to shave a proportion of a second off and win.”

Owner Sue Davies enjoyed watching Doug compete, too.

“He was a pleasure to have as a working showjumper – he’s just been so good,” she says. “I still love to see him at the stallion parades – he shows off and he looks so good for his age.”

Living the high life at Stallion AI

JE T’AIME FLAMENCO retired from competing in 2013 and now lives at Stallion AI’s Shropshire base all year round. He goes out most mornings in a paddock by the car park, where he enjoys seeing all the visitors.

“We’re just about to get him fit ready for the stud season starting at the end of March,” explains Stallion AI’s Sarah Wilkes when we talk in January. “He’ll be fully clipped out and work on the water treadmill. He’s 21 and it’s key there’s no muscle tightness before semen collections, so he’ll go on the horse walker and under heat lamps, plus he has regular physio.”

Doug’s excellent temperament means he has been the demo horse for the centre’s webinars over the past year.

“Temperament is key,” says Sarah. “We deal with some clients who want to breed an Olympic horse, but 80% are hobby breeders or breed commercially for people to bring on for bigger riders to buy. Doug passes on his trainability and temperament.

“Because of his type, ability and excellent performance record, he seems to be the choice for everybody who wants a serious jumping horse. He’s also very versatile and a good match for most mares.”

Doug is available by fresh, chilled or frozen semen at a stud fee of £900+VAT. His semen quality is excellent, such that the centre can offer sexed semen from him.

“A lot of people say that’s a low fee for a stallion of that calibre – when you compare what he and others have produced he’s easily a £1,500 stallion – but his owners wanted to make him accessible to everybody,” says Sarah.

Among the Je T’Aime Flamenco offspring Pennie has bred is Roma IV, who has jumped Nations Cups and was eighth in the five-star grand prix at Gijon in 2018 with Alison Barton.

“Most of the progeny I’ve known are bigger than Doug – Roma is quite a big mare – and he certainly throws jumpers,” says Pennie.

Billy Twomey’s ride Kimba Flamenco, winner of three grands prix, is another flagbearer for the stallion. He is out of a Heartbreaker mare.

“I see similarities to Doug in Kimba Flamenco. They’re horses you need to meet halfway, not horses you could bully or force to do anything. In one way, they are super straightforward; it seems they just want to be treated the correct way and then they’ll do anything for you,” says Billy. “But I have a very good eight-year-old who’s quite different, so they’re not all like that.”

This pair are backed up by the likes of WKD Aimez Moi, who jumped at the 2019 Nations Cup Final with Egypt’s Sameh El Dahan, and Fellow Castlefield, who was fourth in the Dublin grand prix and in the top 12 at two young rider Europeans with Ireland’s Susan Fitzpatrick, and who is now with Greece’s Athina Onassis.

With over 55% thoroughbred blood, Doug also appeals to the eventing market, says Sarah. In this sphere, his progeny include the four-star mare J’Adore Salsa, ridden by Tyler Cassells, and three-star horses such as Hilton Cooley with Wills Oakden.

Billy’s instincts were right when he first saw the young Je T’Aime Flamenco – he was indeed an outstanding jumper and he continues to prove his worth as a stallion, with the best yet to come from many of his progeny.

Je T’Aime Flamenco’s breeding

JE T’AIME FLAMENCO was bred in Belgium by Michel Spaas. His sire, Flamenco De Semilly jumped successfully, and counts among his progeny Wonderboy III, who jumped at London 2012 and the 2010 World Equestrian Games with Syria’s Ahmed Saber Hamcho.

Flamenco De Semilly is by the young rider team gold-medal winner Le Tot De Semilly, whose progeny include Cevo Itot Du Chateau, who jumped at two Olympics with Edwina Tops-Alexander, and the world team gold medallist and prolific sire Diamant De Semilly.

Je T’Aime Flamenco’s dam Quansie Van De Halhoeve competed and won at 1.50m level in Belgium, and she is by Landetto, a son of the super-sire Landgraf.

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This exclusive feature is also available in H&H magazine, on sale Thursday 18 March, 2021

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If you’re thinking of swerving the more established names, and putting your mare to an upcoming, young stallion standing in Britain, here are nine stallions all aged under seven that you might want to consider…

Donnarumma Blue Z (Dominator Z x Chacco-Blue)

Age: four

Studbook: Zangersheide

Stud fee: £800 + VAT elitestallions.co.uk

Donnarumma Blue is standing in Britain this year and has a pedigree bursting with big names. His sire Dominator Z is a hugely successful showjumper, having accumulated numerous international grand prix wins and top placings with Germany’s Christian Ahlmann. He in turn is the son of Diamant De Semilly, who has been second in the world jumping sire rankings for the past two years, and grandson of the great Le Tot De Semilly. Meanwhile Donnarumma Blue’s damsire, Chacco-Blue, topped the world sire rankings in 2021, just as he has done since 2017, as well as being a grand prix winner himself. 

Jacondrik (Jaguar Mail x Contendro I)

Age: five

Studbook: Hanoverian

Stud fee: £650+VAT cauntonmanorstud.com

This exciting young stallion, who is nearly 70% blood, comes from illustrious lines and is certain to get British breeders excited. His sire is Olympic jumping stallion Jaguar Mail, currently the world number one ranked eventing sire, while his dam Cosima is by Contendro I, who has topped the eventing sire rankings himself on numerous occasions and currently sits at number five. Jacondrik will begin his own eventing career in 2022, under none other than Oliver Townend, with his first crop of foals expected this year as well. 

BE Aquila (Golden Hawk x Querlybet Hero)

Age: six

Studbook: Breeders Elite

Stud fee: £800 breenequestrian.com

This young stallion is standing in Britain and available for the first time to breeders in 2022. He is home-bred by Breen Equestrian and is already impressing Shane Breen with his attitude and scope. His sire Golden Hawk has been a prolific winner at international five-star level, while BE Quila’s dam is Fragile D’Or, who jumped at 1.45m level herself with Shane. The youngster qualified for the five-year-old finals at Hickstead and Bolesworth in 2021 and will contest six-year-old classes this year

Blue Hors Zackorado (Blue Hors Zack x Florencio I)

Age: six

Studbook: Oldenburg

Stud fee: £1000 + VAT elitestallions.co.uk

This Blue Hors Zack son could be one of the most exciting young stallions in Britain right now, standing at Elite Stallions in Devon for the 2022 breeding season, and perhaps beyond. Zackorado’s sire is the phenomenally successful grand prix dressage stallion Blue Hors Zack, who finished 11th individually and was the best breeding stallion at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Zackorado himself was champion of his licensing in 2018, and was the fifth most used breeding stallion in Denmark in 2020.

SS Pegasus (Balou De Rouet Z x Voltaire)

Age: six

Studbook: KWPN

Stud fee: £550 + VAT stallionai.co.uk

This exciting young British stallion, who boasts outstanding jumping bloodlines and whose first crop of foals are due on the ground in 2022, was fourth in the four-year-old championship at the Al Shira’aa Bolesworth Young Horse Championships in 2020, and the highest-placed British-bred horse. Pegasus’ super technique and work ethic is backed up by his pedigree – Balou De Rouet is one the most popular and successful showjumping sires of all time, while his dam Tolita has had a glittering career herself, being placed 17 times at 1.60m.

Future Hepsilon (Upsilon x Heraldik xx)

Age: five

Studbook: Breeders Elite

Stud fee: £650 futuresporthorses.co.uk

As the only licensed son of the record-breaking eventing stallion Upsilon standing in the UK, the powerful, athletic Hepsilon is sure to be busy in 2022, his third year of breeding. His dam, Heraldik Girl-W has already produced two international event horses and her sire, the legendary Heraldik, topped the WBFSH sire rankings for eventing for five consecutive years. 

Lestingdale VS (Glamourdale x Sorento)

Age: six

Studbook: KWPN

Stud fee: £800+VAT clementsequine.com

Described as the “British Glamourdale”, this striking young son of Lottie Fry’s 2018 seven-year-old world champion stallion, who recently scored over 80% at international grand prix, has plenty to get dressage breeders excited. Under Elly Darling, Lestingdale topped the four-year-old championship at the NEXGEN Young Horse Series in 2020 and is now frequently scoring plus-70% at elementary, having been crowned elementary freestyle regional champion in 2022. His first year at stud was 2020, and three of his foals born in 2021 were awarded gold premium status.

Britannia’s Bijou (Littledale Bright Star x Mr Big Cat xx)

Age: five

Studbook: SPSS

Stud fee: £350+VAT lucindafredericks.com/stallion-services

Out of Bella’s Britannia – one of four embryo transfer daughters of Lucinda Fredericks’ legendary eventing mare Headley Britannia – this young stallion is already showing exciting ability under saddle. His sire is top pony stallion Littledale Bright Star, who is only 12.2hh but has sired international progeny in all three Olympic disciplines. Bijou received gold premium status in the 2020 Futurity series and also from the Sports Pony Studbook Society (SPSS). He enjoyed a successful 2021 in showjumping, eventing and four-year-old classes, and will continue his sport career in 2022 alongside covering mares. 

Woodlander Sequoia (Secret x Imperio)

Age: four

Studbook: Oldenburg

Stud fee: £900 woodlanderstud.com

A son of the 2020 Bundeschampion Secret, whose sire is none other than the triple world champion Sezuan, this exciting young stallion standing in Britain this year has performance running through his veins. Sequoia is out of Kiss, a daughter of the Olympic dressage horse Imperio and whose Trakehner line has produced many generations of successful stallions. 

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As the man at the helm of Stallion AI Services in Shropshire, the UK’s largest artificial insemination centre, Tullis Matson has been welcoming some of the country’s most famous stallions through his doors since 2000.

“There are some amazing stallions out there. I’m an emotional person and I tend to get very wrapped up in them,” says Tullis, speaking on episode 38 of the Horse & Hound Podcast, currently supported by NAF.

“Demonstrator – Ferdi Eilberg’s grand prix dressage stallion – is one who always sticks out in my mind. He came from the Broadstone Stud and he just oozed charisma. He had a likeability about him; he went about with a permanent smile on his face, and was quite cheeky with it.

“We also had Mill Law, the fantastic advanced eventing stallion and it’s great to see all his youngstock popping up here, there and everywhere. He was pushing over 100 mares a year.

“Then there was Arko III, who was amazing. It was such an honour to stand him at the centre and to have someone put their faith in us with such an amazing horse. I’m so proud that our owners have supported us like this,” says Tullis.

“There is also the great Big Star, who is with us now – he arrived last week. He hasn’t forgotten what to do, that’s for certain – he really knows his job.”

‘We have a duty of care towards rare breeds’

While sport stallions and breeding are at the centre of day-to-day life at Stallion AI Services, the development of new techniques and technologies, such as sexed semen, has meant that Tullis Matson and his team have embarked on a journey into the possibilities of cryo-preservation. This includes a focus on rare breeds and species, something Tullis is especially passionate about.

“I love my rare breeds; my father was president of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, and when he passed away they asked me to become a trustree. I became hooked on the passion of it and what we could do using new technology, for breeds such as the Suffolk, the Cleveland Bay, the Clydesdale.

“Every year I think surely there’s no more technology that can come along, we must have hit the top, but every year I’m amazed about what comes bouncing along, such as sexed semen.”

Sexed semen – an innovative process by which semen is sorted prior to insemination in order to determine the sex of the foal – was behind the birth of an important Suffolk filly in 2020.

“It was only one foal, but it’s proof of concept and it shows these technologies can work and help,” explains Tullis. “There are only 72 female Suffolks left in the country and only 300 left in the world. We have to do something about it – they’re part of our heritage and I think we have a duty of care towards them.”

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Not just horses…

Tullis’ pioneering work into genetic preservation has branched out further than the equine world, too.

“We have gone on to use our equine freezing extender to freeze elephant semen. I was bowled over to be asked to go to South Africa in October 2019 and it was one of the most memorable trips of my lifetime,” he says. “We did seven bull elephants over a 10-day period.

“They are just the most amazing animals; there were 10 million elephants at the beginning of this century, and only 400,000 now, with the possibility that there will only be 200,000 by 2025. We have to preserve their genetics, so we used the equine semen extender to freeze their semen down.

“It was an incredible experience to collect off these wild animals, and to be so close to them. I was sitting between their front and back legs for hours and I could literally hear their hearts beating.”

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The coronavirus pandemic has turned the world on its head. Alice Collins investigates how breeders have fared, and the impact Covid-19 has had on the market

Life as we know it is on hold, at least for now. But when breeders make their decisions, they’re required to look to the following year. So how do they think the pandemic has shifted the landscape and what might come next?

Many in the breeding world have been forced to adapt in this torrid time, exing to new ways of working or selling. One of those is Emma Blundell of Yorkshire-based dressage stud Mount St John. Covid-19 came knocking for Emma, who was laid low by the virus in March and had to postpone many 2020 plans.

“We pivoted to an online auction for the first time,” she says. “Though it was later than we’d planned due to my illness.”

With the onset of the pandemic and the ensuing lockdown, Emma’s clients could no longer travel to the stud to view horses.

“We’d thought about an online sale before, but Covid was the final nudge,” says Emma, who has sold a total of 10 embryos this year. “We had to adjust fast and create a lot more video and pictures of all the horses for sale.

“Luckily, as a commercial operation, we could continue safely scanning and breeding as normal during lockdown, whereas some people cut back or maybe vets couldn’t come out. That’s why we decided to put more in-foal mares into the auction than we’d normally sell.”

Of the 13 lots, the price highlight of €24,000 (£21,300) was an embryo from Uusminka, the full sister of Totilas, by Foundation. National grand prix champion Mount St John Freestyle’s daughter MSJ Dance oor provided an embryo by Totilas, which sold for €23,000. The average price of the seven auction embryos was €18,927.

Other online auctions also yielded robust money, with the Billy Stud’s elite 2020 sale leading to six ridden jumpers and eventers selling for £50,000 or more.

The annual December Schockemöhle/Kasselmann PSI Auction of dressage and jumping horses took place without an audience for the first time in its 41-year history, but still produced a turnover of €14.5m. Top of the 42 lots, the six-year-old jumper Calourina PS – by Carembar De Muze – sold for €1.6m.

Other fresh online tactics reaped dividends, not least for Tullis Matson of Stallion AI Services, who began offering webinars.

Their popularity – spanning more than 70 countries – surprised him.

“Like everyone, we’ve had to modify how we reach out to clients, so we decided to try webinars,” says Tullis. “Nobody even knew what Zoom was back then. The webinars absolutely flew and British Breeding wanted to be involved too, so we joined forces.”

There was also an uptick in stallions coming to Stallion AI in 2020, and the 28 stallion boxes were full from the first lockdown.

“Breeders had a lot more choice, as stallions who normally compete weren’t at shows and were available for breeding,” adds Tullis. “We also froze more; usually in the summer it’s just fresh and chilled, but lots of stallions came for freezing in 2020.”

Like Tullis, Shirley Light of Brendon Stud found that breeders were eager to use the stallions they were offering.

“We had a really good season,” she says. “A lot of people who’d been dithering about whether to breed put their horses in foal, as they realised the summer was a wipeout.”

Shirley has seen price tags at the top end of the market holding up well.

“Prices have gone up for good ones as there are fewer horses about, but that’s been brewing for a few years as prices for everything keep going up,” she adds. “Quality horses are holding on to more value, especially home-breds.”

Lorna Wilson of Elite Stallions and Newton Stud has had more buyers interested in purchasing embryos from strong dam-lines.

“Top mare lines will always sell, so we looked at new ways of getting people into quality bloodlines without having to spend six-figure sums on top mares. Elite Embryos was in the pipeline anyway, but we sped it up as we had so many enquiries.”

The increasingly active online market puts sellers with good, transparent reputations at a major advantage.

Brendon Stud and Mount St John both have clients who’ve been con dent to buy on recommendation, without seeing the horses in person. In 2020, Emma sold a foal for the highest price she’s ever achieved. She also dipped her toe into online buying.

“I bought my first horse online during Covid – an embryo at auction,” she says. “For a lockdown Monday night, it was pretty exciting. I think the online marketplace will grow a lot, particularly for embryos.”

Shirley’s reputation for honesty has also been a major boon in this new paradigm.

“I sold four horses abroad – to the Bahamas, France and Ireland – from videos in the first lockdown,” she says. “The Ireland lady was shocked that the mare was precisely as I’d described. We’ve bred and produced these horses, so we know them inside out. And it helps that I’m fairly well known for telling it like it is. Transparency is key in every aspect and buyers aren’t going to get any surprises.”

Sales of semen from the hundreds of European stallions that Lorna markets were up year on year.

“A lot of people who’d debated breeding from sport mares decided to go ahead with it this year,” she says. “So we had more semen sales, and more sport mares coming to the stud for embryo transfer. We foaled 85 mares at the stud and had tons of interest from buyers via our YouTube channel. The big stallion stations we work with have also had a strong year: the stallions at Helgstrand covered 6,000 mares, and Schockemöhle had their busiest year ever.”

Shirley observes that there have been fewer outlets for those with disposable incomes, keeping the market buoyant.

“The trade for young horses has been very good,” she confirms. “People weren’t going out to eat or going on holiday, so they bought horses instead. And they had more time, so young ones were in demand.”

But, at the other end of the spectrum, there has been tremendous nancial hardship. Many hobby breeders have lost jobs and income, and some smaller breeders simply found they could no longer make ends meet, so bred less.

With so much economic uncertainty, Tullis was taken aback by the increased demand. And having braced for a dry 2020, Lorna was also pleasantly surprised by brisk business at Elite Dressage, the sister business run by Anna Ross that produces and sells stock from the stud.

“As soon as the rst lockdown was over, Anna’s phone was ringing o the hook with people wanting to buy horses at all levels,” says Lorna. “Andreas [Helgstrand] said the same: nobody went to try and buy horses in the first half of 2020, but they made up for it in the second half with tremendous demand.”

The confusing road ahead

The future is paved with the dual uncertainties of the ongoing global pandemic and Brexit. Tullis has been feverishly trying to digest all the new post-Brexit regulations.

“Initially I think semen imports and exports will be a nightmare and everyone will be confused, so those could take a battering,” he says. “There could well be an uptick in mare owners using British-based stallions while the kinks are ironed out.

“Anyone using a stallion based abroad should consider whether using frozen semen would be possible – for the mare and the vet – instead, if there are issues with chilled,” he concludes.

Ref: 18 February 2021

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Equine viral arteritis may be rare in the UK, but we cannot afford to be complacent, warns Karen Coumbe MRCVS

WITH vague signs and the ability to spread undetected via silent “shedder” stallions, the infectious disease equine viral arteritis (EVA) has the potential to cause havoc within the UK breeding industry.

EVA is caused by the equine arteritis virus and is found virtually worldwide, including in mainland Europe where there is high horse population immunity and low-grade signs of the disease.

Evidence suggests the global incidence of EVA is increasing. While the UK has remained relatively unaffected, this means our equine population has little or no immunity and would be highly vulnerable to infection when or if the virus recurs here again.

EVA is unusual in that it is spread by both respiratory and venereal routes. The disease is rarely life-threatening to healthy adult horses, but can result in abortion in broodmares and, infrequently, death in young foals.

The most serious issue is that some stallions are apparently healthy carriers of infection, shedding the virus in their semen. Mares mated with or inseminated by such shedder stallions may become infected and spread the disease to others by the respiratory route.

The disease can be transmitted by all forms of artificial insemination (AI); neither chilling nor freezing will destroy the virus, which is preserved in the semen. Antibiotics commonly used in semen extenders have no effect on its survival. The consequences of an outbreak could be devastating, both for individual studs and the wider equine industry.

How the equine arteritis virus spreads

• Through venereal contact between mare and stallion
• From stallion to mare at AI, through infected semen
• Via droplets from the respiratory tract, spread by coughing and snorting, through any close contact, such as in yards, turnout or at shows
• Through contact with aborted foetuses, or fluids and placentas of mares who aborted due to EVA, or during foaling

High-risk situations

MECHANISMS are in place to prevent the introduction of equine viral arteritis to the UK via semen imports.

Any semen imported should be certified by an official vet from the country of origin, to confirm that the stallion is free from infections – including EVA.

In the UK, only vets and certified AI technicians are allowed to inseminate mares. It is their responsibility to notice the lack of certification, whether paper or electronic, to acknowledge this is an illegal import that should be rejected, and to report the infringement appropriately.

The British horse industry must do all it can to protect itself from any further outbreaks. EVA is classified here as an exotic notifiable disease, which means that a case must be reported to the authorities if it is identified in stallions, or mares that have been bred or inseminated in the past 14 days.

High-risk situations for spread of the disease include any import and also the covering or insemination of mares, and when they are later foaling down, or whenever there is movement of horses between premises.

As horses which have EVA and are capable of passing on the disease do not necessarily show clinical signs, control and prevention is based upon blood testing to identify carriers.

Owners and breeders need to be aware of the potential risks of EVA. Equally, vets must remain vigilant. The disease should be considered a possibility until it can be ruled out by diagnostic testing of any suspects.

It would seem that most of the recent EVA infections in the UK have been carrier stallions, first detected by routine serological (blood) testing conducted for international trade, pre-purchase or pre-breeding purposes, and not identified through investigation of clinical disease.

Be cautious, however, and monitor your inseminated mare for signs of illness, which is one way the disease has previously been detected.

Physical clues include fever, lethargy and depression, conjunctivitis (pink eye), nasal discharge, nettle rash-type skin lesions and swelling of the eye socket, lower limbs, scrotum or udder.

All of these signs are vague, so lab tests are required to confirm the diagnosis. Proper investigations can identify the presence and level of antibodies by testing blood, and can also screen for the actual virus in blood, semen and other samples.

When a mare aborts her foal, or if a newborn foal’s death could be EVA-related, the mare’s clinical history and blood samples should be sent to the lab along with samples from both the placenta and the dead foal.

Prevention via vaccination

There are reliable, readily available tests to control equine viral arteritis. The main method of prevention is vaccination, particularly for stallions, accompanied by blood tests on all horses prior to breeding to confirm that they are free from infection.

Semen can be tested to ensure it is safe for insemination, and also to identify whether a stallion is shedding the virus. More than one EVA outbreak, such as that in South Africa, has been caused by semen sent from Europe that subsequently was reported to be infected.

In the UK, the vaccine is used to protect stallions but not mares. The timing of the vaccine is crucial, so it should be administered under strict veterinary guidance. A blood test must be taken beforehand to show that the stallion has no antibodies, because post-vaccination tests cannot distinguish whether antibodies present are from infection or immunisation.

It is vital for breeding, sale and potential export purposes that any such blood test results are received and properly documented in the horse’s passport before vaccination – and that the vaccination is administered every six months.

Certainly, no mare or stallion should be used for breeding until there is a definite clear lab test signalling that it is safe to go ahead. A test is likely to cost less than £50 and can save a huge amount of hassle.

Even if a stallion is destined for competition and not breeding, it is still wise to arrange a basic blood test before purchase and importation – and to double-check the horse after arrival.

Treatment for equine viral arteritis

THERE is currently no treatment for EVA. While some people have suggested that anti-testosterone medication can reduce shedder status in stallions, this is unreliable and not recommended.

The problem will be eliminated if the horse is castrated, as only stallions are persistent shedders. Otherwise, such horses must be isolated under Government movement restriction orders and managed extremely carefully. Some are re-exported.

Currently, the UK Government publishes details of restricted infected horses on its website. The same website has a review of the 2019 UK outbreak, which reveals the capacity for spread of infection by respiratory means, rather than just through covering, and the relatively large number of horses involved.

The review also highlights the importance of making sure that horses coming from countries where EVA commonly occurs (Spain, for example, in the 2019 outbreak), into countries such as the UK, where it is not routinely present, should be properly tested as negative before importation and retested after arrival. Quarantine is also an important factor to consider, along with being aware of where your horses have travelled, so that any spread of infection can be tracked.

The health of all of our horses is put at risk if these vital checks are ignored. Insist on clean certificates for all breeding horses at the start of every breeding season, be extra vigilant and consider quarantine with new arrivals – especially those that are imported. This is a serious equine disease, which has the potential to be a major impediment to international horse travel.

Detailed Codes of Practice for 2021 can be found at the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) website: codes.hblb.org.uk

H&H 11 February 2021

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Facebook scammers have been targeting the equestrian community again — setting up a Facebook page and trying to con competition entrants into handing over credit or debit card details.

Stallion AI Services set up a page called Big Star Olympic Champion, and launched a competition to win a straw of frozen semen, as well as a framed Big Star shoe, and a chance to meet the stallion himself.

But a scam page was set up, closely resembling the genuine article, and the scammers behind it contacted hundreds of people who had entered the competition.

“They contacted these people saying they were the winner, and to fill in a form,” Stallion Ai Services’ Tullis Matson told H&H.

“It told them to fill in their credit card details and they’d do the rest. They say ‘click here to get your prize’, and that’s when they get you.”

Tullis said this was the second time one of his company’s pages has been duplicated. H&H has reported on similar attacks on show centre pages, all attempts to secure people’s financial details.

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“They don’t hack you but they set up a fictitious page that looks just like yours,” he said. “This one had ‘Bigstar’ all one word, and ‘Olympicchampion’ all one word, but everything else was exactly the same.

“They’re very clever; it’s so frustrating.”

Tullis said Trading Standards was helpful, because it was fraudulent activity, and the fake page has now been removed.

If you think you may have been caught out by this, or a similar scam online, report it to Action Fraud online or by calling 0300 123 2040.

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Following the news that successful sire Puissance has died at the age of 32, here is an exclusive feature (first published in our sport horse breeding special issue in March 2019) in which Pippa Roome visited Ballyquirke Stud, Co. Kilkenny to meet the stallion, his son Imperial Tiger and Michael Hutchinson, the man responsible for them both...

TWENTY-SEVEN years is longer than many marriages last, but Michael Hutchinson’s relationship with his star stallion Puissance is continuing strongly well into its third decade.

“I always loved the horse because he always kept you thinking as a rider,” says Michael. “He’s been good to me, so it’s my job now at this stage of his life to be good to him.”

Puissance is 31 years old and he sports patches of grey on his face and neck, but he heads off for a roll and a buck about when Michael turns him out in the field.

“A stallion’s got to get out in open space every day,” says Michael. “Generally my stallions are quiet because they get to blow off their steam in the paddock. I’ve always believed that if you give competition horses a certain amount of freedom they tend to be happier horses — and it’s the same with stallions.”

Puissance has the first stable in a row of four stallion boxes at Ballyquirke Stud, Co. Kilkenny. Next to him is his son Imperial Tiger and beyond that the Sadler’s Wells grandson Sea Moon — a syndicate-owned winner of three Group Two races — and Winston, a former 1.60m showjumper by Heartbreaker.

“Four stallions is manageable by myself — I don’t want to get involved in staff,” says Michael. “Even if they are quiet they are still stallions and I always fear somebody is going to get hurt.

“I’ve got bashes and bangs myself from stallions but I think if you treat them as normally as you can, they become more normal. If you get over-protective, you maybe have to deal with a temperament issue. I would be tough on a stallion if they step out of line, but not in a vicious way. You don’t want to control stallions, you want to get respect from them, that’s all.

“I like trying to figure out a stallion’s brain because they are all individuals.”

Ballyquirke Stud isn’t smart, but Michael clearly loves his horses and there’s a friendly welcome as we chat easily at the kitchen table. His Swedish wife, Eva, is away, but we are joined by Orla Hughes, who helps with the stud paperwork.

Puissance stallion as a sport horse: “competitive and brave”

Puissance was bred in Borris, Co. Carlow, by Jim Whitty. He is by the thoroughbred Imperius — also sire of another leading eventing stallion in Master Imp — out of the Irish Sport Horse mare Lady Marlane, by the King Of Diamonds son Diamonds Are Trumps. He was bought by barrister Stephen Lanigan-O’Keeffe as a yearling and was broken in and hunted by Ollie Hutchinson, one of Michael’s five siblings.

Puissance was approved by the Irish Sport Horse Studbook as a four-year-old and moved up through the grades as a showjumper with Michael, competing at the top level nationally.

“He was always competitive,” says Michael. “He was quick, nimble and brave — there were times I was probably over-brave against the clock, but you never had to worry about him quitting or frightening him.

“I’ve showjumped a lot of horses by Puissance and they were always brave. When you went against the clock, if you turned back tight and you didn’t really have the stride, they were always going to try for you.”

The big, outdoor arenas and atmospheric occasions suited Puissance, even though he was only “16hh and half an inch, when he was competing — he’s shrunk a bit now,” explains Michael, who is 6ft tall.

“He had a hell of a stride and I think if you’d had him competing today he’d have been better because combinations are almost a metre longer now than then. I was half choking him coming to them.

“But I never walked a course and said, ‘That’s a bit big.’ I was never short of scope.”

When Puissance was 12, Stephen and Michael decided he should focus on stud duties.

“He’d achieved all he could here in Ireland and it didn’t make sense to start travelling internationally with one horse,” explains Michael. “I’m a bit of a home bird and I preferred competing young horses. In Ireland we’re brought up to sell horses; it was about making a living, not glory and honour.”

Back problems prompted the end of Michael’s competitive career and, as he became more involved in breeding, his interest grew.

“I won’t become a millionaire but I’m happy doing it, which is probably more important,” he says.

At one time Michael had 12 or 14 mares, but he’s now cut back to two. He believes the dam is of primary importance in breeding and likes to breed from mares which have either proved themselves in competition or produced successful progeny.

Puissance’s stallion services are now only available via frozen semen (stud fee €800), having shown he was uncomfortable covering two years ago, and Michael has never wanted his stallions to have a huge book of mares.

“You’re better off having a steady influx of 40-50 mares a year, because it’s supply and demand — it’s better not to flood the market,” says Michael.

“I never got into the big end of advertising. I like to let a stallion prove themselves. If they are good enough people will use them. I’ve had a lot of stallions over the years and if they don’t pay their way, I don’t keep them.”

Michael initially thought Puissance would be a showjumping sire, but he has excelled in eventing. His progeny include Francis Whittington’s Sir Percival III — who was in the top 10 seven times at four-star (now classed five-star) — as well as Michael Ryan’s perennial top-level campaigner Old Road, and Sam Watson’s first championship horse Horseware Bushman.

Sam has ridden numerous Puissance progeny, including Belinda Keir’s Horseware Ardagh Highlight, who he steered to team silver at last year’s World Equestrian Games, and says there are similarities.

“A real attribute I’ve noticed is a good-quality canter, which is a great thing to have in an event horse,” he says. “I’ve also found them to be sound — most of them don’t have an extravagant trot and I think that helps with soundness, so I see it as a positive.

“They have an appetite to work, which is brilliant when you are looking for a top horse to keep galloping on cross-country and come out the next day and showjump. You’ve got to get their energy and intelligence working with you, not against you, though — on a young horse who doesn’t want to go near a puddle, it can be a difficulty. They are more suited to professionals than amateurs.

“They are clever horses, with good footwork on cross-country and once they understand their job they look for the flags. They are a little bit spooky, but I like working with their minds.”

Full silblings shine

Horseware Ardagh Highlight’s has catapulted Puissance into the spotlight, but he is just one of a remarkable set of full siblings — including Imperial Tiger — who are integral to the stallion’s story.

Michael bred a mare called Gentle Servant, by Kings Servant, who was put in foal to Puissance when she suffered a career-ending splint. As Michael was more focused on competing than breeding at the time, he sold her to Tom and Teresa Walsh, with first refusal on her foals. He subsequently bought, broke in and sold many of Gentle Servant’s offspring.

They are an incredible family, including grade A showjumpers Lee Ann and Little Elle, as well as successful eventers — the three-star (now four-star) horse GFG Rambo Man, two-star (now three-star) campaigners Harthill Percy and Chanterelle II and the horse who was 12th at the 2015 European Championships for Sam Watson, Horseware Lukeswell.

Michael made a point of buying Gentle Servant’s final foal and after showjumping under Michael’s son — Michael “Tjossti” Hutchinson — in Belgium, Imperial Tiger now stands alongside his sire, offering mare owners the chance to use a handsome full-brother to a world medallist for a stud fee of €600.

“When he was younger he was very like Lukeswell and Ardagh Highlight — a pretty horse and a good jumper,” says Sam. “Recently, I like the fact he now looks more like a stallion; a stallion needs to look tough, have a bit of arrogance and know they are the king.

“Puissance has very strong genes. I’ve seen lots of his progeny out of different types of mares and he really stamps his attributes on his offspring. I hope Imperial Tiger will do the same.”

Puissance may be in his twilight years, but with a tiger in the tank, his story is set to continue.

H&H, 14 March 2019

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