‘There will never be another like him’: farewell to Highland stallion who made history

The leading Highland pony stallion Tower Clyde has been put down aged 19 after a short illness.

Melanie and Gemma Stanford of the Finglands Stud bought Clyde, who was by the Stanfords’ 2008 Olympia mountain and moorland (M&M) supreme champion Torrin Of Croila out of Tower Lucky Charm, as a three-year-old colt from Sylvia Ormiston.

“When Sylvia went to work at Balmoral Estate, Clyde joined us to begin his showing career down south,” explained Gemma.

Clyde was first shown in-hand with great success, qualifying for the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) in-hand supreme final on two occasions, becoming the first Highland pony to qualify, and standing champion at Royal Windsor and Great Yorkshire, among others.

Clyde was started under saddle by Mathew Lawrence and during his novice season he won his section of the Picton final at the National Pony Society (NPS) championships, where he also won the NFU ridden supreme one year when ridden by Vicky Smith.

“Mathew had just won Olympia on Torrin Of Croila, and he took Clyde on as his next novice,” said Gemma. “Clyde qualified for both HOYS and Olympia on his first attempts.”

During their partnership, Clyde and Mathew also won at the HOYS final and they finished third overall in the M&M supreme final at Olympia. They were champions at Royal Windsor and took the Heritage supreme title at the BSPS championships.

“Clyde then had two seasons off owing to an old injury which flared up when he covered, but he made a return to the ring with Matt Cooper, qualifying for HOYS again at his first show back out,” Gemma said. “Rachel Cooper took the ride on him at HOYS, as Matt rode our other stallion, Benbreac of Croila, and she also took him to Olympia.”

At the end of his 2016 season Clyde bowed out from the show ring. He lived out his days with his sire and sister at Finglands Stud.

“He has some lovely foals on the ground, and luckily, thanks to Stallion AI Services, we can continue breeding from him,” Gemma said. “There will never be another Tower Clyde. He is irreplaceable and we’ll never have another one like him. He was the character of the yard, but also the kindest pony. From day one, he was the ultimate showman and the nicest personality all in one perfect package. We are absolutely devastated he’s no longer with us.”

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