A prolific show horse who has won Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) on four separate occasions has produced three filly foals by embryo transfer (ET).
DPUK Night Dancer, known as Bubbles at home, has been at the top of the small intermediate and small hack ranks for several seasons. Her owner, Ami Miller, bought her in 2017 and the pair have achieved places at both HOYS and the Royal International together.
Ami decided to pursue ET in 2019, in the hope of being able to continue the mare’s ridden career while breeding the next generation. The fillies — two of which are twins by Kilvington Scoundrel, carried by two recipient mares — were born last May.
“Our plan was to show Bubbles in 2020 but due to Covid she’s been chilling at home,” said Ami, who breeds under the Honourable prefix and reports that the third foal is by Whalton High Flyer. “I went with ET so we could continue to compete, and could also try and get multiple foals from different sires on the ground in one year.
“The possibility of being able to start a breeding programme with such a good mare is hugely exciting. I know from riding in these classes myself that hacks are so hard to find these days.”
Picture by Steve Dawe
The process was undertaken at Mount St John Stud under the watchful eye of Emma Blundell. The recipient mares produced the fillies, The Honourable Bardot, The Honourable Nightingale, and The Honourable Beatrice. The twins by Kilvington Scoundrel were born within 10 hours of each other.
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“Emma is very experienced with ET, too, so it made sense to use this method,” added Ami. “It’s been a great way of breeding with a mare like Bubbles; obviously you need a good stallion but the mare is just as important. As far as I’m aware they are the first ET foals in showing. Hopefully, by the time Bubbles is retired we will have some nice up and coming three-year-olds.
“I’m looking to put Bubbles in foal now; she doesn’t owe me anything so she’ll probably retire from ridden competition now.”
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