The owner of a horse thought to be the first hermaphrodite registered with British Showjumping (BS) said he is “worth his weight in gold”.
Renkum Boudicca has teats, and a rudimentary penis that emerges from under his tail. No signs of either ovaries or retained testicles were found on a scan, and his owner Leeanne Woodford told H&H he would seem to be a mare at first look.
“Steve” was registered as a filly, and Leeanne bought him as a two-year-old.
“I knew what he was,” she said. “I had an old showjumper who was his best friend, and he had to be put to sleep. Then Steve got put up for sale.
“I spoke to a vet, to so many people, and they all said ‘Don’t do it, too many risks’. I rang the seller and said I couldn’t [buy him]. But it was eating me and eating me, and in the end, I rang her back to say ‘I’ll be there to get him in five minutes’.”
Leeanne said Steve, who is now five, has never had a day’s illness or lameness.
“Shortly after I bought him, I rang the vet and asked if she’d come and examine him,” she said. “I wanted his testosterone checked, for one thing, but this lovely lady came out and said she’d be trying to fix something that wasn’t broken. When he was younger, he was having some medication to make his body think it was a gelding but I wanted him for him. I took him straight off them and he’s been absolutely fine.”
Leeanne said Steve was challenging to back – “I think I’ve fallen off him more times than anything else I’ve backed!” – but one day, it was “as if a light bulb went on”.
“He’s amazing to do everything with now, except two things; he’s petrified of donkeys and clippers” she said. “He doesn’t like people coming up behind him but that’s it.”
Leeanne thought she might run into trouble when she tried to register Steve with BS as his passport says he is female “and I couldn’t register him as a mare because he isn’t one”, she said, adding that when she first contacted BS, staff were understandably stumped. But chief executive Iain Graham called back, and arranged for Steve to be registered as a hermaphrodite.
“I was in tears because everything I’d worked for, I was allowed to do,” Leeanne said. “Iain said he’s the first hermaphrodite they’ve had registered, and any problems to go back to him.”
Leeanne has since been jumping BS classes with Steve.
“I get stopped at shows all the time because people are wondering why I’m saying ‘good boy’ to a girl horse!” she said. “I’ve had some funny looks, so I wanted to tell his story. He’s such a good horse; he loves people, and he loves me. It doesn’t matter if I miss a stride or how much I get it wrong, he covers me – he’s got such a big heart.
“When he jumped his British novice the other weekend and came fourth, I was so proud of him, and thought ‘Do you know what? We’ve actually done it’. People told me I was crazy to buy him but he’s going to be amazing.
“He loves jumping and he loves to please and he’ll never leave me now – he’s worth his weight in gold.”
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