‘We knew he was special’: dressage colt wows futurity evaluators with record 2016 score
A dressage colt has been awarded a record futurity score for 2016.
Chris Hood’s foal, Force Majeure (For Romance x Stedinger) impressed evaluators on 22 August at Tall Trees Arena, Cornwall.
Futurity evaluator Katy Holder-Vale praised the colt’s uphill, supple and balanced paces.
Force Majeure scored 9.45 — an elite futurity premium that indicates he has the potential to perform at international level.
“We knew he was special when he was born,” said Ms Hood, who owns and bred Force Majeure and is only in her second year of breeding.
“His dam Summertime attained a higher first futurity premium as a two-year-old and then sustained an injury as a five-year-old so we started breeding from her.”
Summertime bred a colt by Woodlander Wild Child last year, which has been sold to Spain.
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“The futurity is good for British breeders, it provides an honest evaluation of the horse’s future potential,” added Ms Hood.
“There are things you cannot change, but can improve in future bloodlines.
“There are now some amazing British-bred horses out there and as many of us breeders no longer ride, we are breeding for riders who will make the most of our horses.”
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Ms Hood plans to take Force Majeure to Germany for Oldenburg stallion licensing.
The BEF’s head of equine development, Jan Rogers, said: “We are increasingly noticing that breeders, buyers and riders of British-bred horses are finding that a futurity premium is a very useful aid in helping assess these horses.
“We are also seeing a marked improvement in the standard of youngsters entered in the futurity, which is very good news for the future of British breeding”.
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Rachael joined Horse & Hound in 2014, initially as a digital sub editor then became part of the news team as a writer in 2015. The philosophy graduate studied journalism at the Press Association before working as a local reporter at the Brentwood Gazette. Rachael is now a mum of two and still loves all things equestrian, including hacking, dressage and jumping with her cob Bert. Rachael left the H&H staff to go freelance in June 2019, but still contributes to our magazine and website, as well as our sister magazine Country Life, among others.