2012 season

Whether this stallion would breed enough range was answered in the positive by the variety of the youngsters we were shown. Billy Pastime, out of Some Time, an Animo granddaughter, was a recently been broken chestnut 4 year old, and showed he could easily event rather than showjump, owing to his great movement; very like his sire, he was a great judge of distance, and was very light over and off the ground, both shown loose and later under saddle in the outdoor arena. Billy Drizzle was another 4 year old, grey, out of the Animo-sired Grade B and C mare Billy Mist; this fellow was rangier than his sire, and had inherited the same good shoulder, as had Billy Pastime. He showed great power and self carriage indoors, in a fairly confined space, and William reminded us that both of these horses had not jumped more than half a dozen times in their lives. The next youngster was a smart un-named 3 year old chestnut colt, out of the very successful Orange Juice. He was almost pony-like at first glance, short coupled and powerful. Rushing a little, he managed to knock his third fence, an upright, and on representing, took it beautifully. As the fence went up and finished on a parallel of decent size, he created a perfect shape as he flew, and the audience was clearly impressed. William and Donal both felt that he had “never really had to try until today”, and despite the initial error, they – and we - were pleased with his performance. We were then shown 4 pairs of Billy Congo yearlings, from the 40 that the stud had in 2009. As one, they were lean and muscular, showed great athleticism and were generally straight and correct in their conformation, with a good front leg and working through the hock. Donal’s exceptional recall came into its own yet again as he recognised each and detailed their pedigrees and dam’s successes. It was clear from this that, in the main, the mares they choose to breed from have proven themselves before they join the breeding herd. Donal also repeated that that they are not setting out deliberately to breed stallions, and will geld any colts which they feel are not going to make the grade. Colts “have to tick all the boxes” and even at the Open Day, watching the yearling colts in the arena, Donal said that he was not convinced one of them should stay entire – how refreshing to hear someone unafraid to question their own decisions in public.

And finally, the one to steal my heart - Billy JJ. He is by the phenomenal Animo, who was described by John Whittaker as the best jumping stallion in Europe after the Barcelona Olympics; Animo had a great competitive career and has consistently produced top class show jumping and dressage superstars including Andiamo Z, Romantico La Siela, Aniapollo and the Billy Stud’s Billy Orange, an international winner and Grand Prix jumper; Billy Birr, placed 12th in the BSJA Leading Horse Ranking List 2008, and the top British Bred horse; and Billy Autumn mentioned earlier. Billy JJ is out of Tatum, and is therefore a full brother to both Billy Autumn and Billy Orange, both of which have gone on to have successful international careers. He has made a tremendous start to his show jumping career: in 2008, he was equal first in the 4 Year Old British Young Horse Championships; in 2009, he was second in the 5 year old Young Horse Champion Final. He has recently been successfully competed by Pippa, jumping double clear rounds in his last seven Foxhunter classes. He looks to have matured well, and at the Open Day, was in superb condition. He showed himself to be correct and well proportioned, with a good forearm technique, a strong back, and effortless and seemingly unlimited power available from behind. With such a strong Animo influence already in their broodmare herd, he has been little used by the Stud to date, but this is going to change in 2010. Under saddle, he reminded me of a rubber ball, full of bounce and energy, but not reckless or time-wasting in the air. The simple 1.20m outdoor course was well within his capabilities and he clearly enjoyed a chance to show off, having recently returned from collection duties at West Kington Stud.

Afterwards, everyone was welcome to take a closer view of all the horses, and this was the usual valuable opportunity to assess temperament. The horses were, as one, happy to meet visitors, and were relaxed and content, patiently putting up with eager, close scrutiny. William, Pippa and Donal freely talked about all of them, discussing their strengths and any weaknesses they felt they had. Owners were, and are, encouraged to discuss their mares in relation to the different stallions, and the Stud are very happy to give advice on suitability of stallions if they are sent photographs and videos of the mares. They even offer to let breeders advertise stock sired by Billy Stud’s stallions on their website. And, comfortingly, there is absolutely no hard sell here, and their reputation for honesty is well founded. As Donal said, it is important to make the best choice possible, but equally, “there’s no point covering the mare if she’s a ‘yak’. There’s no point spending out all that money”. Wise words that might turn one or two people in rose-tinted spectacles away, but when you are wanting to breed the best, is that such a bad thing?

For further information, please view the Stud’s website at:

www.billystud.com

with further information on:

www.donalbarnwell.com

www.williamfunnell.co.uk

www.pippafunnell.com