Brendon Stud Open Day held on 10 April 2010

For many sports horse breeders and studs, the stud season does not truly kick off until the stallion parades begin. For Brendon Stud, it is no different, with an action-packed few weeks preceding their own Open Day, with the stallions appearing at parades such as the PSHP Parade at Hartpury and the Kent Game and Equine Fair Parade. All of this serves as excellent practice for both the horses and the team in preparation for their own annual open day, held this year at Pyecombe on the 10th April.

You can never predict the weather at this time of year, and many an open day has come where it is spent in sub-zero temperatures; this year, however, it was simply glorious! The sun was out in force as were the crowds....... some old faces but many new ones too, with about 100 spectators cramming into the indoor school gallery and canteen in order to watch the stallions and some progeny in action. The crowds were certainly not disappointed; year on year, this Open Day gets better and better, with the team never failing to put on a show as well as presenting stallions of a quality you would be hard pushed to find elsewhere in the UK. The stud not only provides a range of bloodlines to suit all breeders, but the stallions are all very versatile in the types of mares they will suit and are thus suitable for breeding for many disciplines – whether it is show jumping, eventing, dressage, showing or just general all-rounders.

This year there were 11 stallions presented, including several new boys. Brendon Stud’s commitment to standing only the very best stallions possible is always evident, as they are very critical of their stock and will only keep a stallion entire if he proves himself worthy, regardless of whether he is already graded or not. As a result, some of the younger stallions change through the years as this filtering process is performed.

The first stallion in the arena was a new boy called G-Store VD Katelijnkouter, (photo below) a 4 year old 17hh grey stallion imported by Brendon Stud as a yearling. He is by the KWPN stallion Silverstone (Champion du Lys x Carthago Z x Renommee Z) and out of a mare by Azur de Paulstra, whose sire in turn is Grand Veneur, sire of Le Tot de Semilly. Also on the motherline are greats such as Jalisco B, Ramiro Z and the TB Buenadventura. Silverstone received some of the highest scores for his jumping test ever recorded, scoring 9 overall (technique 8½; scope 9½ and talent for jumping 9), finishing 1st in the Jumping section and in 3rd place overall in the grading. G-Store VDK certainly seems to have inherited his sire’s impressive jumping ability, showing himself to be incredibly scopey with an effortless, natural jump and whilst only having been broken in for approximately 2 months, he is already jumping British Novice Double Clears! Having only been in work so recently, the atmosphere in the arena was quite daunting for him, nevertheless, whilst green, he showed off three incredibly athletic and elastic paces and super focus when presented with a fence. All in all, he looks set to have a good future in the sport and hopefully will prove his worth as a sire as well.

The second stallion shown was Lord Darco II, (below) a homebred 4 year old 16.2hh bay stallion by Unbelievable Darco and out of a Hamilton III x Maestro Nativio mare called Lady Aimee, who herself show jumped successfully, as well as being a finalist at the HOYS Young Horse Evaluations (the precursors to the BEF Futurity). Lord Darco II is an incredibly impressive and well developed young stallion who drew a lot of interest from the audience, both in the arena and later on in the stables. Again only started less than 2 months ago, this horse exhibited everything you could look for in a stallion prospect, with 3 clean, expressive paces, excellent conformation, a super jumping style and his father’s exemplary temperament. Having been impressed by this stallion 6 weeks ago when just backed, I found him even more impressive at the Open Day. He too has just started his showjumping career and is jumping British Novice; he is definitely one to keep an eye out for!

Next we saw the very eye-catching Nederland Esquire, (below) another homebred stallion, with a splash of colour; he is a 5 year old 16.3hh skewbald stallion by Nederland F, an International Grade A stallion who previously stood at Brendon Stud, and out of the SHBGB-graded mare Prominent Lady, who show jumped to Foxhunter before becoming a broodmare; she is also dam to the graded stallion My Squire Caretino. Nederland Esquire is an excellent mix of top bloodlines, combining the blood of the greats of Concorde, Ramiro Z and Nimmerdor with the superb Samber as well as the TB of Arctic Que. This stallion certainly is one for all breeders as not only is he an out-and-out jumper and sports horse in his own right, but he is attractive to coloured breeders too. Now qualified for Newcomers 2nd rounds and qualified for Scope, this young stallion has recently won 2 out his last 4 Newcomers classes, in all of which he went double clear. On the day, he looked initially apprehensive of the crowds in the audience, however as soon as the jumps appeared, he settled and showed everyone his excellent technique and scopey style. This stallion will, I think, be a busy boy this year, as he had a lot of mare owners flocking to see him in the stable afterwards, and he was only too happy to oblige with cuddles.

Flamingo van’t Palmenhof (below) was the next stallion shown. This is another foreign-sourced stallion who was bought as a 2 year old; now 5 years old and standing 16hh, he is a smart middleweight dual-purpose type. He is very interestingly bred, being by the great Darco (sire of Unbelievable Darco) and out of a very strongly TB-influenced dam line. This stallion is also out now jumping Newcomers and I feel he will prove to be very versatile as a stallion, as with the TB influence, he is likely to suit a wide spectrum of mares. He has very floating, expressive paces as well as an incredibly tidy jump, utilising his body over the fence very well and also exhibited one of the most laid-back temperaments of any stallion I have met. Listening to the rumblings in the audience, I feel this stallion will not only prove popular with jumping breeders but also with show horse breeders and certainly had keen visitors to his stable afterwards.