2012 season

Quainton Stud Interview continued....

Due to the International success of their current horses, I asked Emma what she looked for in a future stallion and how she made the selections? Also whether she tends to breed and buy in as foals, or if she looks at purchasing an older Approved stallion?

"When looking at young stallions at stallion gradings or at stallion shows, it is so easy to be seduced by these wonderful creatures.

However, you need to look through the glossy presentations and remember all the tricks of the trade employed to get these two and a half year olds looking and jumping in the way they do.

Misuse of steroids can and does make these young stallions infertile in their later life, and when you get them home from the auction after a month or two you can wonder where the big beefcake of a horse you brought a few weeks earlier has disappeared to! I prefer to judge a slightly older stallion these days, Triple X is 8 years old now, he is proving to be an exceptional show jumper, sound and beautiful. However as a four year old in Ben's field he was so ugly and normal looking you wouldn't have looked twice at him."

With the current success of Quainton's horses on the International stage with Ben Maher, I am sure it would be difficult for Emma to be able to pick out memorable moment, however, I had to at least ask the question.

"Our biggest achievement as a stud farm? Well we have in 5 years gone from nowhere to Britain's leading owners. We have four of the Country's best horses flying the Quainton flag.

People from around the world have now heard of Quainton Stud, I think that is pretty amazing and something I'm very proud of.

Our young stock sell mainly through word of mouth or
recommendation and we have return customers. All in all I'm proud of our reputation as a high class training facility and stud farm. "

Robin Hood W
International Showjumping by Animo

Besides the above achievement, I asked Emma what other memories she had so far in her breeding career?

"We have enjoyed some good successes with our stallions, they have been prolific winners in the show jumping arena and stallion gradings etc.

However, their biggest achievements are the wonderful young stock they produce and the happy breeders we have as customers. This is the most important aspect when running a stud farm. Happy customers, who are pleased with their foals and happy with their horses kept at the stud.

We never compromise on the horse's care at Quainton, we always have a fully experienced staff team, headed by top quality Managers. This all costs a little extra, but affords peace of mind, we have managed to keep this level of service and not increase charges since we first opened for business 5 years ago."

As a Studfarm, I asked Emma what breeding incentives they offer to mare owners.

"The best incentives I offer to mare owners are the quality of care for their horses whilst at Quainton. The best possible stud packages at the most affordable prices. No foal free return. As many doses of fresh/chilled required to achieve pregnancy no quibble, at the end of the day, we want mare owners to have a Quainton foal and will do all we can to help achieve that. "

Emma is a true believer in British Breeding and to this end I asked how she would like to see breeding in Britain evolve, and as a Studfarm if there was anything she could do to help this transition?

"I would like to see British breeding do more to help breeders with their youngsters at the point of needing to be ridden. That is when the expenses really start to accrue, an academy would be an excellent idea, somewhere that young horses and riders could be brought together and trained under the watchful eye of experts.

This is a concept that I am working away on slowly, and may one day bring to life at Quainton! "

One can only applaud what Mike and Emma Phillips have achieved in only 6 years. They have put their money where their mouths are and invested their money, not only in one of the best facilities that is available in Britain, but also in sourcing the best of breeding in their mares and stallions, so that they can help develop and support British Breeding. With their current International horses along with Ben Maher, these partnerships are very strong contenders for the British Olympic Squad for London 2012.

Mike and Emma are realizing a dream and ambition to be one of the market leaders for British Breeding in the UK, and they are certainly not far from doing this with their breeding programme at Quainton Stud.

We would like to thank Emma for taking the time out to speak to Horse Breeders Magazine, and we wish them all the success with their horses and look forward to seeing them at the Olympics.