The Accidental Stallion Owner By Sarah Ganney

My story begins in May 2008 when I went to look at a youngster from Simon Davies with my friend. We were presented with a very nice 3 year old colt,that my friend went on to buy, and I mentioned to Simon that I was also potentially looking. He said to email him with a list of requirements and he would find a horse for me. So I dutifully compiled my description of my future horse and sent it on.

“I would like a horse that is going to make around 16.2hh - 17hh with a decent amount of bone, I would prefer a colt, but would consider a mare - I don't really want a gelding. I am looking for a horse with paces good enough to do dressage, but that would also jump. I am looking for something aged 3-4, I would go younger, but don't really want anything older, I am also quite happy to buy an unbacked horse.”

My reluctance to buy a gelding, rightly or wrongly, was that if it had already been cut then it was possibly not ‘good enough’. So I waited to hear, and on 29 May 2008 I got a text from Simon

“I’ve got a stallion 3 years arriving Monday for you”

So with those meagre details I arranged to go and see this horse on the Tuesday. When we arrived we were shown to his box, and inside was a slightly scruffy, but well put together bay chap with 4 white socks and a really sweet temperament. Simon said that he had arrived with a mane down to his shoulders which he had chopped off with scissors, his feet were pretty interesting too, he obviously hadn’t seen a farrier for a long time, if ever! But for a fairly untouched horse he was very friendly with an inquisitive nature, and I liked him already! We then took him up to the school to see him move. I liked his movement, how active he was, and he obviously had a pop when he saw a fence for probably the first time – I had pretty much made my mind up. We put him away and Simon then showed me his passport (no, I hadn’t yet asked about his breeding! Oops!) I saw the name ‘Gribaldi’ and was instantly even more interested! The price was good enough to take a gamble, and if he didn’t turn out to be what I wanted, I could sell him on for a decent profit. I went home to think about it properly, then called Simon that evening to arrange to pick the horse up the following Monday.

When I went to pick him up, he walked straight onto the lorry and travelled like a pro – a good start! So on 9th June 2008 I had in my possession a 2yrs 11months old Dutch colt called Adonnis (had many arguments with my friend about how it wasn’t spelt correctly, but that’s what it said on his passport and I wasn’t going to change it!) The following weeks were filled with teaching him how to have his feet picked up, tying up, being groomed and all the usual baby stuff. A visit from the farrier was high on the agenda, especially when he presented me with a chunk of his foot that he had broken off (brings a whole new meaning to biting your nails!), but unfortunately the sight of a strange man wielding a rasp was too much for him to bear, so I started to get lots of different people handling his feet, and with the aid of a light dose of sedation a few weeks later he had a lovely set of hooves! As time passed Adonnis started to fill out and get a lovely shine on his coat, and we started a bit of lunging

I went into this journey of owning a stallion with the intention of putting him forward for grading, if he didn’t grade then he would make a lovely gelding. He was entered for the AES grading at Addington, and November was looming! I didn’t have the first clue about what was expected of him or me, so I read every piece of information and watched just about every video available on youtube. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and I only wish I had made more use of the internet forums and the breeding community on them, but we struggled through! Trotting up on a straight line was ok, but trotting a triangle was something else! I think the only time it really came off well was on the day! The poor boy was groomed, and scrubbed clean, then plaited - he was almost unrecognisable! I took him up early so that I could watch the person that was in before me (I was still a bit clueless!) but that plan backfired as because I was ready I was sent in first! Adonnis stood perfectly still to be inspected, walked and trotted nicely, then showed off well in the free section – it all passed as a bit of a blur, but we got through it, and when other stallions were misbehaving, and rearing up he just looked on bemused! I put him away in his box and went to watch the rest of the morning’s entertainment (these things are great to watch when you no longer have your own nerves to deal with!) We then went back to the lorry at lunch time, my friend Alice popped back to the loo then came running back to the lorry screeching with excitement – Adonnis had been licensed! I had gone hoping that he would achieve ‘Registered’ status, but now we had a whole new set of circumstances, as he was entitled to cover up to 30 mares per year at public stud – eeek!!

I decided that AI was the only way I was prepared to go with him, but how to go about it? It was back to the forums and I was put in touch with Sally at Groomsbridge and Jamie at Equine Reproduction, both of whom were exceedingly helpful and a great source of information on dummy training and the like. I also had to learn pretty quickly about marketing my stallion on an almost non-existent budget! In the mean time he also had to be backed, and I made the decision to send him away to Keith Robertson for a few weeks – that was back in January and he’s still there! He then went to Sally for his dummy training in March, then back to work.

June 2009 was fairly eventful – 8th June he did his first collection for a mare, 9th June he went to his first dressage competition at the Premier League show at Wellington, then that evening he did his second collection (a great way to celebrate the anniversary of my ownership of him!) He then had a day off before returning to stud for collection No.3! A busy week by any young horse’s standards!

Since then Adonnis has continued to go from strength to strength. He has 4 foals expected for 2010 and has started his dressage career, qualifying for the Area festival in his first two outings. I have learnt so much from him and with him along the way and really feel that he is going to be a special horse. He has his moments when he can be as frustrating as any horse, but I fall more in love every time I ride him. Owning a stallion has been a challenging and expensive adventure of discovery, but I wouldn’t change it for the world!