The sport horses and ponies of the future were identified at an evaluation event at Writtle College’s Lordships Stud.
The British Equestrian Federation’s (BEF) Futurity Evaluation for young horses and ponies was held at the College on 14 August.
The College’s Lordships Stud had a strong presence again this year, presenting four of its own foals as well as enjoying strong links with a number of other high-scoring participants.
Lordships Stud’s colt foal ‘Woody’, by Woodlander Wavavoom, was awarded a Higher First Premium in the dressage section and was sold after the evaluation. Lordships Eleanora (Elroon x Wolkenstein) narrowly missed out on a Higher First Premium, despite high scores for her paces.
In the show jumping section, Lordships Oddball, a filly foal by the now deceased stallion Odermus R, achieved a well-deserved Higher First Premium as did Lordships Lorikeet in the eventing section. ‘Lori’, as she is known, is by Libra K out of Mizz Southgate, a mare much-loved by students and staff at the College.
The students prepared and presented the College foals, assisted by the Stud staff, and the panel of evaluators commented on how well behaved and handled the foals were.
In total, 60 horses were put forward for evaluation at the Writtle College event, which was the tenth in the series of 14 which take place across the country over three weeks this summer.
Amy Mills, Lecturer in Equine Science and Breeding & Reproduction Specialist at the College, said: “Once again, we have achieved high scores in the scheme this year, which is testament to the good breeding choices and appropriate selection of stock at Lordships Stud.
“Being able to benchmark our successes in this way is essential - it helps inform our decisions in the future and enables us to offer students a valuable and credible link with industry.
“The students have been an integral part of our successes at this year’s evaluation - from organising and preparing the venue, to preparing and presenting our horses – and the Lordships Stud team is very proud of its achievements.”
Another College-bred horse that featured highly in the day’s proceedings was the elite scoring show jumping foal ‘Clint’. By Balou Du Rouet and out of Lordships la Rochelle (Tia), Clint is a mare bred by Lordships Stud from the stallion Broadstone Landmark.
Stud Groom at Lordships, Caroline Brace commented: “It was lovely to see ‘Tia’ again and to see what a fabulous job she is doing in her role as a broodmare. Huge congratulations to her owner, Lisa Maynard. Achieving an elite score is no mean feat – we might want to steal her back!”
In the eventing section, the Parco yearling, Lordships Praline, and the Grafenstolz two-year old, Lordships Graffalo, both achieved Higher First Premiums. Both horses are out of a Rock King mare and are now owned by Lecturer Pennie Wallace.
Also presented by owner and ex-student Felicity Chapman-Young was the three-year old filly Lordships Dancing Diamond, who started the day.
• Lordships Stud has a number of quality young horses for sale. Please contact Caroline Brace on 07760789568 for more details.
• To find out more about the BSc (Hons) Equine Breeding and Stud Management at Writtle College, please visit www.writtle.ac.uk/BSc-(Hons)-Equine-Breeding-and-Stud-Management