Golden girl Dujardin enjoys first Open day

More than 100 invited guests attended the event in Felixkirk including dressage superstar and World No 1 rider Dujardin.

The double Olympic Gold medallist, who was recently crowned European Champion on her wonderful horse Valegro, sat in the audience along with fellow International dressage riders and sport horse breeders as well as potential buyers and sport horse enthusiasts.

Mount St John’s owner and director Emma Blundell presented 46 of her Mount St John horses – a mixture of mares, foals, youngstock and ridden competition horses.

And one horse in particular caught the eye of 28-year-old Dujardin, namely MSJ Sensation, a grey filly foal born by embryo transfer this year out of Blundell’s top competition mare Keystone Diaz.

Dujardin described MSJ Sensation as “simply sensational” and was also impressed with the event as a whole.

“It’s fantastic to have someone like Emma breeding this type of quality here in the UK,’ said Dujardin.

Mount St John is a relatively new stud specialising in the breeding of potential top-class international dressage horses on a size and scale which is unique in the UK.

Using the best sporting bloodlines available worldwide, the stud also has a busy Embryo Transfer unit run by world-class reproductive veterinary specialists.

The recent Open Day saw guests shown from the presentation in the large indoor arena to the newly-constructed mare barn.

The state-of-the-art building is large enough to house over 70 mares in small herd groups.

International dressage rider and trainer Emile Faurie was also guest speaker, giving his expert opinion on each horse and answering questions from the audience. “To stage our very first Open Day was an ambitious project and I’m thrilled that it all went so well,” said Blundell.

“Everyone has been so supportive of what we are doing which is very encouraging.”

n An equestrian table-top sale is taking place at St Lawrences Church Rooms, Scalby Becks, Scarborough on Thursday, October 3.

The event is open to the public between 6-7pm with sellers setting up at 5.30pm.

Organisers already have several tables booked and there will be a variety of useful horse equipment on sale at bargain prices such as saddles, bridles, rugs and riding equipment.

The cost of booking a table is £5 and pre-booking is advised as spaces are limited. To book a table call 07748 101 117.

All profits from the event are going to All for Horses, a Scarborough-based horse rescue and rehoming charity.