One for the future born from adversity

Five years ago, when Gerry bought Bullands Sensation (Prinny), they knew they had acquired just such a horse.

The mare was being sold because her rider, Martha Beaumont, was going abroad to study and Gerry leapt at the chance to buy her.

"We knew the family and we had followed the horse for many years and couldn't believe our luck when she was finally ours," said Gerry, whose stables are near Beverley.

"The partnership with Stephanie blossomed so quickly it was unbelievable. Highlights of that fabulous year in 2006 included third at the British Open, second in the Young Riders at the Royal International and trips to Utrecht and Compiegne with the Nations Cup teams.

"It was a year we could only have dreamt about before."

But disaster struck on Christmas Eve that year when Stephanie and her sister, Scarlet, were out hacking near their home and Prinny was hit by a car.

The vet came out to stitch her wounds but the future seemed uncertain.

Stephanie only had the rest of the year left when she would be eligible to compete in Young Riders and had her sights set on the European Championships and the Queen's Cup at Hickstead.

Prinny went back into work a couple of months later but was never 100 per cent again. Then, in June, a tendon injury meant she had to be retired. "Our lives were devastated and Stephanie was inconsolable," said Gerry.

After two failed attempts to get the mare into foal, they were giving up hope. They were advised that the last chance would be to take her to the Klatte Stud in Germany where they had paid stud fees to try fresh semen.

Gerry and Stephanie drove to Germany with Prinny, where they left her in the hands of Hella Klatte and her team.

This time, luck was on their side and in May this year Prinny gave birth to a filly foal, Arrietty, who is by Armitage, a former top ride of Marcus Ehning. The foal was born at the Ballinmore Stud at Bewholme, near Hornsea, and Stephanie was there for the birth.

Last month, they took mare and foal to the BEF Futurity grading at Richmond Equestrian Centre. The foal scored the first 10 out of 10 for conformation that the judge had seen awarded and an overall score of nine out of 10. The judges awarded the foal an Elite grading.

"You can't imagine how thrilled we were," said Gerry. "Not only did we think we would never have a foal but to get one as special as this is amazing."

Now they can plan for the future. Gerry says: "We hope Stephanie will be able to produce her through the show-jumping ranks – and that Arrietty will be every bit as good as her parents."

The British Equestrian Futurity Evaluations are run with the aim of identifying young, British-bred potential sport horses and ponies destined for careers in dressage, eventing, show-jumping and endurance.

Entries are limited to 60 at each evaluation venue. They are categorised by discipline with age groups for foals, yearlings, two and three-year-olds and each horse is evaluated in hand and loose, in an indoor school, as well as undergoing a vet's assessment.

The horses receive a BEF Premium (grade), a rosette, a detailed scoresheet and a certificate. All the results are published on the Futurity site.

The evaluations started in 2005 with 100 young horses being evaluated and this year will see over 800 entered for evaluation.

Jan Rogers, who is BEF's head of equine development, said: "The Futurity is showing itself to be an assessment system which British horse breeders value because it enables them to demonstrate, long before a horse is able to compete, that it has performance potential. It is serving as a valuable marketing tool for British breeders."

Nicola getting a buzz for world games in Kentucky

Northallerton's Nicola Wilson and Opposition Buzz showed they are prepared for the forthcoming World Equestrian Games in Kentucky by winning the Scottish Championship at Blair Castle.

They took the CIC three-star event, adding only one show-jumping time penalty to a dressage score of 46.8. Buzz was one of only two horses to go clear on cross-country, nine seconds under the time.

ENTRIES open on Monday for the new Askham Bryan Horse Trials at the college near York on October 10. British Eventing course designer Adrian Ditcham will be responsible for the cross-country course. He is a member of the cross-country course team for the 2012 Olympics.

The entries secretary for the event is Caroline Simm on 02476 540109/07836 574554.

FORMER British team member Scott Smith has a new team of horses and a new sponsor and is pinning his Olympic hopes on the seven-year-old Holstein bred Quintus, owned by Mike and Judy Studd.

Smith, based near Doncaster, last jumped internationally in 2006 but is keener than ever to compete at the top again after obtaining sponsorship from MPS Tower Cranes and Churchill Cranes.

CW 4/9/10