Brendon Stud is located within Brendon Equestrian
Centre at the foot of the beautiful South Downs in the rural village of
Pyecombe. We are a family run business headed by Cyril Light, his wife and
daughters, Valerie, Shirley & Caraleen. The stud is part of a bigger
picture. As well as breeding competition horses for all disciplines
[although we specialise in Showjumping], we import horses to produce and
sell on. We also run a comprehensive Show Centre with affiliated Jumping
shows, along with unaffiliated jumping, dressage and showing shows. We
have a saddlery shop on site, selling every thing for both horse and
rider; from well known branded English leatherwork through to show jumps
and veterinary products. Along side the saddlery we sell a quality range
of Feed and bedding. And to keep us on our toes we run a small livery
yard.
The BSJA Stallions can be seen competing at shows all over the south of
England (and occasionally further a field!)
Cyril has long been established as a well-known producer and seller of
competition horses, though specialising in show jumpers for over 30 years.
Both Cyril and Valerie rode from an early age. Brendon was first
established in 1965. The name "BRENDON" came about from Valerie's first
pony; an Exmoor from the Brendon Hills. In the early days the business was
mainly the Riding School with a few dealing horses bought in sales or
directly from Ireland, later Cyril moved onto more serious competition
horses, with the first big wins coming in the late seventies with then
stable rider, Paul Miles. Among these wins were the Elizabeth Ann Kitchens
Grade C at Wembley and The Hickstead Salver.
In 1983 Cyril stood his first stallion at stud, Sussex Diamond. A popular
choice with the sire being by the ever famous - King of Diamonds. The
second foundation stallion to stand was Magic Motion [Ballyard Light], he
went on to win a Gold Medal at the Pan Am Games in the 90's with his new
owners. [Magic Motion is the dam sire of the 2001 Thomas Bates Champion -
Magic Max.] The home team’s broodmares of today still carry these
bloodlines. At the time we thought we had the best stallions around,
having said that we can't begin to compare them with the stallions we
stand today!
The first "warm blood" was Tropic Star, a Trakehner with bloodlines from
Furioso; he competed at the top national level before Injury forced him to
retire early. His next successor was the Belgian bred Maestro Nativio,
with a lot of thoroughbred in him and blood lines to Alme Z; he shares the
same dam as Ludo Phillephaerts current World Cup horse: Parco. He again
was a step forward. An International Grade A, he jumped Trials and the
Hickstead Derby before being sold abroad. His progeny have been successful
in all three of the major disciplines, his best known son being the aptly
named “Buddy Bunn”, winner of the 2004 Hickstead Derby for Mr. Douglas
Bunn when ridden by John Whitaker. His other Showjumping offspring have
won and qualified for the Blue Chip Winter Finals, RIHS and WBFSH Young
Horse show in Lanaken.
In many ways Cyril has now retired from the physical side of the studwork,
[being 76 years young!], although he can often be heard in the background.
Daughter Shirley and head stud groom, James Dynes, fully qualified AI
technician, carry out the studwork. With our own experiences and Cyril and
Valerie's years of experience we are a pretty formidable team working
closely with the stud vet from The Equine Veterinary Hospital in nearby
Arundel. Ed Lyall is totally dedicated to the welfare of all horses in our
care, he specialises in reproduction and competition horses. AI and
breeding keep him busy all season, working with fresh and frozen semen; he
also has experience with endoscopic Inseminations. A vet that you can have
a 'proper' conversation with!
In 2001 we did our first AI coverings with great success. 2002 saw the
addition of Shirley becoming a fully qualified AI Technician, approved by
DEFRA and RCVS. In 2004 Valerie and stud assistant Ashley also became
qualified AI Technicians, approved by DEFRA and RCVS. A well-equipped lab
room was purpose built in which to collect and assess fresh and chilled
semen for AI, for Insemination by Shirley, Ed or one of the team. For the
stallions that are available with frozen semen, this is available directly
from us.
Since 2003 we have had extremely busy and successful seasons with the
stud, with a split ratio of mares coming to stud and semen being
despatched to all parts of the UK. Both achieved the correct results with
pregnancies in Scotland and Wales and nationwide in England!
In an ideal world we would keep all of our stallions, as breeding requires
an enormous amount of patience and time; but we are also producers and
sellers so the horses are always for sale (nearly always!). When they are
sold we are provided with the perfect opportunity to bring in new
bloodlines.
Our main breeding aims are to keep striving for improvement in the quality
of sires available in the UK. Our stallions must be of good parentage with
superb conformation before their ability is even considered, they must be
easy to handle [Shirley does the stud work] and then be proven or
potential superstars!! It is essential that they have athletic movement in
their paces and are of good trainability; this we believe is important in
whichever sport horse you are trying to breed. They need to be brave and
careful in their jump and at the same time maintaining a natural presence.
Our stallions that are 4 years and over all compete with the BSJA and they
must be capable of combining their stud and competition work.
We believe our success rates speak for themselves; and we are not afraid
to take on 'problem mares'. It is very nice when your mare goes in foal
first time, but as breeders we know this is not always the case. If your
mare has a known problem, then please do talk to us about it; we will
always give it our best shot. We have achieved pregnancy in mares with all
sorts of problems, including one with multiple cysts, the biggest being
8.2cm! Another mare had a serious yeast infection that we managed to treat
and get in foal. 2005 saw success percentages of 96%. 2006 will see us
trying embryo transfer.
We also offer a walk in/walk out semen collection
service for outside stallions.
|
