British Breeder Magazine November 2019

Studbook - NEWS
The Sports Pony Studbook Society
Midnight & Georgia Wilson
Magnificent Medals
for Midnight
The SPSS is so proud that Midnight
(Hilkens Black Delight x Cassander),
ridden by Georgia Wilson as part of the
British Team at the 2019 Longines FEI
Para Dressage European Championship,
became not just the first SPSS
passported horse to compete at a
Senior Championships but also the first
to win Championships medals – taking
home Team Silver, Individual Silver and
Freestyle Gold, making them the most
successful British pair at the event.
Midnight, a ten year old mare was bred
by Carrie Passmore, and after their
winning performance in the Freestyle,
Georgia said “It’s been an amazing
week, Midnight has never even been
abroad before and she’s coped so well
and been really easy”.
Elevated to ELITE
Following recent FEI International
competitions, the SPSS Directors
are pleased to announce that the
prestigious SPSS Elite Graded Status has
been awarded to three SPSS ponies:
Penny Walster’s SPSS Head Studbook
graded mare Loveden Sea Swallow
(Gigman Jacana x Downland Sea Eagle)
whose SPSS passported son, Bathleyhills
Sea Wurzel (by SPSS Elite graded
Caesar 171), has now competed at
both the Hickstead and Waregem FEI
International Pony Competitions ridden
by 15 year old Olivia Langley. Sea
Swallow is a Welsh Section B who was
bred by Mrs M I Lord.
Then Katy Wise’s SPSS graded &
passported stallion Prometheus
(Romulus x unknown) earned his own
Elite status by achieving 14th place at
the 2019 Chilham Castle CCI-S 2* (ie
International Novice level eventing
– Novice level being the same as
the Pony Euros). This is a significant
achievement as Prometheus is just 6
years old and only started eventing just
over 12 months earlier. Prometheus was
bred by Annabel Blake and Charles Wise
and is out of their daughter’s successful
competition pony, A Pinch of Pepper,
who also now has SPSS Elite Graded
status.
Grading Success
The escalating number of equine
influenza cases in the early summer
meant that the SPSS team reassessed
planned events and instead of a full
grading and evaluation tour, just
did three Stallion Grading days.
However, we still had a similar
number of stallions to previous years
presented for assessment by our
regular judges, Hans-Heinrich Brüning
(an international judge & breeder
of Hanoverian dressage and jumping
horses in Germany) and SPSS Chairman
& Director, Jacke Mathieson (who has
competed successfully in jumping,
eventing & dressage, is a stallion owner
and breeder of competition horses
& ponies). The SPSS judges and SPSS
Studbook Manager, Lucy Sheldrake,
were delighted with the quality of
the stallions entered and all bar one
of the stallions passed this first step
to becoming SPSS licensed stallions
with both the Supreme and Reserve
Supreme Champions gaining very high
marks for the loose jumping phase and
that crucial element for a sports pony,
temperament.
The stallions presented were grouped
into two regions and the Northern
Champion was Emma-Louise Johnston’s
4 year old Irish-bred Connemara,
Carnakilly Pom Pom (Dexter Leam Pondi
x Castleside JJ) with Penny Walster’s
home-bred 3 year old Bathleyhills
Colour Creation (Bathleyhills Monet
x Acado) being the Northern Reserve
Champion.
36 | BRITISH BREEDER