with Robert Booth
BHS Stage 5 Accredited Professional Coach
A new year has arrived, so all the horses will have aged a year on January 1st, and the new stud season will soon be upon us.
Suddenly I realised that we have two homebred three year-olds and a yearling. It certainly comes around very quickly. The trouble with breeding is that you end up collecting horses, and soon we are going to have to start selling some.
Selling horses, especially the homebred ones, can be tricky as we like to make sure they go to the best homes where they are appreciated and used for what they were bred for. We rarely put them on the open market and try to sell to our customers, because I like to know their new owners’ ability and try to match horse to rider/owner.
We nearly always like to break in the youngsters before they are sold, to give them a good education and assess their suitability. We can then give the buyer an opportunity to try, ride several times on home ground, look after them and get to know the horse before they take them on and begin to create a partnership. Our last sold homebred was Rodgebrook Golden Girl, or Beryl as she was known to us, who was sold to Samantha Brown.
Sam and Beryl have forged a wonderful partnership and I see them at least once a week for a lesson and love following their progress. Apart from having fun every day they have started competing in dressage and showjumping and are usually in the ribbons. Beryl is always happy, never has a speck of dirt on her, has her every need cared for and Sam is always full of praise for her. When she is seen out with the Rodgebrook prefix, I will always feel proud.
Robert Booth is an equine trainer for Rodgebrook Horses. Visit their website at www.rodgebrookhorses.co.uk or telephone 01983 521870.
Training: Buying the right horse
With the use of artificial insemination, you can get any bloodlines from all around the world and most breeders will have taken a lot of time and effort in choosing the right combination of mare and stallion. Buying your forever horse can be daunting and with the increase of foreign horses being imported, buying from a British breeder, who has known the horse from a foal, knows their veterinary history, their temperament and personality, should ensure that you will get the horse that you want.