Addington Manor Stallion Show

Addington Manor is a regular venue and host to stallion gradings, but this year it was the chosen venue for a fantastic and very successful national stallion show. This was a showcase for some of the top competition/breeding stallions in this country at present.

The Addington Manor Stallion Show was the brainchild of the Light family, who run the Brendon Stud in Sussex. It was felt there wasn't a high profile stallion show anywhere in the country that was on a par with the stallion shows held on the continent. At such shows, breeders and mare owners can go to view potential breeding stallions.

The show was very well organised with over 30 stallions being put through their paces on the first day alone. To name but a few of the fabulous stallions in attendance there was the very well known Randi, who has won just about everything that there is to win and is producing some fantastic young stock. Also Argento, who was a prolific winner in 2010 and has some very talented show jumping and dressage horses in his bloodline.

The Brendon Stud had, among others, a very nice stallion called Carentino Glory. He is a winner in the young show jumper classes and also has British Dressage points. His bloodline goes back to the famous Cor de la Bryere on both his dam and sire’s side.

As well as the warmbloods, there were also some very nice thoroughbreds and Irish Draft stallions to view. Although it is good to be able to watch the horses work in the indoor arena, it was also possible to see them in the stables. This can be a great help to breeders and mare owners, as being able to watch a stallion loose in his stable provides a good opportunity to observe him for conformation and temperament other than when under saddle or in hand. Both of these factors have a big influence on the choice of stallion for each individual mare.

The facilities at Addington Manor Stallion Show are outstanding, offering an international size arena with an "ecotrack" surface and fixed seating for over 700 spectators. Addington Manor also has a state of the art sound system. Throughout the event there were demonstrations and talks from John Whittaker and William and Pippa Funnel on competition and breeding for competition. There were also some very informative talks from Saracen horse feeds on nutrition and a good selection of trade stands placed around the indoor arena – you could watch the horses and do the all important shopping at the same time!

All in all a very successful event with fantastic facilities and fabulous performance stallions. It would be nice to see this become an annual stallion show in the years to come.