Bertrum, officially called "Bertie Killingshurst", is a horse born in the "purple" with two parents that have exceptional records for producing offspring that compete at the very highest echelons in Eventing.

To give you an idea, his half-brother (from the same sire) Midnight Monarch ridden by Andrew Hoy, won Badminton 2006 whilst his other half-brother from the same dam (much more unusual) Lord Killingshurst ridden by Andrew Nicholson, came second.

Bertrum may have showed all the promise but he never made the grade and his patient owner who had bought him as a two year old permanently loaned Bertrum to us in 2003. Lorna has with great determination tackled Events with him for the past two years but has finally admitted defeat. Why? Because Bertrum is the biggest woos ever! As Bertrum damaged his suspensory ligament after messing around in the field, unfortunately he will be out of action for most of 2007 whilst the strain repairs.

Now this is an interesting one. With the official Spanish name of Dique (pronounced DK) he was an expensive import from Spain as an un-backed three year old stallion, purchased with the intention of using him as a breeding stallion with our Spanish stock.

Unfortunately as a stallion he proved to be lethal on the ground regardless of whether this was with other horses or people. Within a month of arrival he escaped from his field and broke Julepe's jaw and that was by far the final straw - DK was as a consequence promptly sent to the Vets for a Gender change operation!

It took him a while to become more amenable and particular thanks must go to Clare who spent much of her free time bringing DK on. Introducing DK into the riding school was another step forward in his development – he is typical of the Spanish horse in that he loves to be doing something and ideally all of the time! Lorna having more free time than Clare has now taken over the ride on DK for the 2007 competition season and we suspect there will be yet another transformation with this very talented horse!

Finnegan joined us early in 2009 rather as an after-thought, having arrived as an “add-on” to another horse from Southern Ireland which fitted our described requirements to a “T”. But as is so typical with horses once you have had the opportunity of getting to know them, the “perfect” horse proved unsuitable, whilst Finnegan won our hearts with equal speed.
Finnegan is a kind and willing horse who learns rapidly and does his absolute utmost to please his rider – a brain that is quite definitely a rare find, and the icing on the cake was discovering that once all the hair was clipped off there was also a remarkably handsome individual underneath!
Caroline Pattison didn’t waste time snapping up Finnegan as her own and he is now an “Elite” livery, which means he will only be exercised via the riding school when Caroline is unable to ride.

Fraser, together with Roo, were discovered via an Irish horse supplier based in Folkestone.
Whilst he is young, Fraser is typical of the Irish horse in being mentally mature for his years. He has exceptionally good, active paces and a temperament that reminds us strongly of GP. So we are crossing our fingers that we have in fact found another remarkable GP to add to our string!

When Hector came to us he was plain “Hector” but has proven since to be so kind and willing during his training process that he is now typically referred to as “Sweet Hector”. Very obedient to handle and trying his hardest when you ride him, Hector may never make the Olympics, but my goodness he is going to give a lot of riders a great deal of pleasure in making his acquaintance. That just about sums up Hector – he is a bit old-fashioned!

Jigsaw came to us from the same source as GP and is another Irish horse - the only trouble was we had no idea at the time how young he was (so much for being able to read horses' teeth to ascertain their age!). However Jigsaw has developed from strength to strength and has given many people enormous confidence with their riding, being such a gentle and kind chap who always does his best to take care of his riders.

We came across Mackie by accident when a friend of Lucy’s gave her the nod that we really must buy this horse when he became unexpectedly available on the market. This eye-catching horse is totally straightforward, experienced in all disciplines and hacking, safe, and highly popular amongst all of us here.

Paddy came over from Southern Ireland specifically chosen for his new owner Antonia who had outgrown her first pony, our dear Ozzie. Paddy is a very handsome Cob with four white socks to match his white face, markings which are stunning against his black coat. Like nearly all Irish horses he is incredibly kind and very willing to please.

Penny is a striking-looking mare, who despite her diminutive size deserves to be taken seriously. She has three excellent paces for affiliated dressage and is also an athletic forward-going jumping machine. The more Penny does the better she gets and what definitely does not suit her is standing in a field doing nothing.

Name: Roma
Owner: Katie Herman
DOB: 31.3.02
Arrived: 2003
Gender: Mare
Colour: Grey
Breed: Andalusian
Height: 15.2hh

Roo, together with Fraser, were discovered via an Irish horse supplier based in Folkestone.
Interestingly, when we tried Roo we thought him too green for our job, but it was almost like a different horse arrived on the premises the next day! Whilst forward-going he has a remarkably laid-back temperament and absolutely nothing seems to phase him. Whilst we hummed and hahhed about buying him, we are already delighted we did because so far everyone who has ridden him cannot stop singing his praises!

Travis came to us direct from Southern Ireland after a frustrating period of returning many trial horses which proved not up to our expectations. Travis is a lovely, quality, dapple grey gelding who has behaved impeccably from day one and shows a lot of promise both on the flat and over fences. Definitely what we would call a “ladies” horse with his stunning looks and impeccable manners.

Venus was the first Spanish foal to be born at Lavant House Stables, as her mother Kalia was imported from Spain, being in foal with Venus, who’s sire is from some of the most prestigious and oldest bloodlines in Spain. As is usual with our Spanish mares, we put them in foal as a three year old, back them and then reintroduce them to ridden work when weaned from their foal eighteen months later, so it is quite a long process from birth to actually being ridden regularly. However as the Spanish horse is a slow maturing breed, we find it suits them to leave them as long as possible before expecting them to exert themselves, so this slow development process pays off in the end. Venus is similar to Roma in that she is quite a lively ride.

Webb, owned by Abi, is the biggest horse we have at Lavant House Stables - and the description "gentle giant" aptly describes Webb. He represents the very best of the sadly diminishing cross of the Irish Draught to the English Thoroughbred and has been extremely well-trained over the years.

Webb is the rare type of horse who can turn his hand to anything and do it well - we are incredibly lucky to have him with us.

[Back to Top]