Foundation Horse

KIMRIDGE AMANDA - FM HSH ASH Reg: 33648

Article by Lindsay Ferguson

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This mare was born in about 1971 - the same year as the birth of the Australian Stock Horse Society and there are some interesting similarities. Both have evolved from a very solid background - blending the old with the new. Both involved people with good judgment and vision. Both have withstood some rough times, to provide a wonderful legacy for the future

IMRIDGE AMANDA - FM HSH was a horse with the stamina-rich bloodlines of the classic thoroughbred crossed with that of the newly-

recognised Australian Stock Horse. Her stock horse sire is by the Foundation Sire ABBEY - FS HSH out of the Foundation Mare RADIETTE - FM HSH. She was bred by a horseman who had good breeding stock. Her subsequent owners had a good eye and the judgment needed to choose well-suited matings which resulted in offspring with good potential. However, a number of her

offspring in the first and second generations met an untimely end which has left only a select number of near descendants.

As with many other horses, this mare’s story involved a number of ownership transfers until the right match was found. In those days, Doug Knapton of Murrurundi was always on the lookout for a good horse. He bought, bred and sold a number of horses in the early years of the Society. Doug recalls that he had exchanged a horse with Bruce Manchee, but was unhappy with what he received. The outcome was that Bruce

provided him with a replacement mare that he had bred, which Doug registered as KIMRIDGE AMANDA. Only recently did she earn the post-nominal of FM HSH. Doug was looking for a polocrosse horse but didn’t find what he was looking for in this mare either, so given her good type and pedigree; he saw value in her as a brood mare. At the time, the colt ELLIOTTS CREEK CADET - FS HSH was shaping up as a promising sire, so Doug put her and a number of others to the stallion and then onto the market.

Geoff and Bev Darling have judged

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ASH classes extensively across the eastern states. Geoff attended the first meeting of the Society in Tamworth and was also a classifier for many years. He was proudly able to quote me his ASHS membership number when I spoke with him. In the 1970’s they were farming at Cassilis and were keen breeders of racehorse and stock horses for showing, for stockwork and polocrosse. Geoff and Bev were looking for good brood mares, particularly those with the ABBEY - FS HSH bloodlines. They purchased two mares from Doug, one being KIMRIDGE AMANDA - FM HSH and the other KIMRIDGE DONNA. Geoff said, ‘they were both beautiful mares and were in foal when we bought them. We liked both sides of the pedigrees. At the time our two children, Michelle and Craig, were camp drafting well and also showing successfully’.

Geoff described her as a beautiful type of mare, standing a bit over 15.3 hands high with a wonderful temperament. ‘We were looking for a larger style of horse as our family is large in build and we wanted a strong horse under us. She had all of that with a big shoulder and powerful hindquarters. She produced four good foals for us but she died not long after her last

foal in the mid 1980’s. I saw her at the water trough one hot day after she had stamped on a big brown snake - but neither won the battle as they both died’, said Geoff.

Looking at her pedigree we can see quality stock horse blood on the top side. Her sire is the well-bred, brown stock horse AL BURACK - HSH who was born in 1966, by ABBEY - FS HSH. His dam, also of Foundation Status, is RADIETTE - FM HSH whose history is recorded in the previous issue of this Journal (March/April 2015, pp 16-19). Bred by Philip Kirkby he was firstly owned by Bruce Manchee then was sold a couple of times and campdrafted by John Scholes. AL BURACK - HSH ended up with Philip Kirkby’s cousin, Julie Latham at Condamine who bred a lot of good polocrosse horses with him using the Glen Prairie prefix. ‘“Alby” was about 15 hands high and strongly built - not a pretty horse but one with a good temperament. ‘You couldn’t help but like him’, said Julie. In all, AL BURACK - HSH produced 56 registered progeny in total, but many more than that were actually sired.

His only progeny of Foundation status is KIMRIDGE AMANDA - FM HSH, who

was sired in his first year at stud. Another of his best foals was GLEN PRAIRIE ABBALEEN - HSH, a very clever mare that Tori Latham played on representing Queensland at four consecutive national polocrosse championships from 1998 to 2004. AL BURACK - HSH only had two colts that were studbook registered but one of those, GLENPRAIRIE ALL RAY - HSH produced twelve foals.

The bottom side of KIMRIDGE AMANDA - FM HSH’s pedigree shows that this mare is another that has used the thoroughbred cross to advantage, to put even more size and stamina into the bloodlines. Her dam, Jeddah, was a horse bred by Bruce Manchee at Moree and was known as a good showjumping mare. Out of a thoroughbred mare she was by Sir Neith (AUS 1937), a sire that was used around the Moree district to produce some good picnic racers. He won the AJC St Villiers Stakes during wartime in 1943. At the time it was a Principal race of eight furlongs. Today, this race is a 3yr old and upwards open handicap - a Group 2 race of 1,600 metres. The winners over the last three years have been Rudy (2014), North Legion (2013) and All Regal (2012).

While Sir Neith did well on the track, his parents did even better. His sire, Pentheus (AUS 1926) won the VATC Golden Guineas in 1929 and the BATC Doomben Cup in 1933. He sired 7 stakes-winners with 8 stakes wins. His dam, Ella Eaton, produced two stakes winners with 2 stakes wins, being Sir Neith and also Romano (AUS 1937) who won the Toowoomba Turf club Weetwood Handicap - a 6 furlong race in 1941. Ella Eaton’s great-grandfather was the mighty Bend Or who won the Great Britain Epsom Derby in 1880 and produced 11 stakes-winners with 19 stakes wins. Of interest to stock horse breeders, is the fact that Bend Or is also the sire of Radium (GB 1903). While there is no connection to the Radium - WH of stock horse fame, it is interesting to note that it was a popular name at the time, reflecting scientific advances of the day. There have been three racehorses named ‘Radium’ of recent times registered in the Australian Stud Book.

The ELLIOTTS CREEK CADET - FS HSH foal that KIMRIDGE AMANDA - FM HSH was carrying when she was sold to Geoff Darling was born in 1978. Registered as STRATHMUA SAPHIRE - IM HSH, ‘she grew quite tall, like her dam, standing about

1. STRATHMUA FAITH at Warwick 1998. Photo supplied by Sue Jones2. STRATHMUA FAITH wins the W.J. Gleeson Memorial Campdraft Open 1999 at Alpha

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15.2 - 15.3hh and was an outstanding filly’, said Geoff. ‘Bev took her to a few shows locally where she won some led futurities. Philip Kirkby talked us into selling her to him. In retrospect I was a bit sorry to sell her but good luck to the Fields who later bought her and did really well with her.’

STRATHMUA FAITH, born in 1980, was her second foal and sired by GREEN NOBBY BOBBY, a Bobbie Bruce - WH colt that the Darlings used over their own mares. Her third and fourth foals were STRATHMUA HOPSCOTCH a brown colt born in 1982 also by GREEN NOBBY BOBBY and STRATHMUA VANESSA born in 1983 who was a filly by the top sire QUIDONG BRIGADIER - IS HSH. It was greatly disappointing for the Darlings when both these horses died young. As a consequence, all this Foundation Mare’s descendants and therefore her status as a Foundation Mare is solely due to one foal - STRATHMUA SAPHIRE - IM HSH.

We pick up the story here from Philip Kirkby who said that she was ‘a very clever

filly’ that did well with him and won a number of classes in the showring at the Sydney Royal Show. ‘We used to call her ‘Black Saphire’. She was a good-looking horse with a big bum on her’, said Philip. He had her for a few years and also bred from her, however her grey foal by BLUE MOON MYSTIC - IS HSH died. Philip gave the mare a few runs at campdrafting but she used to get rattled a bit so he decided that she was a horse that may be better suited to polocrosse. A lad that had been working for Philip had her on trial one weekend at a tournament, but he couldn’t afford her. Malcolm and Judy Field who had seen the rookie horse perform that weekend had been impressed and quickly bought her from Philip. Their judgment was good as she turned into a very good polocrosse horse.

Prior to that the Fields had seen Phillip competing with her at the Sydney Royal Show in a working class and it was quite apparent that the mare was very athletic. ‘At the time our son Mark was playing representative polocrosse and we were looking for a new mount for him to try for selection for the next Polocrosse Nationals’, said Judy.

STRATHMUA SAPHIRE - IM HSH fulfilled the role beyond expectations, and apart from her athletic ability which made her an excellent No 1 horse in polocrosse, she had an amazing turn of speed. She and Mark won awards at local and elite level. After representing NSW in the 1988 Polocrosse Nationals at Darwin, the decision was made to retire STRATHMUA SAPHIRE - IM HSH while at the peak of her career. ‘Mark had also won a couple of campdrafts on the mare, so we decided to put her into the broodmare string of our

Nandeye Stock Horse Stud’, said Judy.The first foal born in 1989 was a colt

called OCEAN DEMISE - HSH , who was sold to Keith and Sue Jones. OCEAN DEMISE - HSH then moved to a Northern Territory station with Paul and Jane Stone and bred a number of youngsters. However although he lived longer than most of STRATHMUA SAPHIRE - IM HSH foals, he also met an untimely death.

In 1992, she produced another colt by WARRENBRI ROMEO - IS HSH, registered as OCEAN WAVE - HSH. Mark’s good mate Michael Wilson campaigned OCEAN WAVE - HSH very successfully in working classes and in the campdraft world and he became a very popular sire. One of his more successful offspring is the bay filly NANDEYE REFLECT - HSH. Twice she won the Supreme Working Horse at the Nationals and twice won the Abbey Open Challenge. She won the National Maturity in 2003 and was awarded the Prince of Wales trophy for outstanding performance in 2004.

Judy recounts events of the time, ‘We then joined STRATHMUA SAPHIRE - IM HSH to one of our home-grown stallions and then with another colt foal at foot we sent her to “Tamarang” to Richard Bull’s DOCS FRECKLES OAK - IS. While there Richard found the foal floating in a dam and we surmised that he had been the victim of snakebite. STRATHMUA SAPHIRE - IM HSH produced yet another colt, which was called OCEAN RIVER OAK, and ridden by Michael Wilson, he was Champion Working Stallion at the 2000 National Championships. This horse was sold for a good price at the Dalby ASH sale, but was later bought back again by Mark Field. STRATHMUA SAPHIRE - IM HSH next produced a filly NANDEYE WANDERER - HSH to LYNKEN TRAVELLER - HSH which sadly had to be ‘put down’ as a youngster. The saga of STRATHMUA SAPHIRE - IM HSH’s ill-fated progeny continued as in 1999, while being ridden in peak condition, OCEAN WAVE - HSH died of a burst aorta.

As she aged, STRATHMUA SAPHIRE - IM HSH became a difficult mare to breed

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Sire AL BURACK - HSH

ABBEY - FS HSHradiant 02 - WH

joys pal 02

RADIETTE - FM HSHbignells radiant 02 - WH

echos sister 02

Dam jedda 05

sir neith 001unknown sire

unknown damn

thoroughbred mare 01unknown sire

unknown damn

KIMRIDGE AMANDA - FM HSH Colour: Black Height: 15.3hh Lifespan: 15 years approx. (1971 - mid 1980s)

Breeder: Bruce Manchee, Moree, NSW Performance: Stock horse/campdrafter and broodmare

Progeny: Four registered progeny, the most notable being the mare STRATHMUA SAPHIRE-IM HSH.

Moree, NSW

from; however, she produced yet another colt, NANDEYE DESTINATION in 2000, by the sire ACRES DESTINY - IS. Judy said, ‘He was a quality colt, and placed in classes as a yearling, but again fate determined a sad ending as the horse died just prior to his second birthday. In 2001, STRATHMUA SAPHIRE - IM HSH produced another colt by OAKS EBONY and Malcolm optimistically named him NANDEYE SURVIVOR - MB, selling him as a gelding at the Toowoomba ASH sale. This may have proved prophetic because to my knowledge he is still alive today’.

Judy continued, ‘STRATHMUA SAPHIRE - IM HSH to this point had produced seven foals, with six being colts and Malcolm remarked that all he wanted from STRATHMUA SAPHIRE - IM HSH was a black filly so he joined her for a final time at 23yrs of age in 2001’. A black filly was born however it was premature and despite Judy’s best nursing efforts, it did not survive. STRATHMUA SAPHIRE - IM HSH gradually deteriorated over the next couple of years and for humane reasons it became necessary to put this grand old mare down. Her powerful hind quarter and athleticism has been passed on through future generations of foals. One colt, OCEAN RIVER OAK has survived her and is still producing foals at 21yrs of age.

The second foal out of KIMRIDGE AMANDA - FM HSH was STRATHMUA FAITH. She was transferred to the ownership of Andrew (Tony) Robinson from Narrabri, and then later sold to Steve Dunn of Gunnedah. Ray Mayne and his wife Susan now of Kingaroy, Queensland became members of the Society in 1975 and have owned and bred Stock Horses (Green Hills prefix) for many of those 40 years. They were breeding Santa Gertrudis at Tambo, saw the mare in the catalogue at the Dalby Stock Horse Sale in about 1986, and selected her on her bloodlines. Ray was keen on the Bobbie Bruce - WH horses, while Susan’s preference was Sire ABBEY - FS HSH bloodlines - both of which were found in her pedigree. Susan said that she paid just $1,000 for STRATHMUA FAITH, well below what she was worth. Ray recalls that she was an exceptionally good mare. The sales catalogue described her as a horse that had ‘been on the road, ridden by an elderly man’; however she had a few wrinkles that Ray was able to iron out of her. “She was one of the best camphorses I have ever had”, he said. ‘Standing 14.2hh, she was a good size. She gave her all every time that you rode into the camp. STRATHMUA FAITH did pretty well considering the number of drafts we used to get to, having earned her Gold Certificate from the A.C.A. She had an amazing

temperament; there was not a bad bone in her body. She was perfect’. One of her wins with Ray was the Novice campdraft at the ACA National finals at Injune in 1990. Susan also rode her in some Ladies and team drafts. After she retired, Ray and Susan tried to breed her, even taking her to Toowoomba for embryo collection without any luck, which was very disappointing for them. She remained in the best paddock at “Green Hills”, until she died at about the age of 20.

In some ways this is a sad story but one with a happy ending. While this Foundation mare produced four good foals, only two survived to maturity. Only one of those produced progeny with a number of them

having quite short lives and not having the chance to breed on as they deserved. This type of disappointment is known to many of us and is a reminder of the enormously satisfying but fickle activity we know as horse breeding and ownership. Despite the disappointments we persist - as has the descendants of this Foundation mare. The breeders involved with this Foundation Mare persisted and the result is a quality line of horses - well performed and well-decorated. Her one foal that reproduced is now an Impact Mare and in all there are now 512 descendants.

3. OCEAN RIVER OAK4. Geoff Darling, ASH Journal cover 19925. Bev Darling, ASH Journal cover 1994`6. NANDEYE REFLECT - HSH7. OCEAN WAVE - HSH

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