NEW ZEALAND BREEDERS
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'Quality Pure and Partbred Connemara's'
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'Coloured Warmblood's - Sport horses of distinction'
"Wembleybrook Stud is the culmination of a passion to breed and produce ponies and Hacks with the conformation and temperament suitable to a majority of equine disciplines.
From humble beginnings the Stud is continuing to grow on the quality and success that is achieved when using a selective breeding program, and a dedication to producing excellence".
Family owned and operated Wembleybrook Stud is situated approximately 35 minutes drive south of Christchurch International airport in the lush and fertile soils of Brookside, Leeston.
NEW ZEALAND
More about Wembleybrook
THE EARLY YEARS
Our first foal Wembleybrook Master McCauley was born in the summer of 1996/7, a ¼ clyde Tb x out of Pauls first horse, a lovely Tb mare Truly Forever. An upstanding young chap he was and still is! Still owned by us and ridden (mainly eventing) by all 3 of our children. He continues a slightly more leisurely role being leased out as a school master to young riders.
From here it was the beginning of the love affair of breeding that continues today. With huge respect for fellow breeders and bloodlines tried and true we embarked on the desire to breed an all-round performance animal and have continued to up the ante ever since.
With our 3 young children keen wee riders we started Pony breeding in 1999/2000, (though continued to breed the occasional hack). With this came the purchase of the Purebred Connemara Pony Stallion 'Bunratty Kerry Gold', the delightful performance bred riding pony colt 'Dragonwyck Havana' as a weanling and closely followed by well acclaimed Riding Pony Sire 'Rememberance',
Over the years we have bred and produced some beautiful and well performed ponies and it has been an absolute pleasure to watch their progress and success.
Sadly B. Kerry Gold was all but infertile on purchase, however his nature and natural athleticism shone and our love of the Connemara Pony was implanted,
CONNEMARAS CONTINUED TO INFLUENCE
Galway Mullingar an aged Part bred by Connemara Stallion Barwidgee Erriff (Imp Aus) has a lot to answer for! She was the most incredible pony any mother could wish for, both my girls rode her and gained so much knowledge we will be forever grateful. Competing till a ripe old age and at 27yrs Midge was the oldest pony to compete at Springston Trophy 3DE (the largest Pony Club event in the Southern hemisphere) with Michaela finishing a notable 10th out of 80 junior riders.
Purebred mares Galway Jeanette broken in at 3 was used as a broodmare when at 19 yrs was purchased and then ridden by Courtney, doing Pony Club and endurance before heading back to the broodmare paddock. Timaunga Chuckles and Timaunga Chortle whom were also ridden by our children have all had a huge role to play in the redirection of our Stud. A breed that can turn a hoof to anything, jump mountains but not waste energy doing it! They truly are the ultimate pony with a huge heart, suitable for any age and capability of rider, from the lowest to highest level of competition.
THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE ‘WEMBLEYBROOK CONNEMARA PONIES’
From 2006 the stud fine-tuned to concentrate on its Purebred Connemara breeding program and sadly the end to our breeding of NZ Riding Pony's was drawing to an end.
In partnership we were given the opportunity by Sheila Ramsay to import 'Capparis Casanova' from Australia, an astounding sire of some of the very best Connemara’s in N.Z today. Like their sire they have incredible temperaments with performance ability second to none!
Two Stallion sons have been retained by the stud, Wb Giacomo and Wb By Design, along with the stunning Purebred Mare 'Wb Realta'.
It was fortunate that same year we were able to purchase B. Kerry Golds full brother Bunratty Chieftain who has been an invaluable asset to the Stud.
Then came a lengthy search for the ever elusive Purebred Mare. Mares were obtained being either leased or purchased and Chief left us some fabulous progeny with all Purebred fillies bred being retained by the Stud, the only exception being Wb Maera who was exported to Australia and in foal to Wb Giacomo.
Timaunga Padraig(Mr Brown) and more recently Timaunga Kiwi Gold have also played a part in our collective herd.
Having developed a fairly impressive band of purebred mares and a number of Stallion sons to date, we finally feel well on the way to being established within the breed. Preserving the N.Z genetics has been a high priority carefu
Eventing has always been a passion and with the performance packed bloodlines of Wb By Design over Tb mares we see a real niche in the market, not only for international quality competitors but first hacks and mother’s a like …………. nothing like the versatility of a Connemara that’s for sure!
THE FULFILLMENT OF A LIFETIME DREAM!
My first and unwavering, dream had yet to become reality – To breed and produce high quality large hacks of colour! Something we had continued to quietly dabble with but had not yet concentrated on.
Like any good dream when passion is involved, it can become reality! With the children all grown, though Courtney remains in work at the stud, Michaela in Medical School and Stanley in the USA mastering the art of farriery, the timing was perfect and the search began.
Not having found quite what I was looking for in NZ (as I can be rather particular) led to an internet search for frozen semen, this in turn resulted in finding the stunning German Warmblood colt - Traumprinz GF! He was everything I'd ever imagined and I must say it was love at first sight! Going on gut instinct we were fortunate enough to be able to purchase and Import Traumprinz from Gestuete Falkenhorst Germany to New Zealand as a rising 2 yr old in December 2015 and he certainly did not disappoint - His picture book good looks, easy-going temperament and the proud and stunning movement of his ancestry are capped off with the very fitting English translation of his name 'Prince of Dreams' – He really is a dream come true.
BABY STEPS
Armed in the knowledge that a mare plays a huge role and is vitally important in the success of any good breeding program came the ever careful and quiet search for quality well bred Warmblood mares to join our small but select herd of NZ Sport horses and Thoroughbred mares and boy did we get lucky! Gurteens Meryl Streep, Precious
2017/18 has seen our first crop of Traumprinz foals on the ground and they are a delight to behold! With amazing and friendly natures, being very tall, with well-built uphill frames…. We really feel like we’ve hit the Jackpot and are over the moon with a future that is incredibly exciting!
We look forward to taking you further with us on this incredible journey!!
Some of our Connies
Wb Nochraha 165.5 cm Connie x TB 2* Eventer
Champion Saddle Hunter.
Wb Toi Toi Multi Supreme In-Hand from Yearling age.
Wb Giacomo X Willobee
Wb O'Driscol 105 Eventer, S.H, S.J ... Multi Talented
140 cm Purebred Connemara Pony
Capparis Casanova x Galway Jeanette
Full Brother to Wb Giacomo
Champion Novice Saddle Hunter
Wembleybrook Nochraha
Connemara x Thoroughbred
