“I ALWAYS tried to breed horses that would be desirable, valued (valuable too, one would hope!), handsome, useful, trainable and sound. That way I could hope that they would be well cared for and well loved,” said Kathryn Jackson (now Stevens), who bred this year’s top money earner; Vanir Kamira.

“At the very least, they should be able to do a job and a good job at that. It’s often down to circumstance and chance as to how well they do and who they end up with.”

Kate, as she prefers to be known as, “Nobody has called me Kathryn since I was in school!” filled in the background details about the Badminton winner in an exclusive interview with The Irish Field last summer. It was both a first and last for the 2019 fixture; its inaugural running as a five-star event and under the final year of Mitsubishi Motors sponsorship.

Vanir Kamira is yet another world-class eventer foaled in the Border Counties. Monaghan man Peter Rice is the only top 10-breeder to have multiple hoses recorded on the Hippomundo database. His quartet is headed by Cooley Lands (€49,125), third at Badminton, followed by Shannondale Quest (€689), Fernhill Nearly Darc (€200) and Balladeer Land (€41).

The winner is another bred in the same county after Kate moved to Monaghan with Vanir Kamira’s dam Fair Caledonian, by the thoroughbred sire Dixi, who traces back to the great eventing influence, Relic.

She was described by her owner as a “diminutive 15.1hh mare, who in turn was out of a mare purchased for £200 with no breeding record but lovely conformation. The “experts” deemed Fair Caledonian to be far too small and fine and that she would amount to very little. However, I knew her conformation was excellent and when I first saw Ronnie Hollinger’s Camiro de Haar Z, I knew I’d found her match,” she explained.

Overlooked

“Sometimes top performance horses come about by luck, many by good judgement. It was also a combination of luck and good judgement that led to Vanir Kamira being purchased as a three-year-old by Trevor Dickens in Goresbridge, late in the day as she had been overlooked.”

Initially concerned about the filly’s lack of recorded thoroughbred blood, Trevor went ahead with the purchase back in 2008. “His passion for the sport, commitment to, and love for the mare, along with Piggy French’s perseverance and gifted horsemanship, has made this lovely horse what she is today.

“Never underestimate good conformation for I believe it is paramount,” Kate advises. “Good judgement and lots of luck are also important. Money alone will not bring success.”

Rewards

In financial terms, event horse breeders are rarely rewarded, however Vanir Kamira’s top-two places at Badminton and then Burghley, followed up by her second-highest Irish Sport Horse place in the WBFSH rankings, resulted in Kate earning a Horse Sport Ireland breeder award in early December.

Since breeding the future Badminton winner, Kate moved back to England and wasn’t there in person to pick up her cheque. “I work full-time now as a project manager and I can’t fit a horse of my own in at the moment. However Vanir Kamira’s rise to success has rekindled my passion to be around them and I’m using my [HSI] prize money by getting back in the saddle and loving every minute!”

Piggy French celebrates after winning Badminton with Vanir Kamira \ Nigel Goddard

Representing Kate at the awards ceremony at Cavan EC was Gerard Green. “He worked for me for many years when I was in Monaghan. He’s a rare breed. A wonderful young horseman, extremely hardworking and straight as they come.

“I could not have achieved what I did without his youthful assistance all those years ago and he’s now successfully running his own sport horse yard, Tonagh Sport Horses, in Clontibret. It’s nice to see him putting the skills I taught him, since he was around 12 years old, to good use!”

Reunited

“I went to see Vanir Kamira in Burghley and met her for the first time since she was a three-year-old. She made the cross-country course look easy! I’m in regular touch with Trevor and he keeps me updated. Her well-being comes first and foremost with him. He adores the ground she walks on,” she notes about Dickens’ potential Tokyo Olympic Games horse.

The walls of her husband Al’s garage business in Marlborough, a strong eventing heartland, are liberally covered with photos of the famous mare. “And Richard Wright recently spotted our wedding pic in Al’s office and he remembered me prepping a horse for him for Cavan and knew all about Vanir Kamira. Small world!”

The 2019 successes and highlights aren’t quite enough to entice Kate back to horse breeding though. “I’ve no plans to return to breeding. I’ve bred my once-in-a-lifetime horse and that’s enough for me. It’s something that most breeders can only dream of and Vanir Kamira’s success is beyond my wildest dreams.”