British breeding

British breeding refers to the breeding of horses for sport in Britain. It has gained in popularity and interest in recent years, with more and more British-bred sport horses proving their quality and gaining recognition.

To be classed as British-bred, a horse must have either been foaled in Britain, or foaled abroad to a dam who usually lives in Britain. It does not matter in which country a foal’s sire is based, nor the country of issue of the passport.

Britain has five World Breeding Federation (WBFSH) approved studbooks; the Warmblood Breeders Studbook-UK (WBS), Scottish Sports Horse (SSH), Sport Horse Breeding of Great Britain (SHB), the Anglo European Studbook (AES) and the British Hanoverian Horse Society (BHHS).

British Breeding is the organisation that is working with the Olympic disciplines’ governing bodies to promote British breeding in sport.

Some of the best and most successful examples of British breeding in recent years include the following horses:

• Hawtins Delicato (Diamond Hit x Regazzoni), Carl Hester‘s world silver medallist
• Super Nova II (De Niro x Weltmeyer), Spencer Wilton‘s Olympic silver medallist and championship stalwart
• Classic Moet (Classic x Bohemond), Jonelle Price‘s Badminton Horse Trials winner
• Billy Buckingham (Billy Congo x Clover Hill), William Funnell‘s Hickstead Derby-winning and 2018 World Equestrian Games (WEG) ride
• Hearts Destiny (Heart Throb x Rabino), Holly Smith‘s European Championship bronze medallist