Broadstone Stud is set to close this month after 15 years as one of theleading sport horse breeding establishments in Britain.
Owner Elizabeth Walkinshaw stood a number of top stallions at the purpose-built stud in north Oxfordshire, including her own Demonstrator, ranked number one dressage sire for the past three seasons.
Mrs Walkinshaw is also a showing enthusiast, and her home-bred mare Broadstone Dee, by Demonstrator, won the Winston Churchill Supreme Championship at the Royal International, and the Riding Horse of the Year title at HOYS in 2002 with Jo Bates.
The state-of-the-art stud was founded by Mrs Walkinshaw in 1988 in partnership with her former husband, Tom, and boasts 41 stables and four covered yards set in 120 acres, an outdoor school and stallion paddocks.
Most of the Broadstone stallions have now been sold, with West Country heading to Scotland to stand at the Romanno Stud, Landmark at the Lordships Stud in Essex and Amerigo Vespucci at the Sporting Horse Stud in Somerset. Chicago is currently on the market.
Lady Petersham’s coloured stallion Stanhope’s Diddicoy, who stood at Broadstone last year, has moved to Summerhill Stud in Scotland, while Demonstrator is on loan to Tullis Matson’s Stallion AI Services at Whitchurch, Shropshire.
Jennie Loriston-Clarke, who is heading a British Equestrian Federation working group to develop marketing schemes for British sport horses, says: “The loss of Broadstone will have a big impact on the breeding industry – the stud produced some lovely horses. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to make breeding pay, with taxes, rates on premises and wages to pay.
“Our challenge is to make sure that the breeders of good horses are recognised and that they start to achieve realistic prices for theirstock.”
Mrs Walkinshaw was unavailable for comment.
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