The first full sibling to talented eventer Parkfield Quintessential was born earlier this month (16 May), but she had a difficult start to life.
Wiltshire-based Parkfield Breeding was delighted to announce the arrival of filly Parkfield Little Phoenix — a full sister to their star horse “Quinty”.
Parkfield Little Phoenix
Their mare, Carino Biene SZ, unexpectedly had twins and sadly the colt died, but his sister survived.
“It’s been very exciting but also very sad because we lost her brother,” Sharon Bishop of Parkfield Breeding told Horse & Hound.
“I woke up at 1am on the Saturday night and looked at the CCTV and saw a tiny foal had been born.”
What Sharon had thought was the afterbirth was the colt who had already died when she found him. She stayed with the mare and filly all night and the vet came out at 10am the following morning.
The filly went downhill quickly
The filly by Quicksilber became unwell that afternoon and Sharon decided to take her to hospital.
“By the time we got there [the veterinary hospital in Lambourn] she was very poorly. She was very small and very weak.
“I was astonished how quickly she went downhill. I am so glad I made the call that she was going [to the vets].”
The foal became well enough to return home on the Tuesday (19 May) and has since been making good progress.
Parkfield Quintessential as a foal
“She’s doing well. She’s quite active and is showing lots of Quinty traits,” said Sharon.
“It’s him reincarnated — it’s really spooky. If you couldn’t see her face markings you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.”
Ridden by Zoe Wilkinson, Quinty won the Burghley Young Event Horse Finals as both a four- and five-year-old. He went on to finish sixth at the World Breeding Championships in Le Lion d’Angers as a six-year-old last October.
Parkfield Quintessential at Rockingham last year
The 17hh chestnut gelding made his two-star debut at Rockingham Horse Trials on Saturday (23 May) and came second.
He was the first foal bred by Parkfield Breeding, which began after Holly (Sharon’s daughter) stopped showjumping and the family decided to breed from her mare Carino Biene SZ.
“It’s really exciting and a long awaited foal,” added Sharon.
“We hope she follows in Quinty’s footsteps — if she can do half as well as him it will be absolutely amazing.”
