OKEHAMPTON horse breeder Sue Chaplin gained a higher first premium with her young horse at the Baileys Horse Feeds/ British Breeding/British Equestrian Federation (BEF) Futurity held at Tall Trees Arena in Cornwall.

The three-year-old gelding, Sparkle bred and owned by Sue took home a higher first premium of 8.60 in the dressage section. This was the highest score awarded to a potential dressage horse at Tall Trees. A higher first premium indicates that the horse has the potential and outlook to perform at national level.

The BEF Futurity Evaluation series aims to identify British bred young potential sport horses and ponies destined for careers in dressage, eventing, showjumping or endurance — it may even find the stars of the future who will go on to compete at World Championships or become Olympic Champions.

This was a second visit to the Futurity for Sparkle, he took as first premium as a yearling. Sue said: ‘I have owned Sparkle’s dam, Ingliston Whotnot, since she was a yearling and she also went to the Futurity. She took second place in the Futurity Championship. Whatnot also won at the Royal Cornwall show in hand as a youngster and I competed her to open novice level in dressage. She also had a top 10 finish in the open novice dressage regionals one year. I always planned to breed from her and it has been a fascinating learning curve.’

Sparkle is by the stallion, Spörken.

Sparkle is the only foal Sue has bred, although there is a possibility that she may breed one more from the mare. Sparkle has recently been broken in by Mikey Tuff and he will start his competition career next season.

Sue continued: ‘The Futurity is a really interesting day out and has given me some good feedback about both the mare and the youngster.’

The BEF’s head of equine development Jan Rogers added: ‘We are increasingly noticing that breeders, buyers and riders of British bred horses are finding that a Futurity premium is a very useful aid in helping assess these horses. We are also seeing a marked improvement in the standard of youngsters entered in the futurity, which is very good news for the future of British breeding.’