isporthorse

In April of this year, event rider Mary King finished in first and second place at the prestigious Kentucky Horse Trials. It was incredible feat, one that few riders ever manage at four-star level, and it that was made all the more special by the fact that Kings Temptress, Mary’s winning ride, was a homebred horse that she had produced from the very start.
It’s not rare for a rider to diverse into breeding as a means of supplying themselves with future rides. But Mary’s breeding operation came about more from accident than design.
“It just sort of happened on the off-chance,” she says. “I had a lovely grey mare I was eventing for Gilly Robinson, called King’s Mistress (Louella Inschallah II x Solo Love). She was a beautiful grey, very talented, and as a five-year-old she won her first ever Novice event on a score of 11 penalties.”
However, the mare’s early promise was curtailed when she was seriously injured during turnout.
“During her winter holiday she severed a tendon by striking into herself – and that was the end of her eventing career,” says Mary. “We were lucky to save her at all, as she had to be in a full cast while the stitched up tendon was healing. Fortunately the infection didn’t take hold, and in the end I was left with a beautiful mare with a thick front leg, who was no good to compete.”
The obvious option was to put King’s Mistress in foal.
“I didn’t know much about breeding but there was a fashionable sire called Rock King (Just A Monarch x Rocky Double) who was a very talented event horse, so he was the obvious one to choose,” Mary adds.
The first two foals, Kings Fancy and Kings Gem, were full sisters. A third filly foal, Kings Temptress, followed, and she was sired by Primitive Rising (Raise A Man x Preiquito). So what did Mary make of a run of girls when eventing is dominated by geldings?
“When the first three foals were all fillies, I did think ‘oh dear’,” Mary confesses.  “I’d always liked my geldings and had always gone for 7/8th breds, and here was me breeding these mares that were more Thoroughbred types. But I thought to myself that I’ll just have to get used to riding Thoroughbred girls instead.”

It’s not easy to breed a top horse, but remarkably all three of those first foals went on to event at the very top level. King’s Fancy completed Pau in 2008 before later being sold to Laura Shears; King’s Gem finished eighth at Saumur three-star before going to Gemma Tattersall and stepping up to the four-star level; while Kings Temptress completed her first four-star at Burghley in 2008. To have bred one four-star horse would have been a good result; Mary managed it with all three.
“It’s quite amazing, really,” says Mary, with customary modesty.
The breeding bug had bitten. Of the three original filly foals, two were put in foal as three-year-olds, while Kings Gem was put in foal at two. They all had a natural foal, and all three had boys.
“I then decided I wasn’t going to think about doing any more breeding from the mares until they proved themselves up to four-star level. That was the pact I made myself, if they got that far I’d consider doing embryo transfer – and they did.”
Kings Fancy had a colt foal by embryo by the stallion Mill Law, while Kings Temptress produced three embryo foals – two born in 2010 and one born this year.
“Two colt foals are by Chilli Morning (Phantomic x Koralle), a proven event stallion,” says Mary. “Both Kings Temptress and Chilli Morning were competing at Burghley this year and whenever they passed each other I’d say to her ‘there’s your husband!’”
This year’s embryo transfer foal was by the stallion Grafenstolz.
“People had been raving about ‘Graf’ and I was offered a good deal with him,” says Mary. “The foal is sweet, a little girl, and I was pleased to have a girl after having quite a few boys. She’s lovely.”
Having once preferred geldings, Mary now relishes the arrival of a filly foal. Nor does she believe the old adage that mares are temperamental and unreliable.
“I don’t find them any different to be honest. You get some mares who are hot and buzzy, but you get geldings like that too. Kings Temptress is really quiet, while my gelding Imperial Cavalier is always excited.
“You do hear that mares do become irritated when they come into season, and they don’t want to jump or perform, but with all the mares I’ve ridden I can’t tell when they’re in season. I don’t treat them any differently, and I don’t ride them any differently,” she says.
Mary is happy with the size and scale of her current breeding programme – her yard is small and select with just eight horses; including two youngsters, two horses that are competed by her daughter Emily, and her four top rides. All four of these are qualified for the Olympics: Imperial Cavalier, Apache Sauce, Fernhill Urco and of course Kings Temptress, who backed up her win in Kentucky with a third place at Burghley, proving her four-star credentials.
For Mary, breeding has led to more than a ready supply of equine talents for her to compete. The sale of the homebred Kings Fancy meant Mary could afford to build her dream house at her yard in Devon, while previously she’d lived about 12 miles from her stables, commuting  every day with two children in tow. It’s certainly been a successful endeavour.
Mary has also been in spectacular form of late, finishing the season by coming fourth at Pau and winning the HSBC FEI Classics series, a prize that netted her $150,000. She’s a likelihood for selection for the 2012 Games, and if she gets the call up for Team GBR she will be the first event rider to compete at six consecutive Olympics. If she rides at Greenwich – perhaps on her homebred mare – it really will be  the ultimate result for someone who got into breeding by accident.