I
first saw Lalique at Towerlands. It now seems odd that until
then I had not even heard of her before.
All I knew was that I was immediately captivated by her
from the moment she entered the ring.
One,
I had never seen such glorious movement and two, her extreme
type and regal attitude were unmistakable. The judges agreed
and made her Reserve Champion. Thereafter I was on a mission
to see her at close quarters. Finally visiting Roger Dadd
to see her, I made an offer to buy her.
Shortly afterwards she came to Essex to be tried by Hayley
and Julie who amazingly backed her in no time. We believed
she had not been ridden before and the USA breeders confirmed
it. What a great start to her ridden career.
So began a spectacular 2 years where she progressed through
all he county and major Arab shows winning classes and Supreme
titles until she eventually won the British National Championship
and went on to be crowned Supreme Ridden Champion
of the UK. It still has a lovely ring to it.
The following year Lalique competed at Malvern Inhand under
Peter Upton and won the Reserve Supreme In-hand
title with a superb display of her exquisite movement. How
do you follow that?
Being as bright as Lalique means she needs to be interested,
so off to Kit Rolfe she went for Dressage training. This
was a whole new world for both of us. I found the sight
of this fairy tale mare competing against all types of horses
and winning very appealing. Kit campaigned right up to National
finals at Bedford .
I then decided to put her in foal. It is not until one draws
up a short list of 200 potential sires that one finds what
a task it is. I had liked a lovely colt at Lodge Farm owned
by Emma who had a lot of appeal and a super head and asked
if he would one day be available. Adawy at 2 years and just
licenced was the one for her, and although it is not usual
I had a hunch and asked to use him. One warm evening Lalique
was piled into a trailer, ferried to Oxford and covered
in a gentlemanly fashion, whisked home, (the last two miles
on three tyres) and duly gave birth to a colt at Easter.
As it happened I was visiting the stables to see her when
she went into labour.
Conventional wisdom is not to be there, but she seemed to
like me around. I went into the house to have a cuppa and
on returning saw this beautiful liver chestnut!!!
colt who had an extreme head and perfect legs.
I expected a grey from both parents but Borneo is the grandsire.
He got on with drinking straightaway and Lalique looked
so pleased with herself. Two days later we saw his movement,
like mum, light but sure with enormous ground covering paces.
My hunch was right. Best of all is the fabulous temperament.
Meantime
Sue and I had been moving house and preparing our new place
(subject to petty planning restrictions) to accommodate
our horses. I have always paid someone else to look after
them so you could say it was a steep learning curve when
eventually Lalique and Ali Abbas came to stay.
After a lifetime of big studs and lots of company Lalique
found it a bit scary. Carol Feeney came to the rescue and
loaned me Shunie, who at 22 is a great minder for the colt
while mum gets a free moment.
Lalique is a very friendly horse. She seems to like the
human race and is very content to keep a watchful eye on
me as I potter around the yard.
The joy of being with such a lovely horse is quite something
and each day I marvel at her. Lalique - a Mare of Distinction
indeed
Mr
Alistair Leslie
BLUE MOON ARABIANS
Brook Hill Barn, North End, Dunmow, Essex, CM6 3PQ ( UK
)
Tel: 01371 822811 Mobile: 07766 815055
email: lbluemoon@tiscali.co.uk
THE
