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GREAT BRITAIN (by Kyle Jones) Celia Clarke has been avidly involved with breeding of sports horses in Britain for over thirty years and continues to be involved at grass roots level with ‘British Breeding’ associated with the British Equestrian Federation (BEF). Noted not only for long-term commitment and outspoken opinions, she has bred sports horses (including standing a dressage stallion at stud).
Celia is now key to the Young Horse Evaluation Series (YHE) sponsored by South Essex Insurance Brokers (SEIB) and other new ventures launched with hopes of creating databases of information besides uniting and standardising the disparate British sport horse breeding industry. She is unrelenting in her committment and generosity of time besides having travelled considerably and observed many horses throughout the world. In addition she owns and operates ‘Warmblood Factfiles’, an organisation providing research and knowledge about pedigrees and the global sports horse industry. She is an author of numerous articles and books on the subject and has seen Britain evolve its breeding of sports horses as long as anybody. Celia is always willing to share her accumulated knowledge, despite likes and dislikes, petty jealousies and raging rows... Celia Clarke continues forging ahead and is always there for anybody excited enough to learn.
Q How and when did you get involved with sport horse breeding in UK and how has it progressed?
I bred my first foal in 1978 and my last one in 2001. I have been involved administratively in a breed society/ stud book since 1978 when I joined the just-formed British WarmBlood Society. Today I hold the Chairmanship of the Young Horse Evaluation and Futurity Committee of the British Breeding section of the British Equestrian Federation and the Chairmanship of the Sports Pony Studbook Society of Great Britain. Over almost 30 years I have seen stallion grading grow from a very rare occurrence – and one often accompanied by threats of litigation from the disappointed owners of the many rejected poor-quality imported stallions that had been sold to naive British buyers as top class breeding and sports prospects – to an essential process for all breeds of serious sport horse stallion owners....