Lady Emerald - Filly by Emerald van't Ruytershof

DOB: 28 October 2024
EMH: approx. 16.3hh
Registered Australian Warmblood

Sire: Emerald van't Ruytershof – 2016 Rio Olympian, Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix winner, 2016 World Cup Final runner-up and multiple Nations Cup winner; competed to 1.60m CSI5* Grand Prix level

Grandsire: Diamant de Semilly – 2002 World Champion (team) and 2003 European Championship silver medallist (team); competed to 1.60m; #1 on the WBFSH Sire Rankings for jumping horses (2015, 2016 and 2023)

Dam: Llamrei – Knabstrupper mare. ACE registered Australian Warmblood

Dam’s Sire: Tresaison Numero Uno (IMP) – by Nobody's Harlequin out of Xanthos; Champion Foal at his KNN grading with a 1st Premium score.

Second Dam: Barrabadeen Liberty – Registered Holsteiner/Australian Warmblood mare by Talisman I, a Foundation Sire of the Holsteiner Horse Association of Australia; bred by Barrabadeen Stud

Lady Emerald is a really special filly and one I have thoroughly enjoyed bringing along.

Lady has a beautiful nature and is incredibly people-oriented. She will come straight up to you in the paddock no matter where she is and absolutely loves scratches, attention and food. She is easy to catch, handle and do anything with, and has a very willing and sensible attitude.

Lady has been handled regularly and has lovely foundations for her age. She is easy to lead, tie, float, wash, rug, trim, clip and spray. She is not a rug chewer. She has great feet and is regularly trimmed.

Lady has also had a lot of exposure to different environments and experiences. She has been walked along the road and on trails, taken to shows and stabled, and regularly attends local obstacle days.

Lady is point-and-load on the float and travels extremely well. At obstacle days she has worked through tyres, milk-bottle-filled boxes, logs, seesaws, bridges and walk-through obstacles including pool noodles, streamers, umbrellas and wagons. She has also been exposed to flags and noise/sensory work at home.

Lady takes new things in her stride and is always willing to have a go.

Lady lives on our acreage while we build our new home and facilities, so she is used to an active environment and has been around tractors, excavators, a posi-track, pumps, chickens, dogs, mini donkeys, sheep and cows.

On the ground she has good foundations, including yielding her shoulders and hindquarters and responding to voice commands on the lunge at walk, trot, canter and woah. She has also worked in side reins and responds really well. She is relaxed, attentive and very easy to work with.

Lady is easy to saddle and bridle. Under saddle she has been brought on very slowly and carefully due to her age. She has comfortable, quality paces and is quiet and willing at the walk and trot, with a light responsive rein back. We have kept to walk and trot only given her age, but what she offers is lovely. She has never put a foot wrong and has remained relaxed and wanting to please throughout.

Another thing I really love about her is how easily she picks things back up after time off. She doesn't need to be consistently worked to stay sensible. She comes back in and carries on from where you left off.

Lady is currently paddocked alone but has previously been paddocked with other horses and has always been very easy-going. She is naturally low in the pecking order. She is respectful of fencing and has been kept in a variety of paddocks across hot tape, wire and solid fencing without issue.

One of my favourite little details: Emerald is a striking chestnut with a white marking underneath his belly, and Lady Emerald has inherited a distinctive little white belly spot from her daddy.

Her Breeding

Lady Emerald carries an exceptional line of horses who performed at the very highest levels of the sport, and the jumping heights achieved on the sire side tell their own story.

Lady Emerald is by Emerald van't Ruytershof, one of the most celebrated international Grand Prix showjumpers of his era. Emerald competed at CSI5* Grand Prix level (top tier of international showjumping) clearing courses at 1.60m and above throughout his international career.

His career highlights read like a roll call of the sport's top events:

·       Reserve champion at the 2010 World Championship for Young Horses (at just six years old),

·       Nations Cup victories in Aachen, Gijon, Falsterbo and Rotterdam,

·       World Cup qualifier winner in Washington (2015),

·       Runner-up at the 2016 World Cup Final in Gothenburg, and

·       Grand Prix victories at the prestigious Longines Global Champions Tour in Chantilly (2017) and at CSI5* level in Bordeaux (2018).

·       He also competed for the Netherlands at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games before retiring from competition in early 2019 to focus on breeding.

As Harrie Smolders said of him: "Emerald had, and still has, the complete package."

His offspring include:

·       Igor won team gold and individual bronze at the 2019 European Championships in Rotterdam, was named 2019 Belgian Horse of the Year, and went on to compete at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.

·       Another notable son, Jeunesse van 't Paradijs, competes internationally under Lorenzo de Luca.

Emerald is by Diamant de Semilly, one of the most important jumping sires ever produced. Diamant de Semilly competed to 1.60m himself, he was part of the French team that won gold at the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez and won team silver at the 2003 European Championships, making him both a World Champion and a European Championship medallist as a competitor in his own right. He topped the WBFSH Sire Ranking for jumping horses in 2015, 2016 and again in 2023. His offspring continue to dominate the world's top competitions. He is by Le Tot de Semilly, himself a multiple international Grand Prix winner and one of France's most influential jumping sires.

Emerald's dam is Carthina Z, by Carthago — a two-time Olympian and 15 Nations Cup competitor who scored a perfect 10 for jumping talent on his performance test and competed at 1.60m throughout his career.

The picture that emerges from just Emerald's immediate pedigree is striking: three consecutive generations — Carthago, Diamant de Semilly and Emerald himself — who all competed to 1.60m or above, all at Olympic or World Championship level, and all became highly influential sires. That depth of proven jumping blood is genuinely rare.

Her dam, Llamrei, is a 16.2hh leopard Knabstrupper mare by Tresaison Numero Uno (IMP).

Tresaison Numero Uno was bred at the well-regarded Tresaison Stud in the United Kingdom and imported to Australia. He brings excellent bone and substance, strong sport-horse conformation and a sensible, willing temperament. His pedigree traces through Nobody's Harlequin to Xanthos — both significant Knabstrupper foundation stallions — and he was named Champion Foal at his KNN grading in the UK at just 11 weeks old, receiving an overall score of 8 and a 1st Premium. He is a proven sire across showjumping and dressage disciplines.

Lady’s second dam is Barrabadeen Liberty, a registered Australian Warmblood mare bred by Barrabadeen Stud. Her sire, Talisman I, was one of the Foundation Sires of the Holsteiner Horse Association of Australia, imported from Germany in 1975, placing Barrabadeen Liberty firmly within the founding lines of Australian warmblood breeding history.

There is a genuinely exciting combination of bloodlines behind Lady Emerald: three generations of 1.60m Olympic jumping blood on the sire side, Holsteiner foundation bloodstock from Barrabadeen, and Knabstrupper heritage adding substance, athleticism and a touch of the unique.

What Lady Emerald Offers

What really stands out about this filly isn't just her pedigree — it's her mindset.

Lady is kind, smart, sensible, willing and incredibly people-oriented. She genuinely wants to please and is very happy to try whatever is asked of her. She has been given a great start without being rushed, and I think she has an incredibly exciting future ahead of her.

Lady would suit an ambitious amateur or professional looking for a young horse with exceptional foundations and world-class bloodlines. With her breeding, temperament and the start she has had, she has the potential to compete at the highest levels.

Lady is honestly just a lovely filly to have around, and I think she is going to make a very special horse for someone.

She is priced as a young horse at the beginning of her journey, which means the right buyer is getting in early on something genuinely special.

$25,000 ONO

Vet checks very welcome at buyer's expense.

Viewings welcome, she is located on Mitchell's Island, NSW (near Taree)