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'Ringwould Stud' has been breeders of the 'Ringwould' line of horses since the eighties. This year has been the peak of their achievements with 'Sonja Johnson' taking Ringwould Jaguar to the 2008 Olympics to compete in the eventing.
Ringwould Jaguar Highlights:
July 2008 Olympic team for Eventing Click here to read updates from Gussie Saunders at reporting from the Olympics on the Albany Gateway blog
April 2008 CCI3* win at Sydney
May 2007 CCI3* win at Taupo Trans Tasman
August 2006 Bronze medal team at World Equestrian Games Aachen Germany
June 2006 Melbourne International CCI3* win
November 2005 2nd place at Adelaide CCI4*
October 2004 Eventing World Cup at Pau France 5th place
June & July 2004 CICW3* wins at Melbourne and Warwick
Olympics 2004 short listed |
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Presently they have young horses in the process of being prepared for sale and their Stallion 'Ringwould Legality' standing at Stud.
All enquiry's are welcome into any of 'Ringwould's endeavours. |
Jim & Augusta Saunders have been passionate about horses all their lives, they both hunted in England and Augusta competed in dressage and eventing at Pony Club level.
Jim started a new land farm at Fitzgerald, north-east of Jerramungup, and by 1980 they wanted to renew their involvement with horses. If its a hobby we have to finish work before we can spend time on it was Gussie's logic, so they decided to start a stud |
Augusta Saunders campdrafting Ringwould Pelican (photo courtesy Albany Advertiser) | |
| In 1981 they bought a three year old colt, Jensen's Man, by Trudy's Man, a racing bred import, out of a Pronto Mio mare. He was so easy to train and ride, he started them campdrafting, performed well in Working Stock Horse events, did dressage to Medium level, had a go at eventing, and was an excellent schoolmaster for children to ride. Jenny Daley won several Junior Campdrafts on him, nine year old John Saunders rode him in campdrafts and a pairs dressage test with his mother on a young gelding. In those days juniors were allowed to ride stallions. He was accepted into the Australian Stock Horse stud book on account of his performance, and Ringwould became a Stock Horse stud. |
| Jensen had limited opportunities at stud, they were too isolated for outside mares to come to him, so he only had 18 surviving progeny. Named following the alphabet, Alpha Romeo is still alive at 27, her brother Darracq, a.k.a. Ardito was sold to Victoria Hamilton and had a stellar career in Dressage, winning the National F.E.I. Dressage championship in 1998. Jensen's progeny have gone all over the state and done well in a range of activities. Alpha Romeo has had three foals after a successful campdrafting career, Ringwould Quest was a successful galloway hack until she damaged a knee; Ulysses & Wayfarer have yet to start their working lives. None of the Ringwould horses start work young, at the moment they have waited a little longer than ideal. |
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Ringwould Jaguar was Jensen's Man's last foal, we lost him following an accident while tied up to the truck when he was 15. Jaguar's dam was a thoroughbred with Wateringbury blood on her dam's side, but otherwise unremarkable, she was a gift. Nations of Lili had two foals, but died of an infected leg when Jaguar was a few months old, so only his sister, Impala, has tried to carry on the line. Her only surviving progeny is Ringwould Tomcat, who will be starting with Sonja next year. Breeding is not easy.
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Jaguar's year brother by Brown's Chan Way out of Ringwould Noorinya was a black colt called Ringwould Jet Away and he proved good enough to follow on as resident stallion. He had a very successful show, campdraft and dressage career which was cut short by an accident in 1998 when he was 7. His foals are all easy to handle and fun to ride, but too many of them are still in the paddock at home.
Gussie had the bright idea that she would like a colt by Crown Law, who was for a long time Australia's most successful dressage horse; so they went to South Australian to look for suitable mares, bought two, mated them to Crown Law, and shipped them home. The result was Ringwould Legality and Ringwould Liberty. Legality did a bit of dressage, but a run of bad seasons rather cut short his competitive career, as well as convincing them that it would be a good idea to move. Liberty has had a lot of fun campdrafting with Jim, has won and placed several times, and shows no signs of the dressage potential she once had. Legality is represented in the eventing field by Legal Star, now competing at one* level. |
| Ringwould Jaguar |
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Ringwould Jaguar is the star of the stable, he was ridden by John Saunders to start his education, but when John went overseas Gussie took him on and he had to do what she wanted. Mustering cattle for the Fitzgerald campdraft was OK until a steer charged him repeatedly, then he decided he didn't like cattle and was not going to be a campdrafter. He wasn't too keen on being a Hack either & wouldn't stand still for the judge to put ribbons on, so at the end of 2000 they took him to Sonja Johnson for her to see if he could jump. After three days she rang to say he's a natural, and after a fortnight's work he won Preliminary and Novice tests, showjumped his first round at 90cm and finished up with the puissance at 1.30 m at Equitana in Albany.
In June of 2001 Sonja took him to Werribee for the Melbourne International 1* three day event as she was riding Foreign Liaison in the 2*. They finished in third place, Sonja riding with a dislocated shoulder after a fall on cross-country. The following year they won the 2* at Werribee and by 2004 they were in contention for a place in the Olympic team. Unfortunately all did not go well at the Olympic trial; Jaguar went under water and Sonja was swept off at the first water jump, and then he hurt his hock at the second water, so although he passed trot-up and was clear in both showjumping rounds, he failed the vet check next day. Instead of going to Athens, they went to Warwick and won the second qualifying event for the Eventing World Cup, to be held at Pau in France later that year. After a massive fund-raising effort, Sonja and Jag went to Pau, and finished in fifth place.
2005 was the year for the Trans Tasman to be held in Australia, at Adelaide CCI 4*, and Sonja Johnson and Ringwould Jaguar were in the winning team, and second overall. In 2006 they were in the team for the World Equestrian Games at Aachen, unfortunately Jag hit the jump on the island in the water, Sonja fell off, but he managed to land on his feet and no one checked whether Sonja was fit to carry on. They negotiated the next three jumps on Jaguar's skill, but then slipped on a tight corner with wet grass and Sonja was knocked unconscious. The team went on to win a bronze medal and qualify for the next Olympics.
2007 was Trans Tasman at Taupo in New Zealand, which Sonja and Jaguar won individually, but we lost the team competition. Jaguar is now a seasoned traveler, he has crossed the Nullarbor many times and had three overseas trips, so he supports the other horses and keeps them calm.
2008 is the big one! Watch this space for a report on how we all went at Hong Kong when we get back.
In 2003 Jim & Augusta bought a property 40 km out of Albany, and set about renovating the pasture, putting up yards & fences, remodeling the shearing shed, building a new house and garden, while still running half the farm at Fitzgerald. Not as tough as it seems as John has come home and now has a wife, Toni-Louise, and daughter Maria, to help him. The young horses have had to wait for time to be available, but Augusta is starting to get back into competition. Meanwhile, the whole family is involved in a new venture, Ringwould Dairy, producing goats' cheese in the style developed by Gabrielle Kervella, and also sheep and cow's milk products. |
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Ringwould Stud started in the wide open spaces north-east of Jerramungup, where the young horses were run with the sheep and enjoyed the freedom to gallop and stretch their muscles. This enables them to build an athletic body and a quick mind with strong bones. Moving to Redmond, only 40 km from Albany, brought us the opportunity to compete again, but developing a new farm has taken its toll. We have re-mineralised the soil and are farming biodynamically to build strong animals.
The horses are enjoying the lush pasture, and still have room to gallop. The biggest advantage is that we have State Forest on our doorstep, so we can give the youngsters lots of quiet work riding out in the bush, developing their muscles without strain, and accustoming them to strange sights and sounds. The peaceful atmosphere of the valley is interrupted by passing motorbikes each week-end, but its a point of honour to ignore them!
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27 years of breeding, our latest foal Ringwould Advocate by Ringwould Legality out of Ringwould Nineveh is the fourth generation of breeding, will be a galloway with movement. Our horses are quiet to handle and fun to ride, they all have good movement.
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The Ringwould name comes from a small village in Kent, England, where Augusta Saunders' grandmother, Adela Monins, grew up. Ringwould house where she lived, is featured as our logo, a reminder of the strong standards that she lived by, and the need for us all to have a firm base to start out from. Building on a strong foundation is part of the philosophy of bio-dynamics, the importance of soil health for bodily health and a healthy product. Ringwould horses, cows, sheep, goats, alpacas, dogs, cat, ducks, chooks and people all aim to live in harmony with nature and each other. |
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Australian Stock Horse Society
Members of GSRMA with logo and hyperlink. |
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