Testimonials - Penhaligon Stud

Penhaligon Stud Testimonials

Buying our future dressage foal has been plain sailing, the facilities with Theresa Oakes are second to none! The mares and foals are in huge indoor barns bedded down on deep straw beds. The mares and foals all go out in a safe, large paddock environment in an absolutely stunning setting.

Nothing is too much trouble, we like to go and see Penhaligon Jovani, aka Gio as much as possible to help create that bond ready for when he leaves.

We are both so impressed with the setup, care and attention these horses get that we have decided to leave Gio with Theresa till next year. Leaving him in a secure safe environment till he is a little bit older.

We are encouraged to go as much as possible and like we say nothing is too much trouble! there is a lovely sand arena where we can watch our boy float around, if required.

In hand leading and some trailer loading practise with him shortly is also undertaken during his time there, setting him up beautifully for that big day, we are encouraged to be a part of that too, if we want..... And of course we do.

Many thanks to Theresa and her team for setting up beautifully loved, well handled and socialised quality young horse!!
Rui Campeão and Sue Kiernan

Flora was purchased from the Brightwells Auction at The National Championships. Theresa Oakes has done an amazing job in breeding such a lovely foal. Flora is now with 10 other yearlings in a barn for the winter, she has the most amazing temperament and really looks after herself. We will definitely be looking to buy from Theresa Oakes in the future.
Mandy Day

During 2018 I decided to purchase two foals to hopefully produce through the levels and eventually compete to the highest standard we could achieve. The idea behind buying them at such a young age was to enjoy the whole process from start to finish, to be there at every stage - an adventure really !

We keep our horses for life so the selection process for choosing our new foals was important to us. Temperament, confirmation, movement and breeding being high on our list. But above all these we wanted to buy from breeders that had put as much thought and love into breeding their foal as we would put in to producing them for the rest of their careers.

Having already purchased a colt foal in August 2018 our search for the 2nd foal began. Advice from Eva Marie Bloomer from the Anglo European Studbook led us to the Brightwells Elite foal Auction. The 20 foals selected for the auction had already been carefully scrutinised and vetted which gave us confidence that others with far more knowledge than us had looked at them. There was plenty of time to research each breeder selling at the auction, many hours studying websites and utube. Lots of discussion with friends, family and trainers on their thoughts. So before the auction we had narrowed it down to two foals, a colt and also the filly PENHALIGON SOLLIETTE AIMEE . Both exceptional quality, stunning to the eye and well bred. Auction day arrived and we enthusiastically headed to the Stables where we could view our potential purchase. Aimee was everything that we had hoped for from the brochure and was enthusiastically shown to us by Theresa and a very bubbly group of friends and helpers that were at the auction supporting Theresa. The time to chat was invaluable and all our questions answered sensibly .

By chance a friend was sitting with Lynne Crowden from Woodlander stud who although had never met me before kindly offered to give her opinion on my choices from the foals. Without asking which one I was interested in ,she looked through the brochure and pointed at Aimee and said that's the one you should buy. In my mind Aimee was already coming home with me but to have an independent expert confirming this gave me a huge confidence boost.

The sale was exciting but it's all the stuff after that's important. I wanted to enjoy the whole process of buying and owning my foal and from the moment the hammer went down Theresa helped me achieve this. My treatment as a customer, new owner and now a friend was five star. I was kept informed with weekly photos , informed of progress, routine and care. Kept involved during the weaning process. Allowed to pick Aimee up at my convenience and above all given the time to chat on my endless phone calls. This service has continued long after collection with enthusiasm, smiley faces and likes on my endless foal photos that I post.

I am now the proud owner of a beautiful Penhaligon filly that I know has had a fabulous start in life. So for Us and Aimee the rest of the adventure starts now. I can't thank Theresa Oaks and all the team at Penhaligon Stud enough for all the help and support I have received.
Keith

Hi Theresa
I am contacting you to thank you for the fantastic job you have done with Pippa.
As you know when she arrived for breaking she was in very poor condition as I had unfortunately trusted those people who had been looking after her. Within a short space of time she began to put on weight and was able to undergo a small operation she needed. You and your team nursed her quickly back to health and she was successfully broken and backed. She began competing in local jumping competitions very successfully with no problems. As you know she has incredible jumping bloodlines and your team produced her under your watchful guidance with patience and skill.
She has now come back into work after a winter break looking fabulous and in wonderful condition.
I cannot really thank you enough for how well you have cared for my beautiful horse. You are a true horse lover and professional. Read more
Lynda Curtis

I contacted Theresa after seeing some amazing Penhaligon foals at a previous AES auction and spotted Fabio on their website. We've had excellent communication since then, she's always been very open and honest and you know she genuinely cares for and very much loves all her horses. The whole process from that first phone call to Fabio arriving here at his new home, was very easy. We had a couple of lovely visits to the stud farm, weaning was a dream as Theresa is very knowledgeable about what works best for foal and mare, and after passing his two stage vetting he was ready. Any help I've needed Theresa has been more than happy to support me with. She has given him the best start, he's had lots of handling and because he was turned out with friends he's very sociable. An absolute sweetheart with good manners which is just what I wanted. He's got a great brain and wants to please which will make training so much easier. For now, just gorgeous and growing, his long legs have the most beautiful canter! All this from superb breeding as by Fürst Romancier. Very lucky to have Master Fabio, thank you Theresa. Read more
Maria Leavesley

We brought Penhaligon’s Riviera (Riva) on the 3rd of July 2016. After having to say goodbye to my beloved 6yr old it was a while before I was ready to look for another horse, and when I was it was only more difficult by the lack of anything out there that was suitable to what I wanted and didn’t cost the earth. I was looking for something fairly young 3/4/5, preferably backed, with a good trainable attitude and ability to progress through the levels in my chosen discipline: dressage. Read more
Jess Kent

The owners of Penghaligon Stud, Theresa and Pete are very professional horse breeders, and I found that nothing was too much bother. They have produced some beautiful horses for all disciplines, which have gone on to great achievements. I have not been disappointed with my boy, who has the most wonderful and gentle nature and nothing seems to faze him. They know their horses very well and are honest, upfront and genuine, taking great care that their horses are suitably placed with the correct owners. They are both very knowledgeable regarding breeding and stallion compatibility for their mares. I would definitely go back to them again!
Chloe Threapleton BScES

We bought Penhaligon Landau (Eddie) in November 2014. Eddie won us over with his polite attitude and fabulous paces so much so we bought him the same day we tried him!
He is a pleasure to do at home and at competitions and we have high hopes for him in the future.
He will be contesting the BD young horse classes over the summer and also hopefully trying his hand at some show jumping.
We have been thrilled with his attitude to his work and general life which is down to his wonderful start with Penhaligon Stud.
It has been so nice to share his progress with Theresa who has been very supportive throughout. Thank you!

I am now the very proud owner of penhaligon landed gentry (Oliver) and couldn't be happier with my new dance partner. I bought Oliver from Theresa and her team 8 weeks ago and he is everything I could have dreamed off and more his fantastic character and personality shows that penhaligon foals are brought up as part of the family he's fantastically bred with blood lines to die for making his movement and jump so natural and beautiful. And finally the after sale because Theresa has bred and reared these horses she knows them inside & out any problems and she's always wiling to offer help and advice I can't recommend penhaligon stud horses highly enough and will certainly be my first stop for my next horse.
Laura Campbell

We are totally delighted with our purchase, Penhaligon Romeo (Dexter) he has the most amazing temperament and takes everything completely in his stride. We are backing him this summer and as usual, Dexter happily accepts every new situation and also calmly leads our older horse past the pigs our neighbour has installed without even batting an eyelid. Dexter has lovely manners, all due I think to his upbringing at Penhaligon Stud where he lived happily in a lovely herd for the first few years of his life. The vets and farrier have all been pleasantly surprised how good he is to deal with on every occasion and we can't wait to be riding him! Every dealing and visit with Theresa and Pete at the stud was professional and enjoyable, they helped us to find the right boy for what we want to do, and the most delightful horse to have around. Thank you!

I had been looking for a youngster for quite some time but had not found what I wanted, by chance I was looking a studs online and oldenburg in particular when I found Penhaligon Stud, I liked what I saw and contacted Theresa for information . I then visited and was delighted with the foals I also found that Theresa and Peter were very generous with their time and put me at ease immediately after two visits I chose Tia when she was one month old, I saw her graded and visited until weaning, at all times it was a pleasure to go to the stud Tia is all Theresa said she would be, her start in life second to none I feel I can keep in touch with Theresa and Peter for help and advise at all times I will most certainly buy my next foal from Penhaligon Stud.
K Verrall

I bought Milly from Penhalligon Stud last August- unseen as I live in south east Scotland. Milly was exactly as described and in foal. Theresa was really helpful and , very kindly, allowed me to speak to her vet about Milly. I have not been disappointed- I love the little mare and await the imminent arrival of her foal in the next month.
Annie

Our horse was kindly delivered to us in March 2010 at 3 years old, he had been lightly backed and turned away. I was expecting to have the usual young horse issues from the moment that he arrived. How mistaken I was.
Penhaligon Stud treat their horses as horses should be treated with freedom to mix with a herd yet the human companionship that ensures their trust and ability to relax into a routine. From day one it was evident he had been handled from a foal and that he was willing and eager to progress in his work.
He has progressed well and has always had the temperament that any horse owner would appreciate. Penhaligon Stud remained at the end of the phone at all times and was always on hand if we needed any advice or any further information. Penhaligon Stud have made it a priority to keep in close contact with any owner of the horses they breed and it was through this that we developed not only a business relationship but a friendship to.
As a four year old he not only remained calm and trainable but also showed his talent for dressage, his training has gone from strength to strength and this enabled us to feel ready for competition, therefore we felt that Hickstead would be a perfect test for this young horses first test. Again we were not disappointed, he gave the same performance at competition as he does at home and came away with 7th place in his debut performance. This talented horse has been a pleasure to own and to work with and I believe that this is due to the exceptional way in which the horses are reared. We have high hopes for this horses future in dressage and he has been training with professional trainers and they too agree that this horse has huge potential and the right attitude to progress through high level dressage.
Penhaligon Stud have really made the process of buying and producing young horses as easy as possible with support and advice all being part of the service. It is with this in mind that we have recently moved our second Penhaligon Stud horse to Sussex and I cant imagine that this will be the last.
I would like to thank Peter and Theresa Oakes for all their support and for breeding with such care and attention, each of the horses that I have had the privilege to meet have restored my faith in British breeding programmes.
I would highly recommend Penhaligon Stud to anyone from Novice to professional riders.
CB

My name is Annette McCracken, I live in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. I bought Penhaligon Cairo (Tara) from Penhaligon Stud unseen last August. She was bought to continue as a Brood Mare but as she was advertised as “A Jumping Machine By Cavalier Royale” we decided to give her a wee jump and see how she got on, and well that title does not do her credit. She is an amazing animal!!! She will be a Brood Mare again “eventually” but she has such a talent for jumping it would be wrong not to let her jump.

She will finish her first Show Jumping year in Ireland at Grade C, an unbelievable achievement.

Ireland is full of first class quality show-jumpers but Tara can hold her own. For example she won the 1.20m at the National Balmoral Championship and a week later the 1.30m class at Clogher Valley Show.

Her natural jumping ability is complimented by her pace which allows her to cover the ground very quickly and easily. She jumped her first International 1.30m Speed Class in June, even though she wasn’t placed in the top 6 she jumped very well and certainly held her own.

Tara is a beautiful top quality horse, and is as easy to handle and manage on the ground as she is talented in the arena. She likes people and is very social, it is obvious that she has been well treated and handled by Theresa and Penhaligon Stud.

Theresa is as delighted by Tara’s triumphs as I am and I would like to thank her for her continued interest and support. I have found Penhaligon Stud to be honest and sincere. Tara is exactly what Theresa said she was and much more and that honesty is not always easily come by. If you are interested in buying a horse, yearling, foal I would certainly recommend Penhaligon Stud.
Annette McCracken