"Breeding Hanoverian horses in Argyll! She must be mad." So said
many people when, in 1978, Helen Whalley bought her first Hanoverian stallion T.C.
Now,
17 years later, the sceptics are eating their words. Helen has bred Hanoverians and
Hanoverian crosses so successfully that the 'Rockhill Stud' is famous in the equestrian
world.
Behind the house is the steading, the old barns now converted into stalls and a row of
wooden stables. Helen has always had a natural affinity with animals. As a girl she had a
Palomino pony called Trigger. He had once worked in a circus and sometimes, even when she
was riding him, he used to rear up waving his fore legs waiting for the applause.
In 1967, because she loved the chestnut horses with their silver manes and
tails, she bought Avon Apollo, a Palomino stallion by Bubbly. She also acquired a
Connemara x Arab mare Silver Lass and a yearling filly of the same breed. Now, 18 years
later, she still has two daughters and a grand-daughter of Silver Lass. The eldest
daughter Princess, aged 22, has had a foal every year since she was four years old.
The
quality of the foals was soon recognised and the demand for them grew. But, as eventing
became more popular in Scotland, Helen realised the increasing need for larger horses,
particularly those with good bone. Consequently, with the help of her husband Brian
Whalley, she set out to breed the animals which were proving so hard to find.
She began by acquiring T.C., Triple Crown, the name comes from three crowns on his
forehead which is supposed to be a lucky sign. With international jumping and dressage
lines from his sire, and speed and agility from his dam, T.C. has great versatility to
pass on to his stock.
Following the purchase of this top class stallion the Whalleys gradually
built up a stock of mares, ranging from full Hanoverian to Connemara and Thoroughbred
crosses. Helen continually emphasises the vital importance of the mares.
'It is no good expecting to get a good youngster unless both the stallion and dam are of
good quality,' she says. But they were so difficult to find. Helen searched throughout the
country and then, as if through an act of Providence, came Mell. She was a rising star
until in a jumping event in Germany she collided with the bars of a fence. She smashed a
knee cap and irreparably tore tendons. The vets said she had no future. She would never be
sound again. But they did allow that it might be possible for her to become a brood mare.
Word spread over the grapevine and Mell arrived at Rockhill.
Mell had a colt foal by Gymnast in the spring of 1988. Called Gentleman Gym, now
shortened to G.G., he has fully lived up to his name. Helen says his breeding is 'almost
the perfect cocktail'. The 'G. Line' is the most successful of all Hanoverian bloodlines.
Grande, G.G.'s great grandsire, was the most famous Hanoverian stallion Germany has ever
produced, and Mell carries the 'D Line' and the thoroughbred descent.
G.G., with such potential, was kept as a second stallion. The two run with
the mares, separated by a large paddock and strong fencing, but, when inside, they live
happily in adjoining boxes.
The mares, now about 20 in number, mostly foal in special
boxes built in the old byre adjacent to the house. Thanks to a TV monitor it is no longer
necessary to sit there through a long cold night.
Rockhill horses are now in great demand. Some foals are booked even before they are
born. A deposit has already been paid on Mell's hoped for offspring next year!
