Breeding the brand

“The brand name was vital – because we had a prefix, it gave people confidence to buy”
DONAL BARNWELL ON ESTABLISHING THE BILLY BRAND

BREEDERS’ brands have been known and revered in the pony showing world for over 100 years, but sport horse breeding came later to the party. This area was traditionally the domain of dedicated hobbyists, but as British studs grew more commercial, they needed to compete for customers against their better-known European counterparts.

Some of the early visionaries to establish recognised brand names in Britain were the Louella, Welton, Fleetwater and Catherston studs, whose prefixed stock have competed