Baldino & Evelyn Little, Knightsend Equestrian

I am the lucky owner of a fantastically talented and quite brilliant young KWPN all thanks to Ryan! 

In 2009 I was looking for a young dressage horse to take all the way to GP. I had seen quite a few that I liked but none had really grabbed me, and many were well out of my price range. On seeing Ryan’s website (Shannon Equestrian) I noticed several nice young horses but one stood out to me as if he was covered in neon lights! Baldino was a 3 year old unbacked KWPN by a stallion I liked and with a dam sire that has produced fabulous dressage horses. I was prepared to buy him on the video alone as I had never seen something so naturally uphill in all its gates and with an engine to die for. 

However, I persuaded my trainer to come along for a 5 hour drive to see him and we were not disappointed. He had such a lovely intelligent face and when Ryan brought him out I could have hugged him! Baldino was stunning and what’s more had the most perfect conformation and I honestly thought there had to be a catch. My trainer could not contain her excitement after Ryan loose schooled him and turned to me and said “if you don’t buy him I will” so very quickly I agreed with Ryan a price and organised to have him vetted in the next couple of days. Ryan suggested several vets and transport companies to me and the two I used were very professional. Baldino arrived home with a lovely new travel rug, headcollar and lead rope, none of which I had been expecting so thank you Ryan. 

I have had him almost two years now and we backed him just over a year ago. He has been exactly as Ryan described him, a horse with great future prospects, 3 super paces, a wonderful temperament and above all else the most trainable and trusting horse I have ever had. He has been a pleasure to do and has taken everything in his stride. His dressage career has started very well, so far winning most of his classes with scores of 9 for his paces and percentages in the 70’s and he recently qualified for the Badminton Young Dressage Horse of the Future 2011 final held in July so we are very excited. He is also very close to qualifying for this year’s summer regional’s so I’m hoping to achieve our last qualifying score in the next few outings. I have been lucky enough to have several top riders/trainers see him (and a few ride him!) and every single one has told me he is a serious horse for the future, only a few weeks ago a list 1 judge told me he could win the world cup!! But thankfully that’s a way off yet! 

My trainer has since used Ryan to find another young horse for a client based on the fabulous experience I had. Throughout the time I have owned Baldino Ryan has always been supportive and interested in what he’s up to and how he’s doing and I expect that Ryan and I will have a lot to talk about over the coming years…… Thank you Ryan x