‘Full of life to the end’: farewell to pioneering Shetland stallion who leaves a lasting legacy
Anna Stevens and Lara Joslin’s successful Shetland stallion Brinleyview Camanchee has died suddenly aged 21.
Brinleyview Camanchee, known at home as Chee, was a pioneer for coloured Shetland ponies, becoming one of the first to consistently compete at top level.
Chee was a Royal International Horse Show (RIHS) winner, qualified for Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) seven times and made appearances at Olympia, where he was best of breed. He was also supreme at the Shetland breed show.
Anna bought Chee from his breeder as a foal. She had intended to buy a filly, but returned with Chee. He was shown in hand as a youngster, winning at the Royal Welsh and at Pembrokeshire County, among others, and he also reigned when shown in Sweden.
“Aged five, he went to Debbie Barr to be produced and she had him for the majority of his career,” said Lara.
Chee was known for his partnership with Gemma Pallett, who rode him to triumph in the small breeds final at Hickstead.
“Gemma wasn’t keen on riding another Shetland but Debbie persuaded her to come and try him as he was such a sweet-natured stallion, and she loved him, like we all did,” Lara said.
One of his career highlights was winning the NFU supreme cup at the National Pony Society (NPS) summer championships, where he was ridden by a ride judge in the championship.
“One year, we took him to NPS champs for the in-hand and Debbie noticed how good he looked,” said Lara. “He hadn’t been sat on since Olympia in December, but we got him to her lorry for 8am the next morning and he went and qualified for HOYS again!”
Towards the latter end of his ridden career, Chee also contended coloured classes, standing out thanks to his show-stopping gallop.
“He was very cheeky and was full of life and character; even on the morning he died he was kicking the gate,” Lara continued. “He lived out his days enjoying life with his ladies at home.”
Chee now has around 50 foals on the ground and the majority of Anna and Lara’s home-breds are sired by him. In 2022, Lara led her son at HOYS on Chee’s son Toby of Catchpool in the M&M lead rein final.
“He’s left us with another generation of ponies,” Lara said. “All of my children’s Shetlands are by him, and we have a field of fillies by him. While it’s lovely his legacy lives on, it makes it all the more sad that he isn’t here with them.
“Chee was one of the first coloured Shetlands to do what he did, and he opened many doors for others. He was eye-catching, but Marmite to some judges. He was our pony of a lifetime.”
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