Jerome Harforth

The showing producer's Stanley Grange Stud welcomed its first foal in five years this spring. Bethan Simons finds out more about his comeback

- Bethan Simons

AN “out-of-the-blue” knock on the door almost six years ago changed the course of Jerome Harforth’s Stanley Grange Stud’s story.

“A local businessman bought the stallions, the mares, the youngsters, the property, the horsebox - everything. It was out of the blue and quite a radical proposal,” says Jerome.

“But by then, I had been producing for over 40 years. I discussed it with two of my closest friends and we decided the opportunity may never arise again. I stayed on to run the show team for a further three years, until it was decided that it should be disbanded.”

This might have been the abrupt end to the tale, but thankfully, there were exceptions to the original sale. Jerome retained the Stanley Grange prefix and a handful of ponies, which meant that he was able to restart breeding on his own terms.

“I had a beautiful house in a local village, but I spotted a little bungalow on the market with 10 acres and a barn, and I thought I still enjoy showing, so I bought it - Lamb Hill - which is where I am now.”

There are 12 looseboxes at the stud’s new home. Eight house a fresh show team, which includes a string of youngsters to show in-hand. One, Sarah Coulter's Hepplewood Queen Of Silk, is out of Stanley Grange Royal Silk - a mare that Myles Cooper rode at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) - and by Jerome's stallion, Turberry Top Cat. Another - Regal Affair, a future small riding horse - arrived via a tip-off from the farrier.

“He called in and said, ‘I’ve just trimmed a youngster by a stallion you bred, Stanley Grange Regal Heights’ - he stands at the Romanno Stud in Edinburgh.

I asked if it was nice and ended up going about 10 miles down the road to buy it for a client, Helen Taylor Whitehead.”

So while the number of Stanley Grange horses and ponies owned and shown by Jerome has significantly reduced, the breeding is still very much at the heart of the operation.