Bremervale 2014

B R E M E RVA L E A R A B I A N S

Jenni Ogden

Anyone who’s been around Arabian horses for any length of time is going to recognise the name Bremervale Arabians.

For over fifty years, the Toft family have been producing Arabians possessing both beauty and functionality, and who have won accolades at some of the most prestigious events in the world.

The story of Bremervale Arabians, through the words of Warwick Toft, starts as a tale of one woman’s determination to live her dream, and continues on today with three generations of her family now continuing the dream and living it with her.

In London, during the darkest days of World War II, a little girl spent her time dreaming of one day owning and breeding Arabian horses. It was a dream she held onto into her adult life, through getting married, through producing six children, through the hard times of running a dairying business while the Queensland dairy industry was facing decline.

Though all those years and milestones had passed, Jill Toft remained determined, and eventually, with the support of her husband Gordon, she decided to follow her dream and buy her first Arabians. The process was not an easy one. First, the search for Arabians in the early 60s was difficult to say the least. Very few Arabian mares were for sale, and quality ones were even harder to find. Secondly, with little money, there was no simple process of writing out a cheque. There were major sacrifices to be made to pay for the horses, and a commitment that would take many years to pay off.

In spite of the difficulties, Jill and Gordon were able to purchase three outstanding mares – Electric Ray (Electric Silver x Nasifa) and Julia (Riffal x Electric Ray), purchased from Sir Clarence Leggett of Oxford Stud, and Zena (Diomedes x Zateyma), purchased

from Dr. Youngman. The two mares Electric Ray and Zena would make an enormous contribution to the breeding program. These two mares along with Polaca, Gual Boukra and Piconera would be the five major tail female lines on the farm. The stallion Lord Gold-N-Glo (Crystal Fire x Lady Blunt) also played a significant role at the time, however it would be the next stallion to come on to the farm, Oxford Decimus (Risaldar x Oxford Sunset) who was to play a truly pivotal role in the farm's future.

He consistently produced daughters with great shoulders, necks, legs, feet and dry faces with beautiful dark eyes. Consequently, most of the horses on the farm today have the blood of Oxford Decimus running through their veins.

While the dairy industry continued to decline, the demand for Bremervale Arabians increased. Change was necessary, and while initially putting enormous strain on the family’s finances and lifestyle, the move from breeding Arabians as a part-time hobby to a business was undertaken. With this change, it became apparent Bremervale needed a new outcross for the breeding program, and Jill made plans to visit the USA. The direction taken on that trip was to take the farm down a road somewhat different to many of the other breeders of the day.

Jill’s search took her to Wayne Newton Arabians, where she fell in love with some of the resident Steen Mares that had been imported from Spain many years earlier. Although very old, these mares showed many of the qualities that the farm had been searching for, so Jill immediately made plans to visit Spain. The visit was fruitful, and three mares, Polaca (Hacho x Batista), Gual Boukra (Galeon x Rumbosa), and Piconera (Hacho x Veleta), along with the stallion Gual Diman (Uzacur x Gurab), were to become the first Arabian horses imported from Spain into Australia.

Later, Jill imported another stallion; WN Dasjmir (G G Samir x Arawiszja). The significance of this purchase and importation could never be overstated.

He is one of the most beautiful and functional Arabians ever to come into Australia. His son Desperado (WN Dasjmir x Bremervale Aquarius), is Bremervale’s leading breeding stallion and is the sire and grand-sire of too many National and International champions to name, in a multitude of disciplines. His magic truly lies in producing progeny that give their owners success, whether they are a child starting out on their first Arabian or a dedicated breeder.

In the nineties, Bremervale purchased Rave VF. We had always been excited about Rave’s breeding, not just because of his sire Bey Shah, but also because of his dam Raffoleta-Rose – a mare we consider to be one of the most outstanding in the world. The breeding of Dasjmir and Rave VF to the beautiful Decimus mares, enabled the farm to produce many outstanding broodmares with Decimus close up in their pedigrees.

Rave VF was sold for a few years, before being repurchased in late 2005. The crossing of Desperado over the Rave daughters has been a truly outstanding success resulting in many Australian National Champions, and the return of Rave will give us the opportunity to breed him to a new generation of mares – including the Desperado daughters. The introduction of Opus Comet JP (Laddin BA x Key Maali JP) has further added a new dimension to the outcrossing of the Desperado, Rave cross with outstanding success. Bremervale Fortune Queen (Opus Comet JP x Bremervale Deserree) is one of the best examples of this cross.

Bremervale has always been looking for the next stallion, seeking those that will complement its present program without introducing any undesirable

characteristics and faults. In late 2011, after looking for close on ten years we found not one but two outstanding stallions: WN Majestic Sumara and Chippendale V. Both not only possessed the qualities and characteristics that we needed to continue going forward, but also just as importantly, they did not have the undesirable characteristics and faults that we have worked so hard to ensure have not been introduced into our breeding program.

WN Majestic Sumara is by Monogramm, who has had an outstanding impact on the breeding program of the Polish State Studs. Sumara’s dam, WN Samsara is one of Wayne Newton’s most beautiful mares. Chippendale V, a USA regional Champion, is by the Fame son Audacious PS, a stallion whose progeny are winning profusely in the USA show ring. Chippendale’s pedigree is mainly of Varian breeding, based on Polish and old American breeding lines. He will enter the show ring later this year. Both stallions will have their first foals born in August and we will be looking forward to showing them to visitors.

Today there are three generations of family members who enjoy the day to day running of Bremervale, with many of Jill’s grandchildren enjoying time on the farm, and three in particular – Georgia, Maddie and their cousin Alexandra, are avid endurance riders with very competitive spirits. Georgia and Maddie are also making their way in to the show ring, as well as helping their grandmother Jill in foaling down the mares on the farm.

Looking forward, we are planning to have more horses competing overseas in the coming year, while the enthusiasm of the grandchildren will mean an ever increasing number of Bremervale horses are out competing under saddle in both the show ring and endurance. Last season Bremervale had over a dozen horses competing in these fields.

Bremervale will also be holding an Open Day in the not too distant future, in conjunction with informative seminars for attendees.

Looking back, one of the great things about the journey with Arabian horses has always been the wonderful people you meet along the way, many of who become lifelong friends. I have so many childhood memories of sitting around the dining room table with family and other Arabian enthusiasts in lively discussion. Not only did we solve the problems of the Arabian industry, but also world poverty and peace on earth! Well that’s what we thought at the time...

Overseas trips not only leave you with worldwide friendships, but with memories of some of the great stallions of their times. Whether overseas or at home, the first time you see a great horse always seems so vivid: such as the first time we saw Dasjmir, Rave and Comet, and the night Desperado was born. Other special moments include seeing the

first Spanish imports arrive at the farm, walking in to the show ring for the first time at Brisbane Royal, and putting Georgia on her first horse when she was only a few months old (The horse was Polaca).

There is something very rewarding about watching foals grow up to be successful show horses, then broodmares, then watching them live out their lives at Bremervale – some with as many as five generations of progeny residing on the farm with them. We have many great memories, from exporting our first horse over thirty years ago, and seeing an ever increasing number of our horses take this journey, to watching

the Desperado sons Andronicus and Rahere win US National and Scottsdale Championships.

Since Bremervale’s establishment there have been many forks in the road, and each has influenced the breeding program. However the focus on breeding beautiful Arabians that are functional and tractable with wonderful dispositions, is a vision that hasn’t changed – and it is a vision that has become a reality.

Bremervale horses are the result of the dedication, hard work and dreams of three generations of family, and as a family, we look forward to the challenges of breeding for the future. ♦

Welcome to

BREMERVALE

Jenni Ogden

Chippendale V USA Regional Champion Sire Audacious PS Dam SC Crystal Pistol

DESPER ADO

(* W N DA S J M I R X B R E M E R VA L E AQ U A R I U S – TA I L F E M A L E L I N E R U M B O SA S PA I N )

AUSTR ALIA’S LEADING CONTEMPOR ARY SIR E

A U S T R A L I A' S L E A D I N G C O N T E M P O R A R Y S I R E Desperado is one of the most influential stallions in the breed. He is the sire and grandsire of Australian National Champions, US National Champions, Scottsdale Champions and Regional Champions. He is the sire of winning 3*** endurance horses throughout the world.

W N DA SJ M I R

I MP USA

( G G S A M I R X A R AW I S Z J A ) AU ST R A LI A N NAT IONA L CH A M PION

Opus Comet JP Imp Br

(Laddin BA x Key Maali JP) Australian and Brazilian Champion

Rave VF Imp USA

(Bey Shah x Raffoleta-Rose) US National Champion Western Pleasure

C H I PPEN DA LE V

Fame VF Audacious PS

Chippendale V Imp USA

Hal Flirtatious Desperado V

SC Crystal Pistol Kiss ofthe Shah

Bey Shah Raffoleta-Rose Hal Gazal Al-Ra Pentar Huckleberry Bey Daraska Bey Shah Kiss Afire

B R E M E R VA L E B E Y A N G E L

Bremervale Duchess

Bremervale Bey Giselle

Bremervale El Capitan

WN M AJEST IC SUM AR A

Bremervale King Of Hearts

Bremervale Bey Rafael

I MP USA

Bremervale Bey Jasper

B R E M E R VA L E C H I E F J U S T I C E

So many people today love the Arabian horse for their versatility, beauty and disposition. During 1976 Bremervale was the first stud in Australia to import Arabian horses from Spain. Today, horses at the stud consist of English, Spanish and Polish bloodlines.

Bremervale Adele

WN Majestic Sumara

Sue Crockett

Sue Crockett

B R E M E RVA L E A R A B I A N S

“Birthplace of Champions” est 1962

Jill Toft & Warwick Toft “Oxford” * E. Summerville Rd, M.S. 1020, Fernvale QLD 4306 For information on our stallions and sale horses contact: Warwick Toft 0400 546 407 or (07) 5464 3704 or evenings (07) 5464 3886 Email: bremervale@bigpond.com Ph otos by Sharon Meyers unless noted