As the man at the helm of Stallion AI Services in Shropshire, the UK’s largest artificial insemination centre, Tullis Matson has been welcoming some of the country’s most famous stallions through his doors since 2000.
“There are some amazing stallions out there. I’m an emotional person and I tend to get very wrapped up in them,” says Tullis, speaking on episode 38 of the Horse & Hound Podcast, currently supported by NAF.
“Demonstrator – Ferdi Eilberg’s grand prix dressage stallion – is one who always sticks out in my mind. He came from the Broadstone Stud and he just oozed charisma. He had a likeability about him; he went about with a permanent smile on his face, and was quite cheeky with it.
Cloning horses is no longer the alien concept it once was. While still being far from being commonplace, this technology has developed beyond recognition over the past two decades, with cloning and cloned bloodlines now more accessible than ever to British breeders, and playing an important role in genetic preservation.
What is a clone?
A clone horse is a genetically identical replica of another horse. Horses are typically cloned in order to preserve their valuable bloodlines, often in cases where a superior or highly valuable horse has died or been gelded and therefore is unable to produce offspring. The science is also increasingly being used for the genetic preservation of rare and endangered breeds.
Horse & Hound
Trending: Credit: Getty Images
The legendary showjumping stallion Arko III has died at the age of 27.
The son of Argentinius, who with Nick Skelton represented Britain at the 2004 Athens Olympics (pictured) and the 2005 European Championships, died today (20 January) at Shaw Farm Stud, home of his long-term owners the Hales family.
Nick and Arko won top-class grands prix across the globe, including the world’s richest class, the CN International at Spruce Meadows, and jumped numerous Nations Cup double clears. He won £1.2m before his retirement from the sport in 2008.
Nick has always credited Arko as the horse who brought him back into the sport after he broke his neck in a riding accident.