Heritage Thoroughbreds

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We are a stud farm in England that specialises in boarding mares and foals for the Southern Hemisphere breeding season. Anyone looking to visit UK Stallions would love to hear from them. We grew up on a stud farm in Newmarket, we studied stud management, and we have both travelled the world working on the best stud farms and racing yards to establish the knowledge to run our own stud.

Our goal and mission is to provide a premium boarding service for our clients; top class facilities and land, excellent handling of young stock, and transparent regular communication with owners. Resulting in a highly professional and personal service.

Can you tell us about yourselves before you set up Heritage Thoroughbreds?

Charlie King: When we started off our professional career, we were very aware and keen to travel, not least because it is good fun, and interesting to see the world, but also to gain valuable experience in more than one jurisdiction. We love to find new and more effective ways to operate, always changing, always adapting, always improving. I’ve been very lucky in that I have worked for some of the best in the world. I started off at Lanes End in America, been to Australia and worked for David Hayes and Tom Dabernig at Lindsay Park and Sledmere Stud for Roy and Treen Murphy. In England I have worked at Watership Down Stud, Lanwades, pupil assistant to Andrew Balding and most recently managed Ted Voutes farm.

Tom King: We are both graduates of the National Stud Diploma Course in Newmarket. Thereafter, I wanted to work with stallions, mares and foals, racehorses and younger horses - every facet of our industry around the globe. I worked at Haras d’Etreham in France, and I was Pupil Assistant to Jean Claude Rouget in France. In Australia, I worked at Bellerive Stud and Eliza Park Stud in Victoria, which I believe now is Widden Victoria. In England, I worked for David Redvers at Tweenhills noticeably travelling Charm Spirit to New Zealand and looking after Zoustar, as well as Watership Down and management position at Kirtlington Stud.

What did you learn from previous employees and the different countries you visited?

TK: You must be willing to adapt, every successful person I have worked for is always looking at ways to see how they can improve, how they can gain an edge. You shouldn’t have a fixed modus operandi; it has to be flexible. We both love the way Australian breeders operate by keeping their stock outside in paddocks. The concussion on their bones is great for increasing bone density, their gut microbiome is getting the best start, they have decreased cortisol levels, and it is the best way to condition skeletal and muscular development. We want to be well known for breeding tough, sound and durable horses. We also put a big emphasis on handling our young stock at a very early age. This is the time where they are willing to learn the most within the shortest time frame and if you assert good habits from the very start then it goes a long way to how they are when they grow up.

CK: Our yearling prep is an amalgamation of Lanes End Farm, Sledmere Stud, Watership Down Stud and Haras d’Etreham – America, England, Australia and France. We sat down and went through what we did for each Stud and took out the best bits. We turn out our horses like Australia and England; we feed our horses similar to how I did it in Lanes End; we exercise our horses like Watership Down and we prepare them for sales in a condition similar to Etreham. We grew up on a stud farm so before school we were watching the teasing and after school we were watching mares foal – foaling a certain way is pretty ingrained in us and we’ve had a lot of success doing it. To learn about the birds and the bees Dad sent us off to the covering shed!

TK: There is a lot to be said on this topic as we have worked for so many good people. I would add that cross grazing sheep and cattle is paramount. I worked at Tweenhills and they have a herd of Aberdeen Angus cows rotating through the paddocks, as well as sheep grazing in the winter. It’s a practice we have mirrored.

What makes your facility the ideal choice for Southern Hemisphere breeders sending mares to foal and/or get in foal in the Northern Hemisphere?

CK: We are ideally located for walking in mares to stallions operating on the southern hemisphere period. Both Tom and I handle all the horses on the stud, so we know that every horse is being given the right education and experience befitting a premium service. We are fortunate that the stud has ample space for turnout, and one of the most beneficial elements to the stud are the natural contours of the Wiltshire countryside. We have small nursery paddocks for a foal’s primitive weeks, or spacious acreage for older foals, young horses and barren mares.

TK: In addition, both of us live on site enabling us to monitor horses 24/7. Our vets and farriers are some of the best in the business. All horses are reared as naturally as possible; we want our graduates to be well mannered individuals and tough competitors on the racetrack. The fertile land is advantageous for rearing youngstock, they really develop clean limbs and lay down strong bones. It’s a quiet sanctuary.

CK: Most, if not all, stud farms in England during the southern hemisphere breeding season are concentrating on prepping yearlings. We are not, we are concentrating on all the Australian and New Zealand broodmares coming up to England to foal and to get back in foal. That’s what we want to do. We would like to be regarded as the ‘go to’ stud farm for Southern Hemisphere boarding mares in England.

TK: I’ll be at the upcoming weanling and broodmare sales at Inglis in May and would love to chat to anyone who is looking to send their mare to England for the upcoming breeding season.