British-Bred World Double Young Horse Champion Woodlander Farouche Retires from Competition for Now
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April 25, 2018
Woodlander Farouche, the British-bred mare that was twice world champion as a young horse, has been retired from competition for now after two years of unsuccessful attempts to restore the 12-year-old to top form following an injury two years ago.
Michael Eilberg, the rider of the spectacular chestnut (Fürst Heinrich x Dimaggio) as world champion at both five and six years old, was reported by Horse & Hound to have confirmed the decision to focus on Farouche producing embryos as part of the family breeding operation. The horse sustained a severe fetlock sprain after success in small tour at the World Equestrian Festival in Aachen, Germany in 2016.
“We are going to stop trying to bring Farouche back into work, and focus on embryos with her,” Michael was quoted by Horse & Hound. “We have invested a lot of time and money into our young stock and we want her to be a part of that breeding programme.”
“She had time off and we nursed it back to health, but the problem is that she seems unable to sustain harder work on it now. If I work her lightly she’s OK, but the minute I step it up a notch she goes sore again.”
Farouche, registered Hanoverian, was bred by Lynne Crowden and owned by the Eilbergs and Ali Walton.
Farouche placed first in 19 of 20 international starts (one retirement) from young horse classes to Medium tour.
Ilse Schwarz, who reported for dressage-news.com on both young horse championships in Verden, Germany as well as small tour at Aachen, gave this assessment of the mare’s performance in 2012: “Woodlander Farouche does it again–breathtaking, near perfect winner of 6-Year-Old World Championship.”
