The Billy Stud has become one the most successful breeding programmes in Great Britain since being founded by William Funnell and Donal Barnwell more than two decades ago.
Text, video and picture by @FEI
The Billy Stud ethos centres on raising the horses in the most natural environment possible at its world-class facility in Surrey.
William explains: “One thing that sets us apart is that we like to bring horses up in a natural way – in a herd environment.
“Horses are a herd animal and it learns an awful lot from being in a herd environment. Horses drink from the trough in a certain order – they have a pecking order. They learn patience just by living together.”
William Funnell
The Billy Stud has 84 stables and between 70 and 80 horses that are worked every day with oversight from yard manager Roger McCrea.
One of the main success stories from The Billy Stud farm is Billy Congo who took William and Team GB to Team Gold at the FEI European Championships in 2013.
We are excited to share with you the video documentary below produced by FEI.
“It was fantastic! To get as high up as I did in the world rankings only on home bred horses – I think it’s something that probably nobody else has done. So it’s something I’m very proud of.”
William Funnell
