4 minute read
Mare of the month
by hqmagazine
JORELLA VG – A DAUGHTER OF GLASGOW VAN 'T MERELSNEST
TEXT: GEORGIA HARLEY
– Emma Barrow
Jorella VG, a magnificent KWPN mare, was purchased in 2020 by Emma Barrow and her family. Following a tough few weeks in 2020, where they lost their 3-year-old colt Sting to African Horse Sickness, it was as if finding Jorella was meant to be.
After a trip in 2015 to try horses at Hannah Akerblom's yard Emma continued to follow Hannah on social media and in 2020, saw Jorella VG was on the market. Despite apprehensions that Jorella may be out of budget, Emma messaged Hannah. Due to COVID and the lack of competitions, Jorella was in budget, and quickly vetted and on her way to join Emma Barrow's string of mares in South Africa.
Arriving at the Barrow’s yard at the end of October 2020, after a long time in quarantine, Jorella was uptight. Emma had hoped to be able to get going quite quickly with Jorella, as Jorella had done a 1.30 class in Europe as well as a few 1.20/1.25 classes. However, the mare was tense after all of the travelling and time off, and this tension was severely affecting her rideability.
Photography: Pix by Alex
Emma made the decision to take a step back and took Jorella right back down into the 90cm classes and just focused on allowing Jorella to relax and thereby improve her rideability. With coaches Simon Hendry and Simone Howarth, Emma has been able to take the pressure off Jorella and yet expose her to as much as possible in a positive manner whilst maintaining relaxation. With this help, Emma and Jorella VG ended 2021 in the 1.10 classes with positive, relaxed rounds. Patience has been the key to unlocking Jorella's potential and growth as a sporthorse, and we know it will pay off.
BREEDING
– Emma Barrow
Jorella VG is the daughter of the striking black stallion Glasgow van 't Merelsnest. Glasgow van 't Merelsnest is a tall stallion with scope and carefulness to complement his looks. Both his sire, Nabab De Reve, and grand sire, Darco, have been successful themselves and great sires of showjumpers.
Piloted by Jur Vrieling, Glasgow van 't Merelsnest has an impressive list of achievements to his name, winning the Grand Prix in Rome and the World Cup in Helsinki. This combination was also part of the Dutch team who won the Longines Nations Cup final in Barcelona.
Furthermore, as seen through his daughter here in South Africa, Glasgow van' t Merelsnest produces offspring with super canters and scope to match. His offspring are well developed and emerge into successful showjumpers. This is seen through Jorella VG; she is quick off the ground and really shows her scope now that she is learning to jump in a more relaxed manner.
Jorella VG's dam, Porella, herself competed in the 1.30 classes. This mare line has produced many successful open horses for Van Geel Horses. Daan Van Geel said the following, "Jorella comes from a very good dam line. Although sometimes not easy, they all possess quality". Porella is sired by Andiamo Z (Animo). Andiamo Z has taken to the roles of competitor and breeding stallion, with success. On the 2021 WBFSH Sire Ranking for Show Jumping, Andiamo Z currently sits 84th.
All of this means that Jorella VG possesses very similar breeding combinations to H&M All In and H&M Indiana, both Olympic level Showjumpers. Both All In and Indiana are sired by a Nabab de Reve son and have dam lines with Animo blood. In fact, when Emma looked at Jorella's pedigree and saw the similarity to the pedigrees of these top horses, it understandably influenced her decision to purchase Jorella back in 2020.
THE FUTURE
Photography: Merlynn Trichardt
With breeding like this Emma and her mom may breed with Jorella, possibly via embryo transfer in the future.
In the future, Emma hopes that Jorella VG will carry her around some of the bigger World Cup classes. It is always exciting to see mares at the top of the sport, who also have the potential to breed future stars.
