I will never forget the moment I first set eyes on the most stunning bay colt foal I had ever seen, when he arrived with his dam Gredington Natalia at Rotherwood Stud in 1990. She was to be covered again by Twylands Troubadour. I just knew I had to have this him! He absolutely just floated loose at her side across the grass --- oozing presence and quality and a true pony, a Star. He was shown for us by Tom Best and David Blair, Waxwing, as a yearling and he was Champion at the Royal Highland, and Supreme at the Gt. Yorkshire � where he qualified for the Creber [now Cuddy ]. He was not shown at 2yrs because of stud duties and was shown once at three when he was Youngstock Champ and res Overall Supreme In-Hand at Ponies UK. It was also at three he was the first Pony Stallion to pioneer the collection and use of Frozen Semen for both here and export overseas. It was to prove a huge, and at the time, controversial step in the furtherment of the British Riding pony blood�lines to other countries. He sired the very first pony foal got by Frozen semen, to be born in Australia at the Astral Park Stud. It was on a visit there that the owner Sandra Donovan was really the very first person to come to me with the whole idea. She persevered through many obstacles to achieve success together with West Kington Stud and Martin Boyle. In the meantime his very first foal was Champion Foal at the Royal Show, and at such an early time his stock started to really show their mark. Matador was broken in at 5years by David Bartrum and Jan who had their moments -- but found him to be a very good jumper to add to his talent!

Matador now is the sire of so many winners in many spheres of competition, with the movement he is so renowned to produce, he has sired dressage ponies, cross country, show ponies, show hunter ponies, workers and performance ponies. He has sired the National Show Pony of the Year both in Australia and in the UK and in 2003 sired the Show Pony of the Year AND the Show Hunter Pony of the Year at HOYS.

What a great servant he has been, and what a lot I and Rotherwood Stud owe him. When I was �grounded� in 1997, Mattie went up to continue his Stud duties at the Pickmere Stud in Cheshire where he is to this day, so caringly looked after [and spoilt!] by Pat Mather and John Keleher. A big �thank you � goes out to them and of course to his breeder Danda Richardson � the Matador story could not be told without them.

Matador carries with him the marvellous dynasty of blood-lines from generations as far back as Bwlch Valentino, who was really the founder of the British Riding Pony of today, to his son Bwlch Zephyr, then next, to his son Solway North Wind, [who stood here for many years ], to his son Twylands Troubadour who is the sire of Matador. I am so thrilled he has won this award for the second time. It is a great achievement and honour and I would like to thank all those who have contributed by showing his off-spring. Thank you too to those who have given we breeders this Stallion Award Scheme � it is greatly appreciated.Thank you.

Elizabeth Mansfield � Parnell Dec. 2008

It was a very sad day when Matador was put to sleep aged 20 yrs, after a very bad case of Colic � the first he had ever had.

He was a true star, even when arriving at the Stud as a foal with his Dam Gredington Natalia, who had come back to the stud to visit Twylands Troubadour, he took my breath away as he walked down the ramp and floated across the lawn, I just knew he was very special and I MUST have him!

His contribution to the pony world is a legend and he will live on in the progeny he leaves behind and thanks to the modern technology of frozen semen, his stock will still be representing him in years to come. But it is the loss of he, the pony himself, which we feel, poor Pat and John who have looked after him with such loving care and understanding, have the empty box and no head over the door. Matador in fact was a pioneer of the use of frozen semen and one of his foals was the first ever Riding Pony foal to be born in Australia got by frozen semen. He was a prolific sire of so many Champions World wide and was much loved by the Showing world. We were overwhelmed by the many tributes to him � over 33 pages on his Facebook! It seems he touched so many peoples lives .

He was bred by Danda Richardson, of the Strinesdale Stud, Lancashire, UK. and I bought him as a weaned foal. As a yearling I asked Tom Best and David Blair of the Waxwing Stud if they would show Matador for me. They had great success with him including qualifying for the then Creber [ now �Cuddy�] In �Hand Championship at our HOYS, by being Supreme at the Great Yorkshire amongst many other Championships. He started his Stud duties at 2 yrs and was shown again just the once at three when he finished Reserve Supreme at the Ponies [UK]. At five years old, during the Winter he was broken in to ride by David Bartram and Jan Darwin who discovered that he loved jumping and was the most superb balanced ride. I think one of Matadors most noted contributions is that he has put back movement on to the ponies of today. With the innovation of the National Pony Society Stallion Sire Rating, Matador has won it all the three years since it began!

In 1996, I had to have many leg operations and it was going to be difficult to run the Stud, so that is how Matador came to go up to stand at the Pickmere Stud, Cheshire, where he stayed for the next fourteen years, till his death, with John Keleher and Pat Mather.They loved and cared for and understood Mattie -- he was thoroughly spoilt, and they soon found that as the number of winners he sired grew, so did the quantity of visiting mares!

Matador was a stallion who � as Pickmere Stud so aptly put it � �commanded attention with his awesome presence and who owned every inch of the ground he stood on�. At the 2009 HOYS he had sixteen off-spring including Champions in many different spheres. His ashes are buried at Pickmere and there is a Memorial Stone in his memory at Rotherwood. He will live on for ever in our own memories of him but the stock he leaves behind will also be a fitting tribute to a very great Pony Stallion for generations to come. Thank you Mattie for being a wonderful servant to Rotherwood and the whole Pony World.
Liz Mansfield Parnell