Shine Bright Like a Diamond our Diamond in the Sky; Diamond Stud (2003-2017)

It is so hard to say goodbye, it is with a heart that has been broken far too many times we are devastated to announce the passing of our gentle friend Diamond Stud, words escape me at the moment, Diamond occupies a special place for us, he was the kindest gentlest stallion around. 

A brilliant son of the one and only Diamond Hit, and out an Elite mare Jeunesse D'Or, imported as a young horse, he went onto to show up to 4th level under the one and only Lisa Wilcox.  He also did a excellent 30 day test showcasing his huge movement and excellent temperament as well a high rideability, we also saw those same wonderful attributes displayed at his 70 day test.

Diamond was a stallion that when I first saw him go at the stallion test, I loved his huge presence, and also how rideable and willing he was, such a handsome boy with huge gaits. Diamond met everyday with a sunny happy out-look, and was always willing to try no matter how hard it was. He never met a person he did not consider a friend, he won everyone over with his quiet kind ways. Diamond was a stallion who would make you smile when he started moving, you could see the raw power and ability that moved though his body, he was jaw dropping.

We are saddest knowing that the breeding world has lost a top stallion, who consistently produced top offspring,  in 2016 he was one of, if not the leading producers of premium foals for the Oldenburg Verband in North America. We love our offspring here by him and we know our breeders do as well. Diamond was a stallion that fought his way up through the stallion ranks the past few years, showcasing the calibre of his offspring with a growing mare base, he was really stallion that out-produced, it was exciting to see the quality of mares that he has been attracting and knowing how excited people were about him and his babies. Diamond was really a super sire for the North American market. We felt very lucky to have been his conduit and give him the ability to showcase just what he could do, we do take some comfort in knowing that an even greater tragedy would have been if Diamond would never have been given the chance to have as many offspring as he has had now. We are so very sad that his career has been cut short and that we will miss out on so many years of him producing the type of horses that we love here.

This spring started like any other, breeding had been going well, Diamond had been enjoying himself happy full of life, and loving his time with his best buddy Bodyguard, he also already has numerous mares in foal. However late April Diamond presented with some swelling, we had our vet Dr Tracy Plough out that day to have a look at him, as part of the routine exam we also decided to pull blood just on the off chance that something showed up, to all our shock it came back with showing leukaemia, further testing was done that came back with the same results. He was then thoroughly examined by Dr Debbie Parsons who is an internal specialist after running a full gamut of testing, the diagnose of lymphocytic leukaemia was confirmed. It is one of those things you keep hoping a mistake has been made. It is very rare, not genetic and they really have no answers as to how or why, just that it was a very grave prognosis, and very fast developing. We knew from how it presenting it was a very fast moving aggressive disease, and that it was not responding to any of the medication we were giving Diamond, we made Diamond the promise that as long as he was feeling OK, and enjoying life we would keep going. He continued to enjoy his turn out and we also made sure he was getting lots of extra treats. Also no matter how hard it was we made sure to spend lots of extra time with him, enjoying his company, being thankful for having him in our lives and for having had the chance to share him with all of you. When he took a turn for the worse we made the tough decision that it was time to say goodbye, and let Diamond run in the giant green pasture in the sky…

A big thank you to Dr Tracy Plough for all her help, support, and compassion when dealing with Diamond and us. Also to Dr Debbie Parsons who expertise and help was invaluable. 

To our friends and breeders we do have limited frozen from Diamond as well, we will work with those who already breedings to him already, and we promise to try the best we can under these very tough circumstances.