Jaybee Skyway, (by Skyhigh (Imp) from a TB mare), Ridden by Bev Edwards to win the Advanced and Prix St. George tests at the 1995 Brisbane Royal Show

Bev and John are ‘hands on’ horse people and their dedication and commitment to excellence has seen Jaybee Farm grow very quickly to become acknowledged as arguably one of the most successful producer of dressage horses and showjumpers in Australia. Bev says “The position of Jaybee Farm today has totally exceeded our original plans and each new crop of foals brings us great joy and satisfaction – they just keep getting better”!

The first stallion to stand at Jaybee Farm was the incomparable and greatly respected showjumper Chico D’Oro and he was closely followed by the imported Hanoverian Skyhigh. Both of these stallions had very successful performance careers showjumping with Bev’s son Chris Chugg who has represented Australia at the highest level of the sport. Bev and John knew the stallions well; they proved themselves to be top level performers with sound conformation and trainable temperaments. When their competition days came to an end they were welcomed to Jaybee Farm to retire with a few mares to keep them company.

Gloria, an imported Head Stud Book Hanoverian mare.

The Jaybee Farm broodmare band began with a selection of favourites from Bev’s respected NSW stud, Diamond B. Bev chose the mares that passed on qualities that she wants to see in a riding horse. She says, “I aim to breed horses that I would like to ride myself”! The first foals to carry the Jaybee prefix and JZB brand were born in 1989.

The brood mare band has grown from 6 back in the late 1980’s to 30 in the current herd. Bev and John acknowledge that, quality foals come from quality mares and they are constantly striving to improve their broodmare band by importing proven International bloodlines and retaining many of their best fillies.

When Bev was judging Dressage at competitions in Queensland in the late 1980’s, she was impressed by a regular competitor - a mare named Domedin, by the Hanoverian stallion Dom Herr. “She had all of the qualities I wanted to see and she stuck in my mind. I got to know her owner Joanne Fraser and after a time she told me that she was planning to breed a foal and would have Domedin served by Aachen (Imp). In 1990 I saw Joanne at a competition and she told me that “Dommy” had delivered a colt foal and that she was a little disappointed as she was hoping for a filly. Joanne said that the colt would probably be for sale. I asked her if I could come home with her that evening to view the baby. When I saw him, I wrote the cheque immediately – he was perfect. This colt was Aachimedes and he was to be the next to join our stallion roster at Jaybee Farm”.

Bev Edwards & Jaybee Colleen, (by Carbine (Imp) from Stirling Coriander (Lander (Imp)) Supreme Champion Ridden Exhibit at the 2005 AWHA NSW Gala Weekend

Aachimedes was very successful as a led and ridden stallion and topped his group at the AWHA Colt Classification in 1983. He notched up many wins in his extensive dressage career and never failed to turn heads with his loose athletic movement. Aachimedes has proved himself to be a pre-potent sire passing his winning attributes on to his foals. Aachimedes’ progeny have made an impact with riders from all over Australia. These horses have their dad’s ‘stamp’ and have enjoyed success in the show ring and at top level dressage events.

Jaybee Leuwin was the result of our enthusiasm for the beautiful mare Domedin. When Joanne Fraser kindly offered to allow me to lease the mare for a season, I jumped at the chance to breed a ‘filly’ from the dam of Aachimedes. After much research, we decided to use the imported stallion Hanoverian Leonardo 68, to breed the wonderful filly that would contribute so much to our future breeding program! Everything went to plan until the foal was born and ‘she’ was definitely not a filly. Leuwin is the image of his father except that Leonardo was black and Leuwin is chestnut.

“It was not intended that he remain a stallion, but he is such a pleasant character with an unflappable and steady temperament, we never got around to gelding him. I started riding Leuwin and enjoyed him more than any other horse I had ridden. He went to Queensland rider Alexandra Berns and did Prix St Georges/Intermediate 1. At the commencement of his ‘small tour’ work in 2005, he placed 2nd in the Prix St Georges at the Sydney CDI *** and 3rd in the Intermediate 1 at the Brisbane CDI ***. He has the temperament and athleticism to reach Grand Prix and will join a small elite group of stallions when he steps out at the top level. Lewin is now owned by Kirsty Ewens, of Bella Equus Stud at the Gold Coast in QLD.

Jaybee Colleen (Supreme Ridden Exhibit), Jaybee Collette (Class Winner) & Jaybee Carlos (Class Winner and Champion Foal) - The image of their beautiful sire, Carbine (Imp). Pictured at the AWHA (NSW) 2005 Gala Weekend

Leuwin’s children share his sunny disposition and trainability. He has been a great success as a sire of coloured horses, both Palomino (Jaybee Excellent and Jaybee Extravagant) and paint (Elkington Park Born To Shine).

In 1998 the ‘coal black beauty’ Carbine (Imp) was purchased from German breeder Werner Schockemohle. Bev said “When I first set eyes on Carbine, I went weak at the knees; he was a picture perfect sight, with a fantastic pedigree - the ideal stallion to bring back to Australia and put over our Aachimedes mares”

The first progeny from this cross are now 5 years old and are proving themselves to be exactly what we had hoped to get from this special ‘nick’! They are very rideable and soft in the back; this makes them easy to train and a perfect model of the modern dressage horse.

Jaybee Desiree - by Don Shufro, out of Gloria (Imp) (by Glorieux). Desiree is a perfect example of what Jaybee Farm are aiming for, she has been retained by the stud for breeding purposes

Carbine competed in dressage and was the Queensland Young Dressage Horse, Champion of Champions. He was also the South East Queensland Elementary Champion. His dressage career was put on hold for a while and he is now back in work and competing at Medium Level.

When we were in Germany, we also purchased the outstanding deep chestnut mare Gloria (by Glorieux). The mare was 7 months in foal to the 1993 German Bundeschampion, Alabaster (by Akzent 11). She foaled in Australia and her outstanding liver chestnut colt was everything we had hoped for.

Jaybee Alabaster has become one of the most successful young horses ever to be produced in Australia. He joins our stallion line up and takes Jaybee Farm forward into an exciting era.

Jaybee Alabaster has been lightly shown and almost unbeaten; the highlight of his short career was becoming the 2003 Champion of Champions at the Australian Young Dressage Horse Championships which are held at Dressage with the Stars in Melbourne. He represented Australia at the World Young Dressage Horse Championships in Verden Germany in 2004. He is now competing at Medium level and has gained Championships at both Elementary and Medium level.

With the proven bloodlines that have stood the test of time … and our world class stallions … the best is yet to come!