THE dream of producing a horse to the highest level is one of the greatest achievements that any horse owner could ask for. For the Kuehnle family, the success of Tullibards Bennys Legacy is so very close to their hearts, as the person responsible for setting this dream in motion, never got to see just what a star he had bought.

The story of this great horse began 14 days after Benny Kuehnle tragically said his goodbyes to this world. Bought as a colt from ESI foal sales, his father Hans explains how it all came about.

“Benny was working for Edward Doyle at the time and he wanted to invest a few pounds which he had made. He spotted Luftikus (aka Tullibards Bennys Legacy) in the ESI catalogue and the moment he saw him, he knew he was special. ESI sales is run by Klatte Stud and Harry Klugmann, an old friend of mine.

“Benny was so happy and proud of his purchase and he knew that he would find residency in Tullibards Stud. This colt foal was a bit late being weaned, so he didn’t arrive home before mid-November. When the foal arrived, he was extremely poor, dirty nose, having travelled very badly. He grew up in a backfield of our stud, and any plans to geld him was halted, due mainly to protests from Jessie. He was a special horse to her and to the memory of Benny. The fact that we called him Tullibards Bennys Legacy speaks for itself.”

Although on his arrival he didn’t stand out, this would soon change and indeed the potential that Benny had seen became clear for all. “As a three-year-old, he turned inside out,” Hans explains. “He was mostly kept in the field with a gelded friend, so as a result he was a nightmare to handle. It took weeks to get near him, put a headcollar on, lift his feet or to do anything with.

“After some time and with a lot of patience, we loose jumped him in the school. We were all speechless. It was like he was on springs and he made nothing out of any jump we put up. As usual however, it took us nearly 25 minutes to catch him after. Jessie got him at the end, who else?” her father said with a sigh.

The young horse’s first show was in early October in Cavan for the three-year-old loose jumping class. As expected, he didn’t prove easy to handle. “He failed to stand, so we could not present him to the judges, and he galloped around the ring, not concentrating on jumping any poles. Just two weeks later in Cavan International Indoor Show, the stallion’s potential was clear to see, Hans recalls.

“Since Benny’s death, the Clarke family sponsored the Benny Kuehnle Memorial Trophy, to the winner of the three-year-old Cavan Indoor Loose Jumping Championship. It was Benny’s favourite class and he watched it the night before he died.

“We knew that this second outing with the stallion would test us all, but the whole evening worked out fantastic. The stallion must have realised, today is the day. He concentrated on his job, stood in front of the two judges like a monument, showed all his paces and most important, he jumped for fun, showing his full potential, ability and technique.”

Neal Fearon, who was one of the judges and who had ridden his sire Lupicor while he was stable jockey at Stal Horn, commented: “He is a copy of his dad in every way, but his technique and scope is already more impressive. He will go to the top with the right management.”

Good start

When the time came to break him, the Kuehnles decided to give him to a family friend, David Maher, who runs Roscrea Equestrian Centre.

It was an easy decision for the family as the Mahers are well known for natural horsemanship and patience. David started Bennys Legacy’s jumping career in public at local shows. Hans admits that the stallion was still not the easiest. “In the warm-up, he never really concentrated on his job and a lot of the time he would go into the ring without jumping a few fences in a row. He just stood there as if he was frozen, but he always had the WOW effect.”

Tullibards Bennys Legacy, the last foal bought by the late Benny Kuehnle, in action at the RDS with Jessie Kuehnle \ Laurence Dunne Jumpinaction.net

Due to Jessie Kuehnle’s school commitments, the following autumn, Kellie Allen took over the ride and campaigned him. This year went well and as a four-year-old, he was a finalist in Cavan. After this, Jessie took over and the success story continued.

The partnership went from strength to strength. In the RDS qualifier at The Meadows in 2013, they delivered the only treble clear to win the class. They finished fifth in the five-year-old final in Cavan. In 2014, they qualified for the RDS young rider 1.25m class. In 2015 again, they continued to clock up results and placed in their first ever Spring Tour in Wexford.

Their first international duties were in Deauville and they continued to impress. In 2016, they qualified again for the RDS and in this year, they longlisted for the Young Rider European Championships in Millstreet. They competed in their first World Ranking class 1.45/1.50m in Millstreet.

Due to Jessie being delayed from her trip to the Europeans, Hans’ other daughter Jenny rode Bennys Legacy in the 1.50m in South County Dublin and finished third on her first occasion to ride the stallion.

New era

The partnership between Jessie and the stallion ended after she took third in the Young Rider Championship in Mullingar. It was after this that Jenny Rankin, rider for Bourns Sporthorses, took over the ride.

Jenny Rankin of Bourns Sporthorses and Bennys Legacy jumping in the Drammen Nations Cup \ Jennifer Brachet

“During his career, we always got offers to buy the stallion from the international riders and it came to the fore in 2013 at Cavan International Indoor Show,” Hans explained.

“Benny jumped his usual outstanding clear rounds in the age class qualifiers and after the final, a host of top riders, even a few of those who were based abroad, and their agents cornered me to buy Benny. Despite the many offers, Richard Bourns came out on top.

“We reached an agreement that Bourns Sporthorses would become co-owners of the stallion for three seasons. The reason for this was to allow Jessie and the stallion a chance to compete in the Europeans, before they would take him over in full.

The key thing was that we trusted each other and very often we discussed what’s next and best for the stallion. It worked out brilliant, it was just a pity that in the end that they were not nominated for the Millstreet squad,” he added.

International stage

Without a doubt, the Benny journey was a tough one, but it was one that Jessie was proud to bring Benny on and to later hand over to Jenny Rankin.

Under Rankin’s command, the duo won two consecutive Nations Cups, along with a series of other impressive results. More recently since been taken over by USA’s Adrienne Sternlicht, Bennys Legacy has gone on to win two World Cup qualifiers. For Jessie, this horse remains very special and she gets to see him at international shows.

While working for Shane Sweetnam, Adrienne’s groom introduced Jessie to Adrienne, and she shared her knowledge of the horse. This exchange of information paid off straight away as Adrienne lodged two fantastic wins shortly afterwards.

Full of praise for Benny’s Legacy, Adrienne said: “While Benny is very alert both on the ground and to ride, it’s clear that he really trusts the people around and is used to being a bit spoiled too!

“We certainly spoil him. I show him in a simple full cheek twisted snaffle, which is very similar to what Jessie rode him in. He is beautifully broke on the flat and has a lovely mouth - testament to his quality and the excellent job Jessie and Jenny did.”

USA's Adrienne Sternlicht and Bennys Legacy on their victory lap after winning the FEI World Cup qualifier in Thermal, California, on the anniversary weekend of Benny Kuehnle who purchased the horse as a foal and was named in his honour following his untimely death in 2008 \ Shannon Brinkman FEI

Parallel to his own sporting career, Tullibards Bennys Legacy continues to produce offspring. His oldest progeny, who are now five-year-olds, are making strides in Europe and across the Atlantic in young horse classes and reaching top returns in the sales ring. As a result, his offspring are getting more and more popular with many young horse agents and producers, who are all full of praise for Benny.

Although he was gelded in 2016, Tullibards Stud have the only breeding rights on him, keeping a good bit of frozen semen in the tank for the future.

Progressive

Without a shadow of a doubt, Benny’s Legacy lives on both in this amazing horse, but in the Kuehnle family, with all family members excelling in their chosen discipline. Jessie finished school after completing her Leaving Certificate in 2016 and spent time in Europe with Carol Gee and Cian O’Connor. After this, she settled in with Dietmar Gugler in Pfungstadt, near Frankfurt.

Dietmar was once an assistant in Paul Schockemoehle’s yard and is considered the most successful trainer of Germany’s junior and young rider teams. While there, Jessie rode horses in the age classes and in Grands Prix alongside David Will.

In 2017, she represented Ireland at the Youth Europeans in Samorin, finishing in the top 20 in the individual section. After her time with Gugler, she moved up to Klatte Stud (the homeplace of Benny’s Legacy), where she was responsible for bringing on the young stallions up to championship level, while competed older horses up to international level.

Jessie and her sister Jenny together have proven that as a team they are unbeatable. In early 2019, Jessie returned home, and she has coached Jenny at international shows and in many Grand Prix classes. Jenny won Sentowerpark Junior Grand Prix and the Speed Championships back-to-back and she was part of the winning Fontainbleau Nations Cup team.

Both these girls together, combined with their horsemanship skills, have proven that they can deliver results and medals and the long-term goal is that they will combine their skills in the future to continue their dreams of winning many more medals together.

At the end of the summer, Jessie went to work for Cork international show jumper Shane Sweetnam where she competed and took on the coaching of clients. She returned home in November which allowed Jenny to go and work for Richard Howley, where she is competing in the age classes all over the continent.

The plan is to finish with Richard mid-March to prepare her string for the eventing Europeans. Her horses for the international circuit include Polly Blue Eyes, Nekita, Tullibards Miss Optimistic along with host of up and coming home-breds to bring on.

Brian is also demonstrating huge talent, concentrating mostly on the national and international eventing circuit on horses and ponies. He was part of the bronze medal-winning team in Poland, riding the home-produced Tullibards Sixth Sense. He has also gained much experience with Tullibards Now Or Never.

Hans’ plans to keep the eventing tradition alive with Brian, as Jenny looks likely to leave the country at the end of 2020 to progress her showjumping career abroad. Alternatively, Hans hopes that an up and coming young rider will join the team at Tullibards to continue the legacy.