Private party for Kelly Sims

Among the new faces in the Windsor Stables barn this year at WEF, is a newly imported stallion belonging to Kelly Sims and there are high hopes for his future.

Private Party came to the US in July last summer from Belgium and made his debut in a low-key class in Kentucky. “We showed him in the 2’3” just to see where we were,” said trainer and current rider, Michael Britt-Leon. “He’s only five, but he’s definitely ready for the 3’ and we are excited about that.”

Michael and Kelly have a longstanding ongoing partnership with the objective that she will take over the reins of each horse she buys. ”Every horse that I’ve had for a longer period of time Kelly has eventually had success on them,” said Michael. “That means so much to me. As a trainer I think there are a lot of great riders out there who can get on and ride a great horse. I think there’s so much more to get out of it if you can train a horse to do a certain thing for someone else to ride. I take that part of my job extremely seriously and I really enjoy that whole process.”

One example this season will be Private Collection who has been shown by Michael in the 3’ with the plan going forward to move him up to the 3’3” and for Kelly to be on board at some point during WEF. Meanwhile True Cassini, who was delivered to Windsor at the end of Upperville in June, has already won indoors with Kelly in the irons.  “He is definitely ready to do the International Derbys and the 3’6” greens so I’m excited about that one,” Michael said.

Importing horses can be a gamble and tricky with stallions. Private Party has settled in nicely. “He’s so docile and so sweet. Kelly rides him and for an amateur to be comfortable on a five-year old stallion is a big deal,” Michael said.

And it’s not just the stallion’s temperament that has proved a pleasant surprise. “He’s a quick study and an easy learner so that’s been a lot of fun just getting him going,” said Michael. “The ones that are special like that – we just try to take our time with them so they have plenty of time to develop the correct way.”

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