This year, the dynamic stallion, Psynergy, celebrates his 25th birthday. We felt it as fitting to share this in-depth feature, first published in The Arabian Breeders’ Magazine, September 2017. While his progeny have continued to shine since then, we hope you enjoy part one of this look back at one of the most famous sons of Padrons Psyche to grace British shores.
In 2001, something very special happened. The young colt, Psynergy, was imported to British shores; Welsh shores, to be exact. And from that magical isle, a great legacy has grown. Psynergy changed the shape of the British show-ring, and now his grand-get are changing the shape of shows across Europe. Psynergy is a proud, magical stallion, a son of Padrons Psyche, and in this edition of The Arabian Breeders’ Magazine, we celebrate this incredible horse and his tremendous influence.
There is something so proud about Psynergy. Quite frankly, he was the horse I loved to hate as everyone I knew loved him so much. I have never been into fads or fashions – but Psynergy certainly is neither of those! Instead, he is the horse that people love with a passion, a deep-rooted, instinctive energy, one that draws them in; and then they are hooked. And in the end, I could not resist.
A son of Padrons Psyche is never a horse to be overlooked. Foaled in the year 2000, Psynergy truly was the millennium gift to those who grew to fall under his spell. Bred by Hans Trummer in Austria, it was Sue and Emrys Jones of the famed Bychan Arabians in Wales who spotted the potential of this young colt and were determined to bring him to British shores.
The foundations
Psynergy, as mentioned, is a son of the living legend Padrons Psyche. So much has been written about this sire line, yet it still needs to be reinforced. Padrons Psyche was a horse who changed the shape of the Arabian world as we knew it then. He brought charisma, substance, bone, type, and balance – and not for a second am I saying that these factors were not present then in the Arabian horse at that time; it is just that Padrons Psyche had, and still has, that certain something that makes people look. They stand there and they watch, the hairs slowly raising on their arms as they embrace the classic image that is before them. The Arabian horse has changed so much since then, but Padrons Psyche remains the quintessential ideal of what Arabian type ‘is’. And I am not ashamed to say – I love it.
Padrons Psyche comes from one of the most amazing and revered sirelines of recent memory; indeed, the fame of his line goes beyond my own living memory. His sire was the famed Padron, foaled in 1977 in Holland. Padron was a son of Patron, a son of Aswan, the stallion gifted from Royal Agricultural Society in Egypt to the Tersk Stud in Russia and named after the dam that the Russians helped to build. Aswan is a son of Nazeer (Mansour x Bint Samiha by Kazmeen out of Samiha) and out of Yosreia (Sheikh Al Arab x Hind by Ibn Rabdan out of Bint Rustem), classical Egyptian breeding that worked so well over the Russian mares. Padron’s dam is the legendary Crabbet mare, Odessa, a daughter of Bright Wings (Bright Shadow x Silent Wings by Oran out of Silfina) and out of Serinda (Seradin x Cinders by Algolson out of Yateemah). Padron Psyche’s dam was Kilika, a daughter of Tamerlan (Arax x Trapecia by Pomeranets), thus reinforcing the Russian bloodlines of Padron. Kilika was out of the Kilimandscharo (Aswan x Karta by Arax) daughter, Kilifa, whose damline also brings in that extra Russian element as she is out of Kapelka by Aswan (Nazeer x Yosreia by Sheikh Al Arab) and out of Kapel (Pomeranets x Knopka by Korej). All in all, Padrons Psyche is the perfect blend of Russian and Crabbet lines, with that dash of Polish and Egyptian all adding that certain ‘something’ – the thing that all breeders set to achieve yet is so hard to define.
Psynergy’s dam is the beautiful and much-admired mare Balenina, a Russian mare with wonderful bloodlines and a multiple champion in her own right. Her dam was a mare called Neva, a daughter of Neman (Nabeg x Nega by Aswan out of Neposeda) and she was out of the influential mare, Kruschina, sired by Arax (Amurath Sahib x Angara by Wielki Szlem out of Brda). Her wonderful Russian heritage crossed well with Padrons Psyche – a mating that was repeated twice, resulting in Psynergy’s full brothers Balmaran (2002) and Roe Aseel (2003).
There is no doubt that Padrons Psyche was a world-changer, and his progeny marked the biggest change in a generation as they commanded show-rings and, later, breeding barns. The Padrons Psyche progeny were strong horses, great movers with an undeniable Arabian type; and Psynergy, with the extra potent infusion of Russian bloodlines, was one of the most magnificent of all.
Enter Psynergy
It all began when Psynergy was almost 18 months old. Sue explains: “We had a telephone call from Hans Trummer when Orashaan (Maysoun x Orasha by Malik out of Ora) was here for his final year of being leased. He told us that he had been watching us, and that he had a colt we might be interested in, one of two sired by Padrons Psyche in 2000. The colt’s name was Psynergy, and he was out of Balenina who, of course, has been a wonderful dam.
“Hans told us that he thought that Psynergy had a good future and asked whether we would be interested in leasing him. So off Emrys and I went!”
The couple went to see Psynergy at his home in Austria when the colt was, by then, 18 months old, and were immediately impressed by him.
“He had been Austrian National Champion Foal and was a very big and gangly youngster,” recalls Sue. “But he had a lot of potential, and he was extremely exotic for a horse so big; I remember thinking how extremely beautiful his head was. While Psynergy looks so much like his sire, he also bears a strong resemblance to his dam, Balanina, a mare who I have long admired. We leased him for two years and then we realised that we couldn’t bear to part with him, so we bought him. He has been more than worth it.”
Shown as a foal, Psynergy was named Foal Champion at the Austrian National Championships in Wels. Just after arriving at Bychan Arabians, he won his class at the Wales and West and took the Junior Male Championship. Psynergy then took the International Championship at Fontwell and placed second at the British Nationals. At the UK International Arabian Horse Show, he went Senior Male Champion, and he also went World Top Ten and Aachen Top Five.
This year, now 17 years of age, Psynergy made his first outing as a veteran, winning his class at the British Nationals before retiring lame. However, more important than all the accolades he has received in the ring is the fact that Psynergy has produced superbly, and consistently, for Bychan Arabians and their clients.
“From his first crop of foals, in 2004, we had five fillies,” Sue says. “In 2005, we took them to the British Nationals – these were the days when we had five classes of yearlings – and we had one filly in each class and two in one. We took first place in the first class, first place in the second class, first place in the third class, and first and third places in the fourth class; we didn’t have a filly in the fifth class. One, Psyannah, ended up Reserve Junior Female Champion.
“Psynergy was the Leading Sire for four years and his stock have gone on to do so well at shows everywhere. He was only usurped from that position by our younger stallion, Master Design GA (Versace x BEA Society Belle by Bask el Amigo out of Khemabelle). Together, the two stallions are wonderful and Psynergy’s daughters have crossed really well with Master Design.”
Part II of The Psynergy Influence will be published next week on TheArabianMagazine.Com
