Jim & Augusta Saunders started breeding horses in 1980, and in 1981 bought a three year old Quarter Horse colt by Trudy’s Man, and named him Jensen’s Man. He was a highly intelligent horse, easy to train, fun to ride, and able to compete in a wide range of disciplines; campdrafting, working and ridden stock horse classes, Western ridden events, Medium level in Dressage, a little bit of Eventing, novelties, and could be ridden in public by children. Living so far from other riders was a disadvantage, not only in the distance to travel to compete, but also that no outside mares came to the stud. Of the 18 surviving foals, most have gone on to fulfil their riders’ ambitions, notably Ringwould Darracq (Ardito) who took Victoria Hamilton to National F.E.I. Dressage Champion in 1998, and Ringwould Jaguar, who took Sonja Johnson to the Beijing Olympics and a silver medal in 2008.

Jensen’s success in Stock Horse events led to him being classified as an Australian Stock Horse, and the stud then took that direction, so Jaguar proudly competes as an Australian Stock Horse and has been honoured by the Society with the Commonwealth Bank Trophy in 2006 and the Prince of Wales Trophy in 2008.

He has now also been honoured by the Quarter Horse Association with a Medal of Excellence & the presentation of a Special Achievement plaque which were awarded in 2008. As a final tribute, the AQHA has intitiated him into their Hall of Fame, so his acheivement is there for all time.

 The WEG at Lexington, Kentucky, was marred by Jaguar's injury on cross-country, a sharp piece of cyress in the brush fence at 17A went through his boot & into his hind fetlock joint. Sonja could feel that he lost top gear, but he gallantly carried on, jumping clear with 7.6 time penalties, to finish the course, and pass the vet inspection at the end. Later on it was discovered that the puncture wound was more serious than first thought, & he was taken to Rood & Riddle's vet hospital for the joint to be flushed under general anaesthetic. Thanks to the skill of their vets and the dedicated care of the grooms, he should make a full recovery. 

The latest news on Jaguar is that he is now the Para-Dressage Champion for Western Australia! Sharon Jarvis, our WA Paralympian, needed a horse for a qualifying event on the week-end of the 21st April, & asked if she could borrow Jag. They had a wonderful time, scored 71% in the Freestyle. Most of the time Jaguar is having fun teaching Zac Johnson to jump. 

 Our next sire was Ringwould Jetaway, year brother to Jaguar, by Brown Chan Way out of Noorinya, a Quarter Horse mare by Flapper’s Breeze. He had a very successful show & campdrafting career until he was injured at 7 yrs of age. We said goodbye to Jetaway in November 2010, after several years of retirement at the Redmond farm. His acheivements were many, winning all his ridden classes at the Perth Royal, three times High Point ASH at Perth Royal, at Westfield draft winning the ASHLA, Open WSH, Ladies draft & Novice top cut-out.  We have a few very nice mares by Jetaway who might get into the brood mare mob once they have done some work and shown their talents.

Ringwould Legality, by Crown Law, was bred to replace Jensen & put more Thoroughbred into our horses, & move further into the quality competition horse field. Unfortunately, he didn’t leave us many foals;

Legal Star, ridden by Jessica Manson is doing well in eventing, & was 2nd in the Young Riders Trans-Tasman in 2010.  

His last foal, Cleopatra, out of Nineveh, is an example of 3rd generation of Ringwould breeding.

 Ringwould Nineveh has a lovely filly by Tinagroo Winchester at foot, & is for sale. She is by Brown Chan Way, (the sire of Jetaway) out of Ringwould Empire, Jetaway's half sister by Jensen's Man. She is a good breeder & could go once her foal is weaned or wait until spring to be mated before moving.

Ringwould Derringer, filly by Tinagroo Winchester, a few days old in January 2011.

Nowadays, we don’t have time for competing, which is a great shame as we really enjoyed it, but we are still breeding, using Tinagroo Winchester, who is producing foals with good temperament, conformation and movement. We are continuing to pursue the “breed for every need” and aiming for the good riding horse who can fulfil his rider’s ambition, whether it be a quiet hack or an Olympic medal. The difficulty is picking the rider.

Thoroughbred mare by Drought with filly by Tinagroo Winchester, the next generation of eventing champions.

The current youngsters are available for purchase at any time, so people can bring them on themselves and enjoy the benefits of a close relationship with their horse. It seems a shame to give up breeding just when we have had our greatest success, but time moves on & no amount of experience can make up for a total lack of hours in the day. Contact us with your requirements & we will give you an honest answer.

Capel ODE at the end of March was the start of a new era, ten years after Ringwould Jaguar had his first Pre-Novice outing, Ringwould Ulysses did the same. He didn't win, like Jag did, but he was ridden very sympathetically by Ben Leahy, Sonja's working pupil, and he started from a very unfit base in January. We had a great week-end watching Sharon Jarvis on Ringwould Tomcat, Kaeleigh Brown on Ringwould Unicorn and Jessica Manson on Legal Star, as well as Ulysses; it's quite a Ringwould family.

      Ulysses is out of Ringwould Alfa Romeo, the full sister to Ardito, by Ringwould Jetaway, so is full brother to Quest; they both have exceptional paces, and under Sonja's guidance Ulysses is showing great promise as an eventer. Ben Leahy has done very well with Ulysses, taking him to one* level in six months, and he has now gone on to a new home. I hope he will be a great success for Sara Botten, & she will have a lot of fun with him. Ben will have Ringwould Viceroy to take his place quite soon.