The home of Cow Horse in the UK
About us
Sudbrooke Park Cattle Company began in 2021 when husband and wife team, Tom and Chloe Wilkinson, set out to share their love of using American Quarter Horses for cattle work on their family farm in Lincolnshire, UK.
Tom, having grown up on the farm all his life, was enthralled by the skill and discipline of cow horses on a trip to the States in 2009
Ever since then, his passion for producing good minded ranch horses has grown and grown. Chloe has been riding horses since she was 4, swapping her jodhpurs for cowboy boots when the pair met in 2017 and has never looked back.
“I firmly believe handling cattle horseback is not only best for the cows but also for getting a horse thinking about a job and focusing their mind”
At Sudbrooke Park Cattle Company, trained ranch horses are invaluable in the management of their 1000 head herd
The horses enable Tom and his team to efficiently move large numbers of cows between pastures, separate specific cows from the herd, and drive them through the handling system for weighing or doctoring.
During yearly trips to the USA Tom learnt traditional stock techniques from some of the best bridle horsemen in the West and is committed to sharing his knowledge with riders back here in the UK
SPCC ran its first clinic in 2021 and now offers multiple clinics each year. These range from Intro clinics, where total beginners can gain confidence around cattle, to more specialised Cow Horse clinics focussing on herd or fence work. In addition to their own clinics, SPCC hosts leading cutting and Cow Horse trainers from Europe and America to continue the development of the sport.
SPCC has been instrumental in establishing the sport of Reined Cow Horse here in the UK. As well as clinics and Western riding lessons they also host a number of shows throughout the year including ERCHA affiliated Reined Cow Horse shows and their unaffiliated ranch show, The Ranch Horse Challenge.
“It has been encouraging and exciting to see so many riders discover the enjoyment of cattle work and go on to show in the reined cow horse or ranch horse competitions. We’re building a community of horsemen and horsewomen who see value in giving their horse a job”
SPCC breed and train American Quarter horses at home on their family cattle farm
We bring on a small number of youngsters each year with a view to either sell as all around western horses or develop into serious show prospects.
“All our youngsters are well handled and exposed to life on a busy farm so by the time they start their ridden career they already have a solid foundation”
Recently SPCC has been concentrating on breeding a small number of horses from US stallions with impressive careers, including £1.7million dollar sire ‘Travelin Jonez’, £3million dollar sire ‘BadBoonArising’ and 2015 NCHA Horse of the Year ‘Smooth Talkin Style’. As well as the youngsters, SPCC have a number of experienced ranch horses who are available to hire for lessons and holidays, and their show horses who can be seen out on the circuit this year.
“We’re excited to see these young horses coming through the programme, with exceptional breeding they should be serious contenders in the show pen in the future”
SPCC’s cow operation started from modest
beginnings with just 4 cows for Tom to practice with
When Tom met Chloe in 2017 she took on the role of raising a batch of 30 dairy cross calves. By 2020 numbers had increased to 400 a year and with a baby on the way it was time to enlist some extra help, so Lauren started in early 2021.
“I’d watched Lauren turn up rain or shine to ride a difficult horse for a livery and could see she had a good attitude and natural affinity with animals”
Sam Hanson joined as cattle manager in 2022 as the herd began to grow. Raised on a dairy farm Sam has been around cattle from the time he could walk and has a broad depth of knowledge as well as a ‘Rain-Man like’ recall for recognising specific cows.
Alongside the bought-in calves Sam is developing a suckler herd of Stabiliser cattle. By investing in the best genetics from the UK and the USA the SPCC herd is bred to produce strong, healthy beef cows raised and finished on home grown forage. There is also a limited number of ‘cowboy raised’ beef boxes available to buy.
