Berry and Kelly Shann are serious Queensland horseman and cattlemen. They operate their property, Nibbereena in the Clermont district and the emphasis is always on quality and performance.
As children they both came from families that bred and competed home grown horses with great success. They were also people that embraced life and believed that the better you became the better the result you achieved. This focus is what has driven their life together and what has formed the successful horse breeding enterprise that now features a band of Omar mares and “Chauffeur Driven”.
Chauffeur Driven was bred by Kelly’s father, Darcy Twohill who has had a long and illustrious career starting in the rodeo arena. He then progressed to Campdrafting where both Darcy and his daughters excelled making Campdrafting their family passion. Later in life Darcy tried his hand in the Cutting arena where he reached the pinnacle as an owner with his mare, Gidgee Coals, winning the 2005 NCHA Futurity.
The Chauffeur Driven story starts three generations ago when Darcy bought Freckles Charity from the Rockhampton Quarter Horse Sale. Charity was a quality mare with a beautiful nature and the perfect horse for Darcy to compete with at the later end of his Campdrafting career.
Charity was then bred to Spinifex with the foal being the famous Gidgee Coals. Gidgee Coals was always going to be exceptional so Darcy gave her every opportunity in the cutting arena. She was trained and shown by master horseman, Ian Francis and in her Futurity year she became the NCHA Futurity Champion, the Victorian Futurity Champion and the DDCC Futurity Reserve Champion.
After her cutting career Gidgee Coals became a wonderful brood mare and her third foal, by Acres Destiny, is Chauffeur Driven. Darcy sent Chauffeur Driven to Berry as a 2 yo to be broken in and Berry and Kelly were immediately impressed with how the young colt progressed and developed. The decision to purchase the young colt from Darcy was an easy one as they both felt he was the right colt to join their Omar mares to and they believed from the beginning that he had a future in the campdraft industry as a stallion offering elite genetics.
Berry has brought Chauffeur Driven along slowly with lots of station work and a light competition career. He competed as a challenge horse as a 4 yo finishing a close 5th at Cloncurry in 2014. After a full breeding season he then returned as a 5 yo and started Campdrafting. He was the 2016/17 Supaquest Champion and finished 3rd in the ACA Rookie Horse winning a Novice on the way at Capella plus several places and Cutout wins.
The future is all in front of this quality young horse and with his instantly recognisable baldy face he will be a horse for people to follow throughout the distinguished career that is inevitably coming.
