Story – Christopher Hector & Photos – Roz Neave, Thomas Hartwig and Thomas Lehmann
Hubertus Schmidt’s ride, Escolar, is the newest star for the Borgmann family. Here’s what Hubertus says about the stallion:
“I have had a few talented horses, but he is really the best mover I have had. Escolar is spectacular – I have never seen a horse cantering like him, doing changes and pirouettes and everything in the canter, it is not only big and forward, it is also the collection.”
Plus the stallion has already produced Bundeschampionships winners and placegetters. THM visited the stud that has been breeding horses for more than ten generations in 2014.
The 85-hectare property in Ostbevern has been home to the Borgmann family since the mid-60s where they have established a fine reputation as breeders of dressage and jumping horses, and in particular, stallions.
The family’s 25-strong broodmare band is the secret ingredient of their success. Some of the maternal lines have been with the family for ten generations. Stephan Borgmann explains, “After such a long time you know exactly what you’ve got and what characteristics and qualities are passed on. I am not thinking like a lot of breeders today, only to the modern stallion star of this year, and next year we have the next star stallion… I know my mares for ten generations and I know what stallions I need for those mares.”
“About seven foals out of our thirty mares come from outside stallions, the rest from our own stallions. Other people have none from Equitaris, none from Desirao, and I have a seven-year-old not licensed jumping horse, and I have five mares in foal to him.”
“With artificial insemination, if you can have 500 foals by the one stallion, in the one year, then the price average must go down. I can buy a foal by that stallion nearly on every corner – but if you have only a small number of foals by a stallion and the foals are good, and you want one of these foals, then you have to pay.”
Stephan is struggling to list the most significant horses his family has bred over the years, there are just too many. More than 20 of them went on to compete on the international stage; for example Floriano, ridden by Steffen Peters, who won a Bronze medal with the US dressage team at the 2006 WEG in Aachen. Then there’s the Florestan I son, Fleetwood, who was the Swedish reserve champion in 2012 with dressage rider, Malin Hamilton. Austria’s Victoria Max-Theurer won many times at international level on Eichendorff by Ehrentusch. Other ‘Borgmann products’ include the licensed stallion Acolydor, PSI auction horse Caballero, advanced dressage horse Puertollano, Grand Prix winner Märchenprinz and the showjumper Pontifex, ridden by Lutz Gripshöver at international level.
Steffen Peters and Floriano
The Borgmanns have a special knack for stallions however, having produced no fewer than 25 approved stallions. One of their biggest success stories is Estobar NRW, the champion of the 2006 Westfalien licensing. He then sold at the Stallion Auction for a record Euro 535,000.
What do you think Estobar put on his foals?
“I think Estobar gives a good character, very friendly foals, they are interested in people. When they are three or four years old, they are good to work with, and make fantastic dressage horses.”
For the amateur or for the top competition?
“We have horses from Estobar who go to someone who wants to ride in the field for pleasure riding, and we have a lot of people who bought them for the big sport. They are very good to ride, they are good to train, very dynamic movement.”
“Estobar, I think he went Intermediaire II when he was younger, Hubertus Schmidt rode him, he won his first St Georges in Münster.”
One of Estobar’s sons, Equitaris, also a Borgmann homebred, was approved at the 2012 Westphalian licensing with the premium tag. His presentation at the 2013 Equitana stallion gala was a standout performance. In front of more than 6,000 spectators the three-year-old stallion demonstrated his perfect temperament when Stephan Borgmann stood up on the young stallion’s back.
You can breed to Estobar in Australia – find out more from International Horse Breeders: http://ihb.com.au/product/estobar-nrw/
Ask Stephan about Equitaris and he smiles, “We have bred many great horses in the past decades, but he is the best of them.”
Equitaris was the first Westfalien-bred ever to be sold through the Hanoverian Elite Auction in Verden where he went for €175,000. He was bought as a future dressage prospect, and went on to prove a bargain after the stallion won the title for four-year-old stallions at the 2014 Bundeschampionat. Equitaris scored a 9.5 for trot, 9.5 for canter, 8.5 for walk, 9.0 for level of training and 8.5 for type. Both test riders gave him a 10.
The breeding of Estobar and Equitaris is very Westfalien, but you are using a lot of outside blood – Trakehner, from Holland, Thoroughbred, is to make the gene pool as wide as you can?
“For me it is not interesting whether the horses are Westfalien, or Holsteiner or Hanoverian, we look for stallions all over the world. I am not a breeder thinking within the breeding association, classic Westfalien, or classic Hanoverian, I breed my own horses, my own ‘race’. I have my own ideas on what is important in a horse and so I try to take from all breeds what is good to make my own horses. For us it is interesting to sell horses, and we want to sell horses in ten years, and in twenty years, and for this we must breed horses for the market, for happy riders and happy owners, so they come back to buy more horses from me.” 
The Thoroughbred stallion, Desirao
You are using the Thoroughbred, Desirao, this is very brave because it is hard to sell the foals of full-bloods?
“You have to do something different to what everybody else is doing. We have bred to Champion du Lys when no-one else was thinking of him. There were only ten foals by him back then, before he became World Champion. If you do what everyone else does, then you might have the same success as everyone else, but if you do what the others are not doing, perhaps you will have the most success…”
Indeed Stephan’s determination to swim against the tide is shown by his refusal to have anything to do with the most fashionable stallion of the last decade, Sandro Hit…
“We have 100 horses and not one with the blood of Sandro Hit… no Sandro Hit, no Sir Donnerhall, no San Amour, no Show Star… and in the future I can advertise – no Sandro Hit here!”
In 2012 Stephan created the inaugural Borgmann auction, which was so well received by the industry that it was repeated in 2013. The next auction will be held in the spring of 2015. There will be a wonderful variety of horses on offer, including foals, young stock, riding horses and even several licensed stallions it is just a matter of teaching your GPS how to find the place…
