German Breeding Values 2012 – what do they mean?

Don Schufro at Aachen… 

Story – Christopher Hector & Photos – Roz Neave

Dear me, what a borderless place the world of sporthorse breeding has become! Neither of the equal top two stallions on this year’s German FN breeding values – Don Schufro (Donnerhall / Pik Bube I) or Jazz (Cocktail / Ulster) – actually live in Germany, and while Don Schufro was at least bred there before his export to Denmark, Jazz is solidly Dutch-bred and based. While both stallions have a breeding value of 170, Don Schufro is assessed with a reliability of 96%, to Jazz’s 85%, although perhaps this may have something to do with Jazz’s Dutch progeny not being added to the mix.

 Londontime makes a competition appearance…

The next highest ranked stallion is the Londonderry son, Londontime (Walt Disney) just one point behind on 169 (91%). This is one of those moves that is a bit puzzling. The stallion himself generated a share of controversy when he was purchased by a private buyer for the State Stud Celle: the story went around that when the new owner went to insure the horse he was told that his X-rays were so bad that they would not write a cover. Eventually an insurer was found and the stallion went on to stand at Celle. His competition career since then seems to have peaked with two placings at M level and €1,006 in prize money and in the 2012 Hanoverian Stallion Book, he is listed with 20 progeny in competition for winnings of €3,077.

 Damon Hill – truly a star

While it is not clear just what has contributed to Londontime’s stellar ranking you would not have to look far to find the reasons for Damon Hill’s move up the ladder to 4^th on 167 (92%). The handsome chestnut consolidated his position as Germany’s number one dressage representative at the London Games, while his offspring continue to dominate at the Bundeschampionate… yes, we’ll have to wait a few years to see if his progeny make it at FEI levels but given his impeccable dressage breeding (Donnerhall / Rubinstein) we would be surprised if they did not go on. By way of contrast, Londontime’s sire, Londonderry, despite the infusion of good dressage breeding on his dam line (Warkant) has been a less successful sire of top dressage horses than his Thoroughbred sire, Lauries Crusador, which perhaps does not augur well for the offspring of Londontime in the higher levels of the sport.

Perhaps another of the shooting stars – Sir Donnerhall (Sandro Hit / Donnerhall) – is discovering that what goes up, usually comes down. Last year he ranked equal with Damon Hill on 164, this year he slips out of the top ten with a breeding value of 160, although his reliability factor of 98% is equal top, along with Don Primero (Donnerhall / Pik Bube I), whose breeding value of 152 puts him 33^rd on the dressage sires rankings.

By the time you get to 5^th place on the rankings you are starting to wonder at their usefulness – the horse is Burlington (165 / 83% – Breitling / Rohdiamant), an absolute star in young rider ranks with Charlott-Maria Schürmann… but the 5^th best dressage stallion in Germany? Hello? Where are his progeny?

Sixth on the rankings to his sire, Breitling W (Bismark / Maat I) and sure, despite only covering very few mares, Breitling has produced a startling number of Grand Prix dressage horses, the only slight worry being that the overwhelming majority of them have been trained by his owner/breeder, Wolfram Wittig or his wife, Brigitte.

Rounding out the top ten we have in 7^th, Real Diamond (Rohdiamant / Weltmeyer) with a breeding value of 163. This appears to be another shooter headed earthwards, last year his value was 166, the year before he was the surprise name at the head of the list with a rank of 173! Then comes Rock Forever (Rockwell / Landstreicher) on 163 (91%); Dancing Dynamite (Don Bedo / Fidermark – 162 / 92%) and Welt Hit VI (Weltmeyer / Hill Hawk xx – 162 / 76%).

Looking at the jumping stallion rankings it’s interesting to reflect on the difference between the German FN’s use of the Integrated Breed Value Estimation, or BLUP system (which takes into account a variety of factors: the stallion performance test, the results of mare performance tests and young horse classes, as well as the stallion’s own performances and those of his offspring) as compared to the much simpler system used to calculate the stallion rankings of the WBFSH which simply adds up the points gained in international competition by the progeny of the stallion. Under the WBFSH system, Stakkato can finish no better than 37^th on the rankings, while he has been the stand out star of the German FN rankings. On the WBFSH standings, the number one stallion is Baloubet du Rouet with 62 competitors, earning 10,328 points in international competition at an average of 166.581 – while Stakkato’s 37^th place comes from 14 international competitors, earning a total of 2361, at an average of 168.64.

Stakkato at the Bundeschampionate 

Be that as it may, Stakkato hit the top of the German FN values in 2005, and he has dominated the FN standings ever since. In 2012, he is once again number one with a value of 170 and a reliability of 98% (equal highest reliability with Contendro I and Cassini I.) The stallion with the second highest breeding value (169) the Celle Stud sire, Comte (Contendro I /Granulit) underlines the problems with the German system. The horse himself competed to Novice level, and a search of the excellent SJA database fails to produce any record of him or his offspring. Okay he is by the excellent sire, Contendro I but his dam sire Granulit was hardly a superstar. His reliability estimate is low, 80% but it does seem somewhat odd that he has a breeding value higher than Cornet Obolensky, Heartbreaker, Cardento, Carthago, Contendro I, Chacco-Blue, Galoubet or Cassini I!

 Comte – just why is this horse ranked so highly?

Third with a breeding value of 167 (87%) to another modest performer, Perigeux (Perpignon / Stakkato). Neither Comte nor Perigeux make it to the WBFSH top 50, and neither produce even a flicker of recognition on the SJA base. According to the 2012 Hanoverian Stallion Book, Perigeux placed twice at S level jumping for earnings of €25,409 and he has produced 19 competitors with winnings of €1,800.

Diarado at the licensing

Fourth to that splendid amalgam of France and Germany, Diarado (Diamant de Sémilly / Corrado) on 166 / 79%. Given that the Holstein licensing winner is jointly owned by the Holsteiner Verband, Paul Schockemöhle and Joop van Uytert, he has had every opportunity to cover good mares, but does seem to be producing some interesting youngsters, even if a few of them are somewhat short.

Stakkato Gold – real gold? 

Fifth, Stakkato Gold ( Stakkato / Werther – 166 / 83%), his competition career with Jan Sprehe peaked – and seemingly came to an end – in 2009 when he won the final of the Youngster Tour in Neumünster in 2009. His oldest progeny are still in young horse classes.

Just when we were feeling a little desperate, we get to three mature stallions with fine competition careers and progeny competing at the highest levels: Cornet Obolensky (Clinton / Heartbreaker – 165 / 96%), Montender (Contender / Burggraaf – 164 – 79%) and Heartbreaker (Nimmerdor / Silvano – 163 / 79%).

Then it is back to the Stakkato follies, with Sallito (out of a Calido mare) in 9^th with a value of 162 (87%). Here is a horse that has done a few young horses classes, won a Hanoverian championship, and then was exported from the State Stud Celle to Canada in 2008. Now the German breeders are no fools, they don’t sell stallions that they think are the real deal, anyway the economics don’t add up, why would a horse leave a very large breeding market for a rather small breeding market if it was going to survive in the large one? I know that Stakkato’s sire, Spartan was summoned back from North America when the Hanoverian authorities realised that they had let a good one slip through the net, but he was perhaps the exception that proves the rule.

Rounding out the top ten we have an obscure son of Darco, Douglas (159 – 74%) while languishing in spots 11-13 we find three more proven sires: Cardento, Carthago and Contendro I. I really do not know what the German FN values are supposed to prove. It has been put to me that they are an indicator of good young sires that may otherwise be over-looked, but it seems to me that every time there is a name at the top of the list that you go ‘why on earth is that there?’ and after a few years the horse has disappeared without a trace. In 2008, the For Pleasure son, Fly High ranked 2^nd on the list of jumping sires, I expressed incredulity at the time, now he has disappeared from the FN topliste altogether. In the 2012 Hanoverian Stallion Book Fly High is credited with five placings at S level and €16,811 in winnings, with 61 competition progeny earning €76,365 – with the best of these, Flying Boy winning €24,318, the only one to top €15,000.

The saving grace is that the breeders throughout Europe cheerfully ignore ‘the numbers’ with most mares going to stallions with relatively low breeding values, or in the case of the dressage breeding scene, stallions too young to have a breeding value…