Will Warmbloods take over Eventing?

Christopher Hector analyses the results at the 2008 Olympic Games

 The gold medal success of the German Eventing team in Hong Kong would seem to fulfil the dire predictions of the eventing traditionalists, who argued that the new shorter format would also see the disappearance of the noble Thoroughbred and create yet another equestrian discipline dominated by the European Warmblood. In truth, the result is not so clear-cut.

While the German horses may wear the brands of the leading German breeding associations, the blood in their veins is largely Thoroughbred.

 Marius Voigt-Logistic, gold medal and over 70% ‘blood’

The best of the Germans, and the individual gold medallist, Hinrich Romeike rode the Holsteiner, Marius Voigt-Logistic. The Holsteiner Verband proved with Feine Dame, twenty years ago, that they could breed three quarter Thoroughbreds who could event with the best of them, and Marius is just a continuation of the same theme. The grey gelding is by the Thoroughbred Condrieu xx out of Echse, a mare with ‘blood’ aplenty. Her top line leads straight to the great Ladykiller xx with a dash of the Anglo Arab blood of Ramzes through his great showjumping daughter (and star broodmare for the Thormälen family) Retina. On the grand dam’s line we find two crosses of the Thoroughbred, Frivol, plus a dash of the French Thoroughbred, Rantzau, through his son, Cor de la Bryère. All told, Marius is just over 70% Thoroughbred.

Ingrid and FRH Abraxxas – Hanoverian brand, Thoroughbred blood…

The next most successful German horse, Ingrid Klimke’s ‘Braxxy’, is similarly bred. Although this time the brand is Hanoverian, FRH Abraxxas is in fact 63/64ths Thoroughbred! His only non-Thoroughbred blood comes in the shape of his great, great, great grand-dam Alte Liebe – who was by the Thoroughbred, Fockenbach xx, out of an un-named mare.

Extraordinary as it may seem, another member of the German team, Andreas Dibowski’s Butts Leon has almost exactly the same pedigree. Like Abraxxas, Butts Leon is by Heraldik xx, and like Abraxxas, his only non-Thoroughbred line is once again, the very last entry in the last line of the six generation pedigree. His great, great, great grand-dam, had no name, but she too was by Fockenbach, so Butts Leon is also 63/64ths Thoroughbred.

They are also proof that you can successfully breed eventers. Although they descend from two different mare lines they were both bred by the same German breeder, Friedrich Butt of Bülkau, whose aim was to breed international event horses. At the time in Hanover there was a small Hanoverian population bred for racing. These Hanoverian racehorses were almost entirely Thoroughbred in pedigree – and they provided the basis of both mare lines. Sadly Mr Butt died a few years ago missing out the chance to see his dream realised in Hong Kong.

Heraldik, the sire of both horses died in 2005. One of the most popular Thoroughbred stallions with the German Warmblood breeders, he was based at the private stallion station, Gestüt Birkhof. The black Thoroughbred was by Caramel xx out of Heraldika xx by Cale xx by Marsel xx.

Born in the Czech Republic, Heraldik xx had a Thoroughbred jumping pedigree with two crosses of Pharlaris xx and two of Hurry On xx, the sire of Precipitation xx. Heraldik xx showjumped to S level.

There were two Thoroughbred stallions with two representatives each in the Eventing at Hong Kong, Heraldik xx, and the Swedish based stallion, Eighty Eight Keys xx – who sired Keymaster in the Swedish eventing team, and Colombo in the Canadian team.

The final member of the German team, is Irish bred, but as the analysis of the Irish horses at the Hong Kong Games, revealed, there is a large proportion of Thoroughbred blood in those Irish Sport horses.

Mr Medicott – just a touch over 50%

Frank Ostholt’s Mr Medicott is by Cruising, by the Irish Draught, Seacrest (who was 25% Thoroughbred) out of the international showjumper, Mullacrew, who was ¾ Thoroughbred. Mr Medicott is out of Slieveluachra who is by the Thoroughbred, Edmund Burke xx, out of a mare with at least one Thoroughbred ancestor, her great grand-sire, One Wing, which makes the German eventer just a touch over 50% Thoroughbred, with a couple of ‘unknowns’ on his bottom line.

The Australian team took out the silver medal, again with a mixture of breeding but with the Thoroughbred still well and truly to the fore.

The genetic ‘one out’ in the bunch is Ringwould Jaguar, is described – indeed branded – as an Australian Stock Horse, yet in truth, there’s not a lot ‘Australian’ about his heritage. He is by the Quarter horse, Jensens Man, but as with ‘Warmblood’, the term ‘Quarter horse’ can cover some startlingly different types and bloodlines.

 Ringwould Jaguar ‘Stock Horse’

Jensens Man’s sire, Trudy’s Man is a running Quarter horse with lots of Thoroughbred up close: Three Bars xx, Chicaro xx, Depth Charge xx, Top Deck xx and Trim Comic xx – he was in fact, 9/16ths Thoroughbred.

On his dam line, Jensens Man descends from one of the horse world’s more interesting line breeding programs, that of the King Ranch in Texas, where the foundation sire, Old Sorrel was bred to his daughters to breed the chestnut (or ‘sorrel’) horses of King Ranch. The Ranch had already bred its own breed of ‘chestnut’ cattle, the Santa Gertrudis, and had the Quarter Horse Studbook not appeared in time to adopt the Old Sorrel’s descendants, then King Ranch would doubtless have entered the history books as creating their own breed of horse to work their own breed of cattle.

Ringwould Jaguar’s Thoroughbred dam, Nations of Lili xx has a pedigree that says ‘jump’ to any student of Thoroughbred jumping lines – five crosses of Phalaris xx, a couple of crosses of Bay Ronald xx, Nearco xx, Owen Tudor xx, Blue Peter xx, Teddy xx, Hampton xx.

Megan Jones’ Kirby Park Irish Jester, is a true home grown product. Bred by her mum and dad, and broken in and trained from the very start by Megan, he is by Irish Enough, who is by McCartney by a significant sire of jumping horses in Australia, Souvenir, sometimes described as Thoroughbred, but more likely a mix of Thoroughbred, Arab and perhaps a touch of Percheron. McCartney is out of ‘Valli’ described as Thoroughbred but with no breeding on the dam line…

Irish Enough is out of the imported Irish mare, Irish Anna, by Glenside out of Annaghdown Rose (RID) by Blackwater Lad. Jester’s dam, Yellow Empress xx is straight Thoroughbred by Fear No Foe xx out of a Rego xx mare.

The other Australian based member of the team was Shane Rose, riding a straight Thoroughbred, one that was tried first on the racetrack, five races, very slow, All Luck xx (Bao Lack xx / Bustino xx).

He may well have been slow out of the barriers, but when it counted, Lucky turned it on, to notch up the fastest clear round of them all at Hong Kong on cross country day.

Perhaps the reason for so many racehorses turned top line eventers in Australia (Gold medallists: Kiwi, Sunburst, True Blue Girdwood, Jeepster, to name just a few) has less to do with genetics and more to do with the racing culture. In Britain and the USA, slow racehorses tend to be tried in a series of lesser competitions (over hurdles, over fences, point to point in England, countless small tracks in the States) and by the time they are finally retired probably have too many miles on the clock to usefully event. In Australia, thousands of young Thoroughbreds are ‘sacked’ sometimes after a few races, sometimes after trialling slowly and never ever getting to a race. They are sold relatively cheaply, and if they come out of a good stable, have an excellent basic education, and thanks to their genes, and their training, have learnt to gallop.

The two British based members of the Australian team, Clayton and Lucinda Fredericks, were like most UK and, for that matter, American, eventers, riding Irish bred horses.

Benalong Time – Holsteiner plus Thoroughbred

Clayton’s Benalong Time is by the Irish based Holsteiner, Cavalier Royale – but once again, there’s lot of ‘blood’, on his pedigree: two of the great French jumping Thoroughbred sires, Rantzau xx and Furioso xx, the important British Thoroughbreds imported to Holstein, Ladykiller xx and Cottage Son xx, as well as the German bred representative of the Dark Ronald line, Anblick xx. Benalong Time is out of an Irish mare, by the Thoroughbred, Campaigner xx.

At Hong Kong, Cavalier Royale, as he did at the 2006 WEG, starred as a sire. Aside from Ben Along Time, he produced the British eventer, Call Again Cavalier, the Irish eventer, Kilkishen and the Spanish showjumper, Calibra II.

The final member of the Australian team, Headley Britannia is by the British Sport Horse sire, Jumbo. Jumbo, is by the Irish stallion Skippy, who is at least 25% Thoroughbred, and out of a mare by the Thoroughbred, Seven Bells xx. Jumbo is an eventing sire who has himself evented. As a seven year old, and ridden by Andrew Nicholson, Jumbo took out the Young Eventing Horse championship at Lion d’Angers in 1991. He has sired a string of successful eventers in the UK and the USA.

Headley Brittania is out of a mare described as Thoroughbred – but seemingly with no pedigree.

So there we are, far from disappearing, the Thoroughbred looks more secure than ever at the top of the sport, and that in itself is a little surprising. As that astute observer of the world breeding scene, France’s Arnaud Evain, once remarked to elsewhere in this text, Thoroughbred stallions are no longer so crucial to the breeding process since the ‘blood’ was already incorporated in most of the European books:

“If you take a drink with 20% alcohol and mix it with another drink with 20% alcohol, we still have a 20% alcohol. The same with our horses, we can breed the horse with 20% Thoroughbred blood to another with 20% and keep the percentage we need.”

Yet looking at Hong Kong (and Aachen 2006 and Athens 2004 told much the same story) we find over and again, straight Thoroughbred stallions producing top performers. In at least one Olympic discipline, the Thoroughbred is still the king…