Adriana van Tilburg catches up with the man who made the World’s Number One Breeding Stallion…
In the heart of French horse breeding, Normandy we find the breeding and sport stable of Eric Levallois – Haras de Beaufour. His stable is also the home of the world famous stallion Diamant de Sémilly (Le Tot de Semilly – Venise des Cresles x Elf III, bred by Jules Mesnildrey).
Eric and Diamant at the WEG…
Eric Levallois starred at the Jerez WEG in 2002 with this exceptional stallion, they were members of the French team that took home the Gold Medal for showjumping. Life was looking great for the French horseman and his horse… Then in 2008 Diamant de Semilly survived three nasty colic attacks, and in Eric was seriously injured in a car accident. Breeding horses rather than competition riding took centre stage in Eric’s life, and with Diamant de Semilly in his stable he has been able to breed some quite interesting horses, including one, who has spread the French stallion’s influence into the heart of German jumping breeding .
Diarado, the breakthrough for Diamant de Semilly in Germany 
Diarado – the French German fusion…
Diarado is available in Australia from International Horse Breeders
Go to their website for details
In 2007 Diamant’s son, Diarado (Diamant de Semilly – Roxette x Corrado I, Stamm 318D2, bred by Klaus Thingholm Kristensen) became the champion of the Holsteiner approvals and was bought by a syndicate comprising the Holsteiner Verband, Joop van Uytert and Paul Schockemöhle.
Diamant de Semilly
Anne Sophie Levallois (married to Eric’s brother, Richard) had this to say about Diamant’s offspring: “Diamant de Semilly crosses very well with chic German mares which bring length in the top line, nice paces, while Diamant de Semilly brings a strong short back, easiness (top mind), and the offspring have strength, good balance and blood. Diarado’s title helped Diamant to become well known and respected everywhere in the world, even with the breeders who only believed in German bloodlines.”
Rider career of Eric Levallois
Photo – Eric KNOLL
Eric was already a successful rider before Diamant de Semilly shot him into the spotlight. His first top horse was a mare, Graine d’Oria (Rantzau xx – Risette x Fakir, bred by Charles Tessier) with whom he made his international debut. They took part in the Young Rider European Championships in Wolfsburg in 1982 and in Geesteren 1983.
Eric and Le Tot de Semilly were individually fourth and team gold at the 1984 European championships in Cervia. The following year, Levallois and Le Tot de Semilly placed second with the French team in the Hickstead Nations’ Cup. When Le Tot de Semilly was nine, he placed second in the CSI Wiesbaden Grand Prix, won the Bois le Roi GP, and finished third in both the CSI Gijon GP and Nations’ Cup.
Eric and Le Tot – at Hickstead
Eric’s next star was Diamant de Semilly, a son of Le Tot. Eric has been the only person to ride Diamant de Semilly in competition, they had, and still have today, a unique bond. Diamant de Semilly became an outstanding performance partner for Levallois.They arrived at the top level in 2002: World Champions with the French team (9th in the individual ranking) in Jerez de la Frontera, and Champion of France in Fontainebleau after a great showjumping season (11 clears out of 12 rounds in Nations’ Cups, including Rome, Aachen, Donaueschingen). In 2003 they won the team silver medal at the European championships in Donaueschingen.
The beginning of Haras de Couvains (Haras de Semilly)
Eric’s parents, Germain and Micheline Levallois, started Haras de Couvains more than 25 years ago, now it is better known at Haras de Semilly. According to Eric’s sister-in-law, Anne-Sophie Levallois:
“Richard’s grandfather and father already worked with horses, so it’s a family story. They bought and resold horses. They knew very well what a good horse was.”
“The breeding really began in the 1980s with my husband Richard, who wanted to keep good broodmares and also stallions (Le Tot de Semilly, being their first) and, with his parents, they bought the stud farm in Couvains in 1989 in order to develop the breeding, plus an insemination center, and then an embryo transfer center. The number of broodmares grew slowly – now we have around 30 foals per year – as well as the number of mares that come for insemination every year, especially due to the quality of Le Tot de Semilly’s offspring and then Diamant’s offspring. The number of mares inseminated in our stud has risen to 700 per breeding season! We also developed the number of embryo transfers to 120 recipient mares pregnant per year, the number of semen exportations has also increased a lot in recent years.”
Haras de Beaufour 
After the success that Eric Levallois had as a young rider, he decided in 1994 to start his own stable near Deauville in Normandy, Haras de Beaufour. Diamant de Semilly was given to Eric to ride by his father and brother in 1995. A year later Diamant de Semilly started his career as a breeding stallion while at the same time Eric and Diamant de Semilly worked on their career in sport.
In 2008, Diamant de Semilly’s sport career came to an end, and he returned to Haras de Semilly. There he had three colic attacks requiring surgery. It was a miracle he stayed alive and afterwards he returned to Haras de Beaufour where he is being turned out every day and where he is still being collected.
Eric, how did your riding career start?
I started with racing on ponies when I was eight years old, and at 12 I started with a young mare with no experience in show-jumping. We both had no experience. The first year was a disaster for both of us at shows, but we learned so much together and one year later we won almost every show.
The fear years
Eric and Diamant – survivors!
In 2008 Diamant de Semilly survived three colic surgeries, and in 2009 Eric suffered a very bad car accident. During the 2011 Selle Français parade, they appeared together, and even cantered a little – a very emotional event.
How was it for you to return to the spotlight?
I don’t like it to look back at the past, there have been some very difficult years. Those years are behind me. (For a moment Eric is silent.) To come back with Diamant de Semilly under saddle at a presentation in 2011 was very special. But to ride Diamant on the Normandy horse day during the WEG in 2014 was even more special. When we became world champions with the French team in 2002 at the WEG Jerez, I did not really understand what we had achieved. To enter the arena 12 years later with Diamant during WEG in Normandy was very emotional.
When did you start your own stable?
I bought my own stable in 1994 but didn’t start breeding until 2009. I am not breeding with just a few mares, in 2012 I had 40 foals and last year I had 25 foals. I like to cross German mares with French stallions. I have mares by Contender, Cassini I and Corrado I. I also have some outstanding youngsters. A Diamant de Semilly x Contender and a Diamant de Semilly x Corrado I. I like the Cassini I offspring, they have scope and are easy to ride.
Eric owns the full sister of the mother of the Holsteiner approved stallion Dinken (Diarado – Inken I x Cassini I, Stamm 2294), Hannah I, who jumped at 1.40m and Inken I jumped at 1.60m. Hannah I has several offspring by Diamant de Semilly at Haras de Beaufour.
I do everything in breeding by feeling, I try to listen to myself and make good choices. The combination of a German mare and a French stallion makes good offspring. I have bred two international horses from the time I was doing the breeding with my now ex-wife: Peanuts de Beaufour (Diamant de Semilly – Aphrodite van het Dingeshof x Perhaps) who jumped 1.60m with Latifah Al Maktoum, and Sweet de Beaufour (Diamant de Semilly – Bakanna x Kannan) who is competing at 1.60m with Daniel Deusser, plus Bakanna (Kannan – Kithana x Gold Sky) is now jumping 1.50m with Rashid Towaim Ali Al Marri.
What stallion lines do you especially like?
I like Cor de la Bryère more than Almé because Cor de la Bryère’s sire is Rantzau xx – a Thoroughbred, while Ibrahim, Almé’s sire, was a bit heavy. My opinion is that Almé produced outstanding mares and Cor de la Bryère produced excellent stallions. I mostly use Diamant de Semilly in my breeding program, he stands at my farm and I know him so well. I understand that it is very difficult to promote young stallions, but one day breeders will start to use young stallions again because the old ones have covered too much.
Rantzau – the great Thoroughbred’s influence lives on through mares like…
K-Nostra, by Cor de la Bryère out of Cosa Nostra by Capitol I,
Who are to your opinion up-and-coming young stallions?
My brother’s five-year-old, Captain Semilly (Nartago – Ebene de Semilly x Le Tot de Semilly). He took third place in 2015 as a three- year-old at the stallion approvals in St. Lô. He is a really good jumper. His father Nartago is a modern stallion combining a high number of qualities: canter balance and amplitude, scope, power, suppleness and blood. His father, Carthago, was a great international performer, combining the power of Capitol and the competition spirit of the Cor de la Bryère son Calando I. The mother of Nartago, Sabatina des Prés, international competitor with Roger Yves Bost, is a daughter of Hurlevent. The grandmother of Sabatina des Prés, called Sabatina, was sister of Babette (Montigny XX) a careful Grand Prix horse ridden by F. Cottier. Captain Semilly has inherited the qualities of his father with an additional power and propulsion coming from his strong behind, together with quick forelegs technique. His mother, Ebene de Semilly (Le Tot de Semilly) is full sister to Flamenco de Semilly, who was an esteemed stallion in Belgium.
Ebene de Semilly, and her son….
Captain Semilly
Richard also has a seven-year- old, Andiamo Semilly (Diamant de Semilly – Tati du Palis x Muguet du Manoir), who covered 300 mares last year. That is good so we can observe his offspring later to see the quality that he is producing.
Andiamo Semilly
My ex-wife has a really good Le Tot de Semilly x Heartbreaker stallion (Ninto de Beaufour), he hasn’t competed at the highest level, but he is a very good jumper.
What selection criteria are you using for your mares?
I try to find the right mix with having blood in the mare and stallion and that the product will be careful enough for jumping. That is not very easy. Sometimes you get the opposite of what you expected from a combination. I have 30 broodmares. The mother line of a mare is more important than the stallion. It is a known fact that the mother line is stronger. It is good that a mare goes into sport, but sometimes she comes too late back into breeding. It is better to do the breeding with a young mare. It is a problem for me because after I divorced I had to start again with young mares, I had no older mares anymore. I purchased a few older German-bred mares, but my French mares are still young. It is a test for me, I must find a good mix and select. For me it is also important to see the stallions in sport. To see their character, technique, scope, everything!
Do you think that being a rider is an advantage for you in selecting stallions for your mares?
Off course! I know the feeling of the mouth, the scope, the character and the conformation. This is all very important. When I see my foals in the field I can see their balance and I already think about how they will be to ride when they are older.
What would be interesting stallions to use for your breeding program?
I think you need to mix bloodlines for the future, bloodlines from different studbooks. Use the studbooks from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. You have to then keep the offspring. I want to breed an international jumping horse, I am not restricted by a studbook. For next year I am thinking about using Cardento (Capitol I – B-Estelle x Lord, Stamm 741), Carambole (Cassini I – Normandie VI x Concerto II, Stamm 1094), Colman (Carthago – Rosenquarz x Lord, Stamm 223B) plus I am thinking about using the father of Voyeur, Tolano van’t Riethof (Chin Chin – Knappe van Heyvelde x Goldspring de Lauzelle).
The quality of frozen semen is not good from a lot of stallions, and that is not good if you want to use semen from other countries. I was really lucky with Cornet Obolensky this year. Last year I used a straw and I have a foal, and for next year I have another mare in foal to him.
Investigating the list of your pregnant mares we see that you tried a very tight inbreeding : Beauty de Beaufour (Quaprice Bois Margot – Tinka de Beaufour x Diamant de Semilly) is pregnant by her grandfather Diamant de Semilly.
Beauty is meriting her name. Great, brown, elegant, talented and powerful jumper, I intended to keep her for the breeding after her sport career. But the daughters of Quaprice Bois Margot often have a very strong temperament. Having stopped riding myself and having no experienced rider at that time, I finally decided to use her directly in breeding.
Diamant being the ideal stallion for such a mare, I tried the inbreeding.
I have done it in some other cases, but my first horse born out such an inbreeding being only two years old, it is too early for taking a conclusion of what I consider actually as a private experience.
Dinken, one of the hot young stallions in Germany is an example of the blood line mix Eric is talking about, a son of Diarado and out of Inken who is full sister to Eric’s Cassini I mare
The story of Beauty shows the importance of the young horse rider in a breeding farm. Former National Trainer Gilles de Balanda, knowing that problem, has created recently a Horse Academy in South of France in response to it.
I belong to a generation where the Breeder’s children learned their job as Young Horse riders with their parents. Nowadays a lot of riders don’t have that natural background. That can lead to problems. It is a good project to open such riding schools with very professional teachers.
I met up with Eric when he was judging at Zangersheide, it’s a task he enjoys.
“It is good for me to come to Zangersheide, there is the jumping, the selection for the stallions and the foals. There is a lot to see. It is important to see the progress in the breeding of the horses, and it is also important for me to meet the riders and owners. From my job as a judge for the stallion approvals I learned a lot in Zangersheide. Also for breeding, every day is a new day. To know the characteristics of the stallion, what he is passing on and what the mare has for characteristics and what she is passing on, and to find the right cross. You learn to find the right mix, that is not easy because there are so many stallions now that makes the choice not easy. If you want to sell the product and it is by a young stallion it is difficult to sell. People like to buy the name now, I think this will become a problem for the future.
You once said that quality is more important than quantity, how do you apply that to your own breeding?
You need quantity, it is difficult to have a good horse when you first start breeding. If you started breeding 25 to 30 years ago, you can select to keep five to 10 mares, because then you have all the offspring. Starting breeding is really difficult and you must take time – it is a long process. It takes 20 years to get an idea about your breeding. I started breeding again with 20 mares. I don’t want to have more than 30. This year I have 25 foals. I would be stupid to use other stallions than Diamant de Semilly when he is at my farm and is producing top jumping horses. I have to go fast for the future, I don’t have 25 years left anymore.
What advice would you give to breeders who are new to breeding?
You need to have a lot of patience, and to be lucky. You must start with a good mare. The mare is more important than the stallion. To find a good mother line is very important. Then you need to find the right combination with a stallion.
The following are a few of Diamant de Semilly’s offspring that have secured his number one position in the WBFSH sire ranking list:
- Don VHP Z/ex Don van het Parelshof (Sara van het Parelshof x Voltaire, bred by Guy de Schuymer) 1m60 with Harrie Smolders NED)
- Quickly de Kreisker (Briseis d’Helby x Laudanum xx, bred by Guillaume Ansquer) 1m60 with Abdelkebir Ouaddar (MAR)
- Emerald van’t Ruytershof (Carthina Z x Carthago, bred by Bert van den Branden) 1m60 with Harrie Smolders (NED)
- Hello Guv’nor/ex Flinstone de Tiji (Helady de Baugy x Papillon Rouge, bred by Tim van Tricht) 1m60 with Scott Brash (GBR)
- Rock’n Roll Semilly (La Mare x Apache d’Adriers, bred by Richard Levallois) 1m60 with Marlon Modolo Zanotelli (BRA)
- Utamaro d’Ecaussines (Arizona van Arenberg x Quidam de Revel, bred by Ecuries d’Ecaussinnes) 1m60 with Joe Clee (GBR)
Quickly de Kreisker – one of Diamant de Semilly’s stars
Mares in foal for the season 2017:
- Cornet Obolensky x Ramona de Beaufour x Diamant de Semilly x Toulon x Forever.
- Ninto de Beaufour x Shakira de Beaufour x Diamant de Semilly x Kannan x Gold Sky
Shakira de Beaufour is the full sister to Sweet de Beaufour (1.60m) and Quapitola de Beaufour (1.60m) Hann Stamm 614.
- Contendro I x Shira de Beaufour x Diamant de Semilly x Narcos II x Diaghilev xx
- Diamant de Semilly x Tuzama de Beaufour x Cento x Café au Lait x Baloubet du Rouet
Tuzama de Beaufour is the full sister of the approved OS stallion: Celoubet.
- Diamant de Semilly x Caliente vd Faunushoeve x Clinton x Gratianus x Skippy II
Hann Stamm 197, grandmother Musharat (Skippy II) produced the 1.60m Azzaro van de Veldhoek (Orlando van de Heffinck) BWP approved.
- Diamant de Semilly x Pivoine du Reverdy x Allegreto x Grand Veneur x Surioso du Ver
Pivoine de Reverdy is the full sister to the SF stallion Lucky du Reverdy (1.60m) and halfsister to the Zangersheide approved stallion Norson du Reverdy (Quidam de Revel) 1.60m.
- Diamant de Semilly x Sally du Reverdy x Allegreto x Grand Veneur x Surioso du Vert.
Sally du Reverdy is full sister to Pivoine du Reverdy.
- Ninto de Beaufour x Quinea Dorcel x Burggraaf x Le Tot de Semilly x Feu Sacre.
- Diamant de Semilly x Rosee de Beaufour x Le Tot de Semilly x Toulon x Forever.
- Captain Semilly x Princesse de Beaufour x Diamant de Semilly x Arpege Pierreville x Grand Veneur.
- Nartago x Sibelle de Beaufour x Calvaro x Diamant de Semilly x Double Espoir.
- Captain Semilly x Nyassa x Diamant de Semilly x Double Espoir x Uriel.
- Kannan x Vinea Dorcel x Diamant de Semilly x Burggraaf x Le Tot de Semilly.
