The 2023 medallists (FEI photo Leanjo de Koster)
Christopher Hector looks at the bloodlines at the Champs in Riesenbeck…
This year saw a changing of the guard for dressage breeding. Back in 2009, out of 54 horses entered in the Grand Prix at the European Championships in Windsor, only half, 27, were recognisably ‘dressage’ bred. Roll the clock forward 14 years and every single one of the 69 entries in the Championships at Riesenbeck is obviously bred with dressage in mind…
The other notable change is the virtual disappearance of Donnerhall, and the total absence of the W line. In 2009 the dominating stallion was Donnerhall, with four of his progeny at the Championships, and two by the Donnerhall sons, Donnerschwee and Don Gregory.
Digby and Nathalie sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and Digby for Denmark, represented his sire, Donnerhall in 2009 (Photo – Roz Neave)
Emma Hindle and Lancet by Wenzel for Great Britain
At Windsor the Hanoverian ‘W’ line was represented by the World Cup son, Wenzel with one, and the full brothers, Welt Hit IO, and Welt Hit II, by Weltmeyer out of a Hill Hawk xx mare. The older brother, IO, had one representative, while II had two.
Monica Theodorescu, the current German dressage coach, with Whisper for Germany in 2009. Whisper was by Welt Hit I
Back then the influence of Ferro was noticeable, he was represented by two of his get. The other half of the starting list was a wild and wonderful mixture of would-be jumping stars and horses with the sort of pedigree that leaves you wondering just what the breeder had in mind.
Dominating as a competitor in 2009 – Totilas. This marked the emergence of Gribaldi as a sire, by 2023 Gribaldi is established as a super sire. (Photo – Roz Neave)
In 2023, the Ferro influence has been consolidated, indeed it’s this year’s dominating line. Blue Hors Zack by the Ferro son, Rousseau out of a Jazz mare, is the sire of four in the starting list:
Famora (Krack C)
Grevens Zorro (Hertug)
Zepter (Wolkentanz)
Bergsjoholms Vabonne (Epson)
Zepter starring for Zack (FEI photo Leanjo de Koster)
Gribaldi heralds the return of the Trakehner as a major force in international dressage, and credit for this must lie not with the German Trakehner breeders but largely with the dressage breeders in Holland. He is the sire of two entrants, Greek Air (Florestan) and Intermezzo van het Meerdaalhof (Balzflug), while his son Totilas (Glendale) is the sire of four:
This year it was Totilas the sire, here Thiago out of the famous mare, Wahajama
(FEI photo Leanjo de Koster)
Te Quiro (Loutano)
Thiago (Warkant)
Turbo (Florestan)
Total Hope (Don Schufro)
Another Gribaldi son, Easy Game (Schwadroneur) is the sire of the Gold Medalist, Dalera (Handryk) while his other star, Hermes (Flemmingh) would doubtless have been in the lineup, but was injured on the trip to the Omaha World Cup.
Gold Medallist, Dalera by Easy Game (FEI photo Leanjo de Koster)
Bordeaux is by the Krack C son, United (out of a mare by another Trakehner, Partout) and out of a Gribaldi mare. He puts three into this year’s Euros:
Ironman H (Rousseau, more Ferro)
Bluetooth (Riccione)
Fame (Rhodium and yes, he is by Ferro)
Fame by Bordeaux (FEI photo Leanjo de Koster)
I must confess I was a little surprised at the relative absence of the new V line, there’s Botticelli by Vivaldi, and Vayron by Vitalis. Although, Vivaldi is the dam sire of one of the glamour entrants, Charlotte Dujardin’s Imhotep, he is also dam sire of the glorious black stallion, Indian Rock (Apache) and the French horse, Serorius de Rina Zlfee (by Sandro Hit).
Jolene by Johnson (FEI photo Leanjo de Koster)
WBFSH number one dressage sire, Johnson is the sire of two, Jolene (Continue, a very rare instance of jumping blood in the lineup, Continue has two crosses of the Cor de la Bryère son, Calypso II) and Hero (007).
No longer dominating, but the D line hangs in there. Dona Frederika is by Don Frederico out of a Don Rico mare, De Niro is dam sire twice, Don Schufro once. Dante Weltino is by the De Niro son, Danone, out of a Welt Hit II mare, now there’s a blast from the past…
The winners in 2009, Totals, by Gribaldi and Edward Gal
However back in 2009 it was noticeable that the competitors who went best were bred for the job. Of the the top twenty placings in the Grand Prix at Windsor, 15 out of 20 were ‘dressage’ bred. Fourteen of the 20 come from Germany: six from the Hanoverian studbook, three from Oldenburg, two from Holstein and one each from Rheineland, Bad Württenburg and Bavaria. There were three with the KWPN brand, two from Denmark, one from Sweden, and one Andalusian.
However, there is one very important proviso: the 15 dressage dressage horses in 2009 all carried a good proportion of jumping blood, this is no longer the case in 2023.
Looking at the top twenty at Riesenbeck, we find eight from the KWPN and one from the other Dutch book, NRPS. Five are branded Oldenburg, two Westfalien, with one each Swedish, DSP and Danish. There is only one Trakehner, which just goes to show how misleading just counting brands can be, when you look at the pedigrees of those twenty, you clearly see the influence of the Trakhener.
Jessica von Bredow Werndl and Dalera in 2003, Dalera by the Gribaldi son, Easy Game
The drop-dead-stand-out-star of the 2009 Championships – and winner of the Grand Prix with a then record score of 84.085 – was Totilas, by the German Trakehner, Gribaldi. 2023 once again was a victory for the Trakehners with Dalera (by the Gribaldi son Easy Game) taking gold.
Australian breeders, if you are looking for these bloodlines, and many more top stallions, see the range available from International Horse Breeders. Stallions like: Take That, by Totilas by Gribaldi
Go to www.ihb.com.au for more information.
