1993 178 cm Grey  Breeder: Willy Lührs 

Cassini I’s 2006 WEG champion, Cumano is out of Chanell II who in turn is out of the Olympic showjumper, Casita, who went to the Athens Olympic Games with Saudi Arabia’s Kamal Bahamdan. Casita is by Casino by Capitol – once again, those Holstein breeders are not afraid of breeding tight.

After his licensing, Cumano sold at the Elite Auction in Neumünster to the Belgian private stallion owner, Jean Verlinden.

Ridden by Mark van Dijck, Cumano placed 12^th at the World Championship of Young Jumping horses in 1998 and won Belgium’s Lummen Grand Prix in 2002.

In November 2002, Jos Lansink took over the ride – two years later they were an established combination.

In 2004 at Aachen

In 2004, they finished sixth in the Belgian team at the Athens Games, later that year, they won the lucrative Spruce Meadows Grand Prix, and were third in the Stuttgart Grand Prix.

Third at Aachen in 2005

The next year, they were third at Aachen in the Grand Prix and fourth at the European Championships.

Edwina looks tiny on Cumano in 2006 in the Final

The next year, they were set for the big one – the World Championship at Aachen. Lansink timed the run to perfection, and the big grey not only carried him to a World title, but gave each of Jos’ three lady fellow finalists – Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, Beezie Madden and Edwina Alexander – the sweetest of rides.

Carrying Jos, World Champion in 2006

He was retired with great ceremony at Aachen in 2011.

Cumano’s breeder, Willy Lührs was awarded the title ‘Holstein Breeder of the Year’ at the 2006 Holstein stallion licensing.

Cumano spent one season in France in 2000 when he was seven years old and this was perhaps the most productive season of any stallion, anywhere, any time, in the world! He produced 61 foals that year out of fairly ‘normal’ mares, eleven of whom gained jumping indices of 150 or more, SIX of whom have won CSI classes.

In the French magazine, Le Selle Français (No 16, 2013) Bernard le Courtois looked at the top fifteen jumpers by the percentage of winners to progeny between 1999 and 2003, and Cumano is way in the lead with a proportion of 9.83% of winners to foals – the next highest ranked stallion on this table is Timorraak des Isles (Double d’Espoir) with two winners out of 42, or 4.76%.

Cumano’s crop of 2001 is truly extraordinary. On the SJA database he is listed with 60 competitors who have registered CSI placings, born between 1997 and 2005, and of these, 24 were born in 2001 and Selle Français registered. They include Steve Guerdat’s Nasa (out of a mare by Prince d’Elle) – 2^nd at Calgary in 2013; Nectar des Roches (Count Ivor xx) fourth at Vichy*** with Edouard Couperie; Nenuphar’Jac (Pidayack), a consistent GP performer with Michel Robert, and with his retirement, with Penelope Provost; Neptune Brecourt (Kayack), 10^th at the 2013 European Championships with Lucia Maria Moneta; Newton du Haut Bois (Quat’Sous) 2^nd in a 1.45 at Calgary with Cameron Handley. (Interesting: Pidayack and Quat’Sous are both by Kayack – who is by Rakosi xx out of an Ibrahim / Ultimate xx mare.) Then we have Noblesse des Tess (Irake) who was 4^th at the London Games with Kamal Bahamdan, and Notre Moinerie (Qredo de Paulstra) double clear in the 2^nd placed Swiss team at Lummen Nations Cup with Carlo Pfyffer.

Kamal Bahamdan and Nobless des Tess 

Cumano did not get along with his French riders, and returned to Belgium and Jos Lansink, and fame in the competition arena, even if fertility problems have limited his success as a breeding stallion.

Cumano is 15^th on the 2014 FN top 1%, with a breeding value of 156. He does not make the top list in 2015.

He stood in 28^h place on the 2014 WBFSH jumping stallion standings. On the 2015 WBFSH standings, Cumano has slipped to 46th, but incredibly, 7 out of his top ten points earners are all from the crop of Selle Français born in 2001.

Cumano no longer makes it onto the WBFSH top 100, but that single season in France, and that amazing performance at the Aachen WEG, should ensure that his fame lives on. Cumano died in September 2018 at the age of 25. Jos Lansink farewelled him on his facebook page:

“He was a horse who never gave up and never let me down. After his sporting career, he was enjoying his well deserved retirement in the fields at my stables in Meeuwen. He was in the field day in and day out. Even when he was enjoying his retirement, he always showed he was still the king. Thank you for everything buddy. You’re not with us anymore but you will live forever in our hearts.”