Breeding News 324 - December 2023

BN #324

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DECEMBER 2023

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🎄Warmest wishes for Christmas and the festive season from World Breeding News

BREEDER INTERVIEWS

STALLION PROFILES

BLOODLINE ANALYSIS

ISSUE # 324 – DECEMBER 2023

C O NT ENTS 8 – THE IRELAND OF DREAMS THAT GAVE MARCUS EHNING DPS REVERE

The DPS prefix comes from the name of Fiona and Dara O’Malley’s Deerpairc Stables in Turloughmore, County Galway, Ireland.

Coincidentally, they are the first breeders to put an Irish Sport Horse under the saddle of Germany’s world-renowned Marcus Ehning.

12 – TOM MARIËN: I WAS DETERMINED TO BECOME AN EQUINE SURGEON

In 1995 Tom Mariën, CEO and founder of Equitom and Equine Care Group, graduated as a veterinarian with the greatest distinction from Belgium’s Ghent University. Seven years later he opened a small private horse clinic in Lummen, Equitom, employing six people.

18 – EVENTING BREEDING COMES OF AGE ACCORDING TO THE WBCYH

Circumstances beyond my control prevented my attendance at this year’s championships. Sad since Le Lion is one of my favorite events, double sad since the line-up of horses was so genetically interesting this year…

20 – JOSÉ MARÍA DEZA: TAKING STOCK OF OVER 30 YEARS IN BREEDING

Located rurally almost mid way between Madrid and the Bay of Biscay, José María Deza founded Yeguada Valle de Olid in 1992. Having always been passionate about horses, and after more than three decades breeding sport horses, he takes stock of all these years.

CORRESPONDENTS IN THIS ISSUE (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER) JOSÉ FC | AGATA GROSICKA | CHRISTOPHER HECTOR | KIM LUNDIN | SALLY REID | JO DE ROO HELEN SHARP | ADRIANA VAN TILBURG

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IN THIS ISSUE 24 26 27 28 30 31 33 34 36 40 43 44 48 50

Spotlighting discrepancies in ranking systems per discipline Holsteiner stallions gather for saddle licensing and testing Masterful triumph as Primavera Montana steals the spotlight / ABCCH Ten ‘premium’ Hanoverian dressage stallions awarded Top price for jumping aspirants: €20,000 for son of Diathago Grading of young Holsteiner stallions ready to begin / Holsteiner Verband Polish-bred Hanoverian stallion achieves FRH suffix Unprecedented mother and daughter World Cup success Horse Sport Ireland 2023 Foal Championship / HSI Nine-generation breeder of sport horses: Bertil Andersson / SWB Sorine Winther: Taking it all the way in equitation / CWHBA Maja Gerritsen-van Klei: “Success is a joint effort.” / KWPN AES: UK Autumn Stallion Gradings Tour / AES WBFSH sires’ ranking 2022/2023 by discipline

DEPARTMENTS 5 7 52 66/67 68

Editorial: ICSI and traceability Briefs and last-minute news Health & Vet: Oxytocin predicts training behavioural responses WBFSH update Calendar of events

PHOTOGRAPHS (COVER AND PG. 3) COVER PHOTO – NIGHTWISH (NIXON VAN HET MEULENHOF) (PHOTO: JANNE BUGTRUP) CONTENTS PHOTOS – PG 3 (TOP TO BOTTOM): THE O’MALLEY FAMILY WITH DPS DICTATOR (PRIVATE COLLECTION); SURGICAL SUITE AT EQUITOM (PRIVATE COLLECTION); THOMAS CARLILE RIDING 7YO GOLDEN DE BELIARD (FEI/PSV); JOSÉ MARÍA DEZA AT HOME WITH HIS HORSES (JOSÉ LUIS FC)

WWW.BREEDINGNEWS.COM PUBLISHER Breeding International Ltd. ADVERTISING Tel: +33 (0)6 80 14 41 83 (English and French) EDITORIAL OFFICE E-mail: editor@breedingnews.com Internet: www.breedingnews.com EDITORIAL BOARD Xavier Libbrecht Jean Llewellyn Alban Poudret LAY-OUT AND DESIGN Jean Llewellyn WEBSITE AND ONLINE DATABASE Peter Llewellyn

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Launched as Breeding News for Sport Horses in January 1977, WORLD BREEDING NEWS is published every month by Breeding International Ltd., and is available exclusively online. From January 1, 2019, the publication’s official title was changed to WORLD BREEDING NEWS FOR SPORT HORSES to reflect the new partnership between the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses and Breeding News.

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E DI TOR IAL ICSI AND TRACEABILITY

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t the last WBFSH General Assembly in Orlando (FLA) in mid-October, the question of the future of sport horse breeding was obviously raised, both as an aside and in sessions. And among the topics raised, the development of ICSI (Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection). This debate is far from new. It was the same for the Artificial Insemination (AI), 40 years ago; then for cloning. Horse breeders, rightly or wrongly, have their suspicions.

With ICSI, the reluctance is even stronger because ICSI ignores the notion of seasonality in the reproductive cycle of the mare. The operation can be done at a chosen moment, any time of the year. Additionally, the immobilization of the mare – especially if she is in sport – takes much less time than for a classic artificial insemination.

Roughly a ratio of 1:10 – three days, on average against 30.

ICSI can also solve mare sterility related to uterine disease or old age. The technique opens the possibility of choosing the gender of the embryos. At this stage can we, as critics of this new technique shout, talk about ‘genetic manipulation’? The answer is most certainly: NO! If there is manipulation it is simply technical. Let’s say ‘high-tech’. But can it be included in genomic selection in the future and, as with cattle today, in genetic manipulation? There… The answer is less categorical.

It is probably these new developments that justify the fears sometimes awkwardly expressed. It is to them that we must answer; and the leitmotif ‘traceability’, expressed throughout the discussions of this last WBFSH General Assembly, is probably a good way to de-dramatize the subject.

Marc Spalart, who heads the company Equitechnic, a specialist in equine reproduction in Normandy, does not rule out this evolution but asks the question: ‘Is the researcher responsible for the applications that are made of his discovery’?

When one evokes with him, among the objections that relate to the sacrosanct ‘animal welfare’, in this case that of the mare, the specialist assures on behalf of his peers: ‘We take all precautions during the operation: epidural, two anesthetics... It must be understood that it is as much for the well-being of the mare as for the success of the intervention. If the mare feels suffering, she moves; and if she moves she is less stable and makes the delicate operation more uncertain.’ The only risk to the mare would be related to ovarian stimulation, perforation (bleeding, infection, or damage to the pelvic organs), but the major risk with such a precise procedure is to fail, the expert concludes.

There are many fears about genetic diversity and economic consequences, but are they well founded? If you think about it, the practice of ICSI speeds up selection via the female route.

It’s a cost-effective practice.

Roughly: A study of averages – namely, 10 ovocyte punctured, five included in maturation, which gives three frozen embryos and, following transplantation in two surrogate mares, two foals.

With a stallion fee estimated at €2,000 which results in cost per live foal, weaning... around €7,500, or more. A sum which allows the testing of the ‘genetic value’ of a mare more quickly, at any time of the season, while she can continue working on her ‘sporting value’. Is this a bad thing?

Isn’t it simply rebalancing the breeding market?

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For Marc Spalart who does not deny observing a decrease in the genetic variety of sport horses; ‘if there is concentration, it is mainly due to the domination in the marketplace by a minority of star stallions that cover several hundred mares per season.’

However, Spalart does admit that the practice of ICSI by some badly intentioned operators has allowed a trafficking of straws that can be referred to as ‘stolen’ by stallion owners. And that this ‘dark market’ must be cleaned up. One of the keys to the solution would be for ICSI foal breeders to have to declare them as such.

Again, that’s what’s called traceability.

With the multiplication of embryo auctions or foals from ICSI, the position of our specialist joins that of many riders interviewed. “How is it possible to sell embryos at a higher price than a three-year-old foal from the same origins, which can be seen moving, free jumping over rails, and accompanied by an impeccable sanitary

protocol? Because we are selling dreams first.’

But for how long?

We should also ask: ‘How much longer will it be worthwhile to produce, via ICSI, several full brothers and sisters of the same generation, to put them on the market? A short-term race? To achieve a faster financial turnover? Horses become just like the evolution of any product or production in this world? Why not? Why fight?

Precisely for the same reason as with any manufactured product, food, or health issue... So we can trace it.

Yes! Whatever evolutions occur in the breeding of sport horses, ‘traceability’ should be a key word. Traceability is a necessity, so that we can follow, analyze, and inform; both internally within our own environment – that of the horse; and externally within a civil society that is becoming increasingly attentive to our existence and practices.

Xavier Libbrecht

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B R I EF S The 2023 edition of the Selle Français national final for three-year-olds concluded at the heart of the Equita Lyon horse show, in which 48 horses completed four tests on the way to the championship title. It provided a great opportunity for all these youngsters to toughen up and gain experience in preparation for their four-year-old year in 2024. Just like last year, all horses in the final were judged in the same way, over two days, at the end of which two rankings were established: one regional ranking for entrants from the Rhône-Alpes region, as well as a national ranking for all participants. The first day saw the model and free-jumping workshops for which the judges were delighted to note a very good field. The next morning, it was in the gaits and ridden-jumping workshop where the horses evolved throughout the day over an exercise line which included flatwork and a sequence of two obstacles. In the final reckoning, from a very interesting selection in terms of quality of horses presented, it was Kapana des Vignes (Cicave du Talus [SF] - Bluerell [Oldbg] x Chacco-=Blue [Meckl]) who claimed victory, presented by Laurent Maure. Descending from the legendary Furioso, Kapana was bred by David Nicolas from the Burgundy region in eastern France. During the awards ceremony, Sylvie Robert, one of the key SF players representing the Rhône-Alpes region, was recognized, alongside Albert Moissonnier, who reached the reverential age limit for authorized judging at 91 years old.

Welcome Home: The FEI World Championships 2026 to be held in Aachen. The Fédération Equestre International (FEI) announced the decision at their Annual General Meeting in Mexico City: The joint application from the German Equestrian Federation (FN) and the Aachen-Laurensberger Rennverein (ALRV) to stage all six disciplines showjumping, dressage, eventing, driving, vaulting, and para dressage was successful. Therefore, the 2026 FEI World Championships will return to Aachen from August 11-23. According to Stefanie Peters, president of the ALRV: “We are delighted at the trust that is being placed in us. The ALRV has been living and promoting equestrian sport for more than 100 years, and we are convinced that thanks to our long-standing experience we will also be able to organise these championships successfully and thus make a significant contribution towards supporting and promoting global equestrian sport.” CHIO Aachen has long since been Germany’s biggest sports event and is considered to be among the most famous equestrian shows in the world. The Aachen Soers not only demonstrated its expertise in hosting events during the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games, but also during the 2015 European Championships and the Youth Equestrian Games 2022. ALRV board member Birgit Rosenberg explained: “A great deal of work lies ahead of us; work that our team will tackle together over the coming months, highly-motivated and with great passion. We want to sustainably integrate Para Sport and Youth Sport into the World Equestrian Festival and establish and further develop the CHIO Aachen long-term as the flagship of the entire equestrian sport worldwide.” Aachen is ready to bestow further exceptional, special, unforgettable moments upon equestrian sport, as in the year 2006.

The 2023 edition of the Polish Championship for Young Horses was organized for the first time at three separate premises, although PZHK has already announced that the 2024 event will return to the Strzegom Centre in the south-western part of Poland. Dressage was hosted by Mateusz Cichon, at his Cichon Dressage centre, together with the Polish Association of Horse Breeders (PZHK), and alongside two accompanying events: the FEI Young Horses Seminar for judges organized by IDEC together with Polish Equestrian Federation (PZJ), as well as a masterclass with Eva Möller. The championships were very successful for Karola Mazurek and Mateusz Cichon who both won dressage medals in more than one class. Eva Moller commented on the quality and the presentation of the horses: “The horses here showed good quality, although I could see that sometimes riders lacked some elements of basic work or the feeling and the position. Breedingwise you should work on mares and go to Germany to get some really nice mares out of good damlines. Top stallions you can get anywhere now, you should be more selective, not just produce a horse but breed it in a smart way. Around 90% of the young horses I’ve ridden became top GP horses, but sometimes it happened that these young horses were sold to riders that were not able to produce a GP horse although the potential was there. It’s good for people to see and follow the young horse to the GP level and see how the good training makes the horse develop and able to achieve its full potential.” The Polish Eventing Championships for Young Horses were hosted by Facimiech Equestrian Center located just outside the city of Cracow in the Malopolska region, well-known for the breeding of malopolska horses (m) aka AA (Polish Anglo-Arabs) predisposed to eventing. The Polish Showjumping Championships for Young Horses were hosted by Lack State Stud, located north of Warsaw. The Stud has just celebrated the 100 year anniversary.

A.G. The Canadian Warmblood Horse Breeders Association has proudly announced a series of online ‘Team Talks’ with a line-up of equestrian professionals well-known in their respective fields: December 12 – Dr. Chat Hewlett, veterinarian, educator, and mentor, introduces ‘Conditioning versus competition, and the effects on your horse’s joints’: January 17 – Tanja Minder, equine nutritionist and founder of Trisana Nutrition, ‘Metabolic changes in your horse and the effects on performance’: February 21 – Dr. Sarah Pedersen, veterinarian, ‘Saddle fit and its potential impact on performance, longevity, and soundness’: March 20 – Allie Lait, equine dentist with Animal Health Technologies, the ‘Relationship between dental maintenance and health, function, and biomechanics of your horse’: April 17 – Dr. Blaine Bugg, trained chiropractor, ‘Front end lameness and the significance of neck function’. Registrations should be submitted to tina@inhjandequinetherapy.com: $30 per lecture, or $135 for the complete series. Each lecture will be recorded to allow for deeper study, or for those who can’t make an online event.

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The Ireland of dreams that gave Marcus Ehning DPS Revere

BY HELEN SHARP PHOTOGRAPHY: LAURENCE DUNNE, AND PRIVATE COLLECTION The DPS prefix comes from the name of Fiona and Dara O’Malley’s Deerpairc Stables in Turloughmore, County Galway, Ireland. Coincidentally, they are the first breeders to put an Irish Sport Horse under the saddle of Germany’s world-renowned Marcus Ehning.

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orking parents, as well as the breeders of the five-star international DPS Revere (Hermes de Reve - Celerina x Cento), Fiona and Dara O’Malley admit that the horses get done when their children are at school, and they fit the shows around the kids’ sports activities.

Incidentally, in 2023, it was the first time in many years that no foals were born at DPS, simply because a few of their older mares are now retired from breeding. However, the couple harbour hopes to invest in a new mare or two soon and have recently purchased a Carrera VDL x Indoctro filly foal from an auction in Europe.

The proof of good breeding Standing a good 17-hands (close to 173cms) tall, nothing is particularly ordinary about DPS Revere. Once seen never forgotten. The striking gelding was born a chestnut-roan colour then started going grey, getting lighter each year although, uniquely, his mane and tail have stayed black.

Fiona and Dara bought his dam, Celerina (Cento Grischuna x Louella Inschallah III), about 15 years ago and

The O’Malley family with DPS Dictator 8

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DPS Revere or ‘Cooper’ as he is known on the yard, was the second foal Dara and Fiona bred from her. “We purchased the mare from Joe Owens in Lissava Stud, back in 2008,” Says Dara. “We liked that she was by Cento, as there wasn’t many of them around.

“We were doing the Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) young horse studbook series and had noticed there were a few horses competing in it by Hermes de Reve. They seemed to be careful and consistent types: Pacino was standing with Clem McMahon at Hilton View Stud at the time and was probably the more popular choice with breeders, but he was still quite young and it was our intention to use him in the future.” (Pacino was sadly lost in 2013, although this year McMahon revealed the clone Pacino II born at his stables in 2020).

Dara continued by explaining; “When Cooper was born, we loved him so much that we went back to Hermes de Reve again the following year and bred a full brother to Cooper – DPS Revelry, who is currently competing at four-star eventing in the UK. “I was getting another mare covered at the Lissava Stud in Tipperary with Joe, Celerina was owned by an English lady called Tracey Priest. I think the mare was down there for covering or down there to be foaled, and I think only because I was on the lookout for a mare with different lines, he said to me ‘what do you think of her?’ I said, ‘Well, I’m impressed with her breeding but not to look at her! She looks like a Connemara pony.’ She was only 15 hands and, you know, a small mare.”

Fiona continues the story: “It’s funny, because the first foal we got we used a Cassini stallion because he was really, really big. And that first foal we sold in Galway is over 18 hands. So, then we knew size wasn’t going to be an issue. She was a small mare, compact herself, but Celerina was going to breed plenty big enough.

“We sold her a couple of years ago as the people who bought the first one we bred off her ended up buying the mare as well. They sent me a photograph of the

Cooper/aka DPS Revere with his Cento dam, Celerina

“He was broken locally by Kevin Keary, who did a lovely job with him. Fiona did a few shows with him as a four-yearold. We then gave him to Shane Goggins around May time of his five-year-old year. They clicked immediately and qualified for the Royal Dublin Show a few weeks later. He finished fifth in the final in Dublin and second the following week in Millstreet.

“Every year after that he stepped up and was produced slowly through the HSI studbook series and on to National Grand Prix level with Shane. Shane and Niamh (his groom) did a fantastic job with Revere. We used to joke that he didn't like to come home for his winter breaks, so much that he would go off his feed for a few days and seem depressed.

“Vinnie Duffy bought him in December 2021 and gave him to his son Michael to compete. He took him to the GCT (Global Champions Tour) in Miami Beach and Mexico City and back to Hamburg, after which he was sold to Marcus.

“You know, when we started walking him as a foal, and even just when we put the headcollar on, Revere was very conscious out in the yard. If there was a crack going from concrete to gravel, he’d look at it, and he’d jump it, and even coming off the box he would do this big leap. Often with youngsters that wears off. But it really didn’t with him.”

An incredibly busy life mare and her daughter side by side in the field and the daughter dwarfs the mother.”

Celerina was sold two years ago, before DPS Revere Life looks incredibly busy for the Galway couple, so I ask landed on his hooves with Marcus Ehning and Dara and how they ended up with horses and how they manage Fiona tell me they feel okay about that because they have everything? “I suppose neither of us are from horsey plenty of siblings. backgrounds, we are not from horsey families. I moved to “Pfun was a horse Celerina bred before we purchased Galway in 2003 to work with horses and I met Dara who was her, he has evented to five-star level in the US with Will doing his diploma,” says Fiona.

Faudree. Deerpairc Kosher competed to 1m35 level with “Before I moved to Galway, I had a job in an accountancy Killian Lalor and is now at stud,” says Fiona. “It was the Lalor practice and so I suppose after I moved here I went back family who purchased the dam from us.” working full-time. I’m a qualified financial advisor so I set up And the progeny successes from this little mare don’t my own business and Dara was doing his side of the end there. DPS Revelry, the full brother to DPS Revere is accountancy business. I was doing pensions and life cover with Max Warburton (GBR) and eventing four-star, while DPS Camelot (Camillo VDL) is with Eduardo Alvarez Aznar jumping 1m45 as an eight-year-old.

There’s much to be thankful for from that wonder mare.

“We also have a filly at home out of Celerina by Grand Slam, DPS Grandeur, who won the Horse Sport Ireland showjumping foal competition three years ago and who will start her competition career next year,” added Fiona. “And there is another filly, DPS Stella (Rooney) who was purchased as a foal by our vet and her husband, Glenn McCullagh and Tina Roche.

When I ask the couple when they got ‘that feeling’ that this might be a good one, Dara admits: “Revere seemed to be special from when he was only a few days old. He would jump the lines on the DPS Revere competing at Royal Dublin Show with Irishman Shane Gogconcrete and jump off the front ramp of the horse gins in a five-year-old class box when we were bringing the mare back to stud.

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and then it all got too much between kids and horses and the office, so I sold my part of the business and I just concentrated on the horses and kids.”

Laughing, I note that not many breeders are financial advisors and most of us need one! To which Dara responds: “A lot of people say to me, ‘you are an accountant! And still in horses?’”

Day to day the schedule is tight. The couple’s day starts at 6:30 in the morning, there’s feeding horses, feeding kids, the school-run, shows for horses, being back in time to collect the kids, and then every evening there’s their sports on be it soccer, or GAA (Gaelic Athletics Association), or Camogie (a stick-and-ball team sport played by women.)

“Then the weekends we are trying to plan for shows, Saturday and Sunday,” says Dara. “A lot of arriving home late on Sunday night, trying to organise school uniforms for Monday morning.”...

“Feeling guilty,” Fiona adds. “But when you love it, you just get on with it.”

The family currently has 15 horses, recently reduced from 22, and the quiet ambition is to lower the numbers to 10, but breeders always say that don’t they? “We would only have three

DPS REVERE: IN MARCUS EHNING’S OWN WORDS I have ridden some Irish horses in the past, but looking at DPS Revere’s pedigree he has everything but Irish blood.

His father, Hermes de Reve, is French bred and his mother is by the Holsteiner stallion Cento. He is now 10 years old and has a lot of potential. He is not yet where I would like to be with him, but we are certainly on the right track as he’s a very special horse.

He competed with Michael Duffy as a nine-year-old in Hamburg, and had good results in Mexico even when he had little experience. He’s a very sensitive horse which sometimes gets in his way, but with his scope and jumping ability he has the possibility to be competing at the top level. But I’m always careful in saying what level or championship a horse could reach. I could say it about Stargold, but not about a horse who hasn’t delivered that success yet. For now he will stay with me because he has the same owner as Stargold.

For me, first and foremost it’s about the horse rather than the pedigree. DPS Revere is also a gelding, so the owner didn’t purchase him for breeding purposes; the decision to buy him was completely about the horse himself.

Editor’s note: DPS Revere’s dam is registered AES, Celerina, and he’s descended from British Hanoverian Society sire Louella Inschallah III in his third dam line, alongside the Thoroughbred Bossa Nova xx. The Thoroughbred registry shows no dam of this name born in Ireland.

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Feeding the broodmares at home or four at home and in work,” Fiona clarifies. “We usually have one and sometimes two with Shane Goggins. And two are away getting broken at the moment. Then the rest are mares, foals, yearlings, and two-year-olds you know, or you might have one in that’s on a break.”

“We sold Revere’s mother so we were left with two broodmares, although one has retired she’s 24, and the other one I jumped in Dublin and the HSI classes. We could have sold her lots of times but we decided to keep her as a broodmare. She’s a tricky broodmare so we’ve given up with her at this stage. She’s 17 or 18 and we’ve had three foals from her. So, we’ve nothing in foal for next year, and we didn’t have any foals this year. Despite trying and trying and trying.” Dara confesses; “I’m disappointed. Fiona is probably relieved.”

It’s not over for long though with breeders, and Fiona admits to having bought a filly which will arrive in November: “We’ve recently purchased filly from Europe. She is Carrera VDL x Indoctro. We have an old Indoctro mare (Indoctro x Cloverhill) that we purchased about 10 years ago. She bred six foals for us before retiring. The oldest we have out of her is eight by OBOS Quality and has just stepped up to 1m40 National GP level with me this year. His full brother is seven and jumping 1m30.

“A six-year-old, a Dominator Z, was recently sold to America, also jumping 1m30. Then there’s a five-year-old by Tyson out of her who has bred a filly by OBOS Quality, so that filly is a three-part relation to the seven- and eight-yearolds. Then the two younger horses are by Carrera VDL and Glasgow-W vh Merelsnest. The Indoctro mare has bred some lovely blood horses that are confident, easy to ride, and have good minds.”

When I ask about the best breeding advice the couple has ever been given, there’s a pause and some reflection: “There’s these young breeder seminars that seem to be going around which I think are fantastic. But I suppose when we were starting out there wasn’t really anything like that. We kind of went on our own, we were doing the HSI studbook series.

“It wasn’t computerized back then, there was no app for entries, so when you got to a show you got a printout of the starting list. And the breeder and all the rest, it was great to be able to see it. We used to run down the list of entries, and you would see all the names coming up and all the different types of mares. Did we get any advice from one person? I don’t think we did.”

“Not back when we were starting out,” says Dara. “We have a great relationship with the Brodericks in Kylemore Stud; Olive is fantastic. She’s been a huge support to us. She knows the mares’ backgrounds, so if we were saying they were a bit tricky to get in foal, she was just saying ‘leave them here, I’ll ring when they are ready’. So, she’s always very generous with her knowledge, and very experienced.”

Marcus Ehning first saw DPS Revere in Miami, and liked him. They flew him back to Ireland and took him to Hamburg and he went very, very well. Marcus tried him twice and loved him, and so he became the first Irishbred under the famous pilot.

Now for the tough question, and one that I suppose most breeders ask ourselves at some point over time. Did Dara and Fiona ever wish that the sale could have been their money?

Fiona replies philosophically with a seemingly hard-earned wisdom: “We would never get what a professional would get, you know, if somebody walks into a professional yard and it’s somebody who’s an Olympian or somebody who is a Nations Cup rider, they can name their price. We are amateurs and we are breeders.”

Dara adds: “They often expect that you will take what you are given, ‘we’ll tell you what you can get’ – which is a bit annoying, but we also know that we can’t get the top, top, money. We’ve heard how much he sold for, and loads of people would come into the office say ‘oh Jesus we heard the horse was sold for seven figures,’ and all the rest. But I explain to people, we could have never taken him to Mexico or Miami Beach.

We couldn’t have put him on that platform. So, the best of luck to him.”

“We were starting to get nervous before he was sold, because he got to the end of his career in Ireland and he needed to go abroad. We knew that he was jumping national Grand Prix, we knew that he had to go out to Europe, or had to go somewhere to reach his full potential. We had thought of sending him to a rider that was based abroad, but then you lose all control, you don’t really know what’s going on, if he was sold, would you ever hear how much he was actually sold for? It’s a bit of a minefield and we are not really experienced in that. So, it was easier for us to sell him here in Ireland.

“Also then, there’s that doubt you have in yourself, we thought he was amazing, we thought he was really, really special, but we thought maybe if he went to a bigger yard with a big international superstar rider, he might be on their B string, or he might not be as amazing as we thought he was. In hindsight yes, we could have sent him abroad, but at the time, that wasn’t going to be an option for us.”

And now to the current Ehning question, I ask the couple how it feels to have him riding one of their homebreds? “It’s a bit surreal,” Fiona points out. “We watched him there at Qatar at the start of the year, and he was clear at 1m55. And then you get a memory on your phone, maybe the next week of him as a youngster, and you see him on TV, and you think was he ever actually ours? Was he actually here? He looks like a superstar and it’s hard to believe, and then you see that little social media memory and you think, ‘oh yeah.’

“We’ve a picture of him up in the back hall there,” Dara tells me. “So he’s the first horse you see as you come in, and we’ve a few pictures of him up from the RDS and a picture of Fiona riding him in his very first training shows.

“He’s that careful, when he was riding around the pocket and he did his droppings on the track, when he came around the next time, he jumped it. He’s that much of a freak. But to have Marcus riding him is just class. It’s the stuff of dreams isn’t it?”

■

Danish Warmblood www.warmblood.dk

ifce institut français du cheval et de l’équitation

VDL Stud

December 2023

11

Tom Mariën: “I was determined to become an equine surgeon.”

BY JO DE ROO PHOTOGRAPHY: JO DE ROO AND PRIVATE COLLECTION In 1995 Tom Mariën, CEO and founder of Equitom and Equine Care Group, graduated as a veterinarian with the greatest distinction from Belgium’s Ghent University. Seven years later he opened a small private horse clinic in Lummen, Equitom, employing six people.

T

hanks to his craftsmanship, passion, knowledge, sharing of expertise, hard work, perseverance, innovation, and entrepreneurship, Equitom has grown into the largest and most innovative equine clinic in Europe and occupies a place in the top three worldwide. Statistically, it carries out more than 2,500 surgeries a year, the clinic measures 10,000 m2 with 150 stables, 16 hectares of paddocks and pasture, and 4.3 million social media followers.

Tom Meriën is not only a world-class surgeon, but also a formidable entrepreneur who founded not only Equitom, but is also CEO of the Equine Care Group, so it was delightful to talk with him exclusively. Published in two parts, this interview focuses on Tom’s background and the story of Equitom, followed in part two where he talks about the Equine Care Group. . ◆ Who is Tom Mariën (October 1, 1970, Hoogstraten, Belgium)?

I am an extremely passionate person, which is why I am where I am today. I have a lot of character and perseverance. I don’t like to give up. ◆ Why your affinity with horses?

My parents had many animals, so I got to know many

Tom Mariën 12 December 2023

animals in that way. But I have always had a very special bond with horses. A horse has something that another animal does not have. I don’t really have an explanation for that. The bond between man and horse is unique. Anyone visiting the Louvre Museum in Paris will notice that over the centuries the historical remains and art from thousands of years ago have consistently featured horses, including horses with wings. Horses also used to be a symbol for carrying people to the afterlife after their death. A horse has had many functions over the years. I think the bond with horses is in our genes, with some people a little more emphatically than others. ◆ Your love for horses dates back to your childhood...

As a child I was always involved with horses. I have been an active rider in many disciplines, but the best memories are from when I went riding with my horses in the woods, out in nature. I even went swimming with the horses in the ponds; there is nothing more beautiful.

A good friend of my father was a human heart surgeon and professor in Leuven. As a child I went looking and digging for fossils with him. I had a lot of admiration for him and I knew early on that I wanted to work with horses and become a doctor: in other words, a veterinarian. Even stronger, I was already determined as a teenager to become an equine surgeon. Everyone I told thought I was crazy. You should know that at that time the meadows were full of cows, not horses. The era was different then to what it is now. ◆ Tom, you started your university studies even though it was not easy. Why? My parents were hard-working people who were not well off financially. It was a very big

challenge for them to let me study at the university for six years. I told my father ‘if you let me study, I will make sure I come out on top’. That’s exactly what happened. In 1995 I graduated with the highest distinction. Given my good points, I was asked to become an assistant in the surgical department at the University of Ghent, with the aim of becoming a professor at a later stage. I accepted that proposal, but after 11 months I decided to leave as I wasn’t motivated enough. Professor Verschooten was at the beginning of my career and understood that I was different, that I was extremely passionate and ambitious. At one point he called me into his office and advised me to leave the university to further specialize in the United States, and then to spread my wings in a private setting.

Shortly after leaving university I went to the United States, which at the time was quite an undertaking for a young guy like me. I was fortunate to watch and assist in various university and private equine clinics with the greatest surgeons in the world for three years, including in Kentucky, San Diego, California, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Afterwards I discovered I had a special gift; when I see someone doing an operation I can go home and do exactly the same things. I thought that was normal at the time. When I train young surgeons today, I notice that this is not at all obvious. Some of them have to do it 15 to 20 times in my presence before they start to master it. ◆ What did you do after returning from the USA and why?

I wanted to set up a horse clinic in Belgium. I’d learned a lot at the university in Ghent, but quickly noticed through publications in magazines that people were already more advanced abroad. A new world had opened up for me in the United States, as they were much further ahead and much more knowledgeable and innovative than we were here in Europe. That was really spectacular. I brought the knowledge I had gained in the USA back to Belgium and was determined to set up my own clinic.

At that time there were few horse clinics in Belgium.

There wasn’t even one in the province of Limburg. I was looking for a location that would also be easily accessible, for customers from the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Luxembourg. Lummen, a municipality in the Belgium province of Limburg, is a major intersection of motorways from all directions and seemed to me the perfect location. I bought a site there and built a very small clinic of 25m x 10m and named it ‘EquiTom’. That’s when it all started for me.

We’re talking about 2002. ◆ Equitom gained international recognition in the years that followed. How did you become so famous?

That happened very quickly. I started operating in my little clinic and doing things that no one else was doing. In no time all the big names came to see me, such as Ludo Philippaerts, Dirk Demeersman, Jos Lansink, Jan Tops, and so many other top riders. A horse truck could barely make the turn around my clinic; imagine that! I became so famous

that I had to expand, and fought for years to get a permit.

The well-known riders who had whose horses I operated on or treated generated national and international publicity. It happened very quickly. I worked very hard, from morning till night. That was all I was concerned with. I didn’t even have a company logo yet, and social media was out of the question back then. My wife, Kadidja Essaheli, changed that.

She said I should share what I did with the world. She took care of the branding, marketing, a logo, etc. ◆ What would I bring a horse to Equitom for?

[Laughing]... Everything. [To which he qualifies...]

Surgery, medical imaging (MRI scan, CT scan, robot CT scan, and scintigraphy or bone scan), orthopedics, sports medicine, and rehabilitation, internal medicine, dentistry, ophthalmology, nutrition, reproduction and fertility, etc. We are available 24/7 for emergencies. I always say ‘Equitom never sleeps.’ We have grown so big that there is activity here at all hours of the day, and the lights are never turned off. It’s possible that, for example, a truck loaded with seven horses from the Czech Republic arrives at Equitom at 3:00 a.m. At Equitom, care is always available. Veterinarians are on duty day and night. We have 150 hospitalized horses, and they deserve monitoring and care 24/7. ◆ Why has Equitom become the largest equine clinic in Europe and is among the top worldwide?

I always look for solutions, I have no ego, and continuously seek collaborations with other veterinarians, surgeons, and specialists to share our experiences and knowledge. Only by working together one reaches and stays at the top. I have also always reinvested our company’s profits over and over again in my passion and clinic, not in personal matters. I have also ensured that we have always been and continue to be at the forefront of innovation. As soon as a new medical device was released, I was the first to buy it. My passion for my profession plays a major role in this. ◆ Let’s zoom in on each of these reasons, starting with ego and passion...

Many surgeons are passionate professionals and work in December 2023

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Surgical procedure at EquiTom that world without ever taking a step back and maintaining an overview. Many of them also have an ego problem, which means they often want to keep everything to themselves, believe that they know better, and over time wear blinders, which is detrimental to the further development of their activity. As a result, they unconsciously slow down the growth for which they are responsible. Ego is detrimental. I don’t have that at all. I believe that there is always someone somewhere who is faster, better, smarter, or richer. Our life is a journey and very short. We must take advantage of it and make the most of it. Unfortunately, many people do not understand life at all.

I am very passionate and work very hard. Everything starts with that. As a surgeon one must, of course, also have good hands. If you don’t have that, then you should forget about that profession. I inherited hard work from my parents. When I returned home from school on a Wednesday afternoon, I put on my overalls and took care of the animals. With my father we built everything ourselves, and carpentry, drilling, sawing, all this was literally hammered into me from an early age. A surgeon has to be hands on. ◆ Passion, hard work, innovation, a world authority, wanting to work with the best materials, entrepreneurship... I see a lot of similarities with the top Dutch star chef Sergio Herman? [Founder of one of Europe’s most creative, unique and professional restaurant groups.]

Now that you mention it, yes. There is even another similarity: Sergio Herman is also strong in devising and developing new concepts. I see opportunities in everything.

The fact that we founded the Equine Care Group is a good example of this. It also shows entrepreneurship, something that sets me apart from most other surgeons. [We will discuss the Equine Care Group in detail in the January issue of World Breeding News.]

◆ Another key to your success and that of your companies is sharing knowledge...

I’m one of the few who has always done that.

Many people in the medical world reason that they will face more competition by sharing knowledge.

That is very bad because it is a form of negative competition. Not sharing knowledge is a brake on progression within medicine and this ultimately harms the patients as well. I am not afraid that by sharing my knowledge with others they will take my place and become even stronger than me. The fanatical passion, ambition, and work drive is given to very few, and is necessary to become or stay at the top. So, I share everything. The fact that we share knowledge worldwide has led to us, for example, having 4.3 million followers via social media channels, such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. ◆ Why so many followers?

Because we always post useful information online.

Followers view that information, learn certain things from it, share it with others, and so on. As a result, we have become the horse clinic with the greatest visibility worldwide.

Everyone knows Equitom and many people with horses know me. That is very strange and exceptional, especially for someone who runs an equine clinic. We have always communicated very openly with the outside world. We not only bring the positive stories, but also the negative ones. For example, we will also post a video of the operation on a horse in which the horse dies of a heart attack at the end of the anaesthesia. People respect that we post the truth because they want honesty and openness. That gives confidence. It is important that people are aware of the risks associated with surgeries and treatments. There is no point in providing only positive information. ◆ When I asked you why Equitom has become the largest equine clinic in Europe, you answered, ‘among other things’...

I have also ensured that we have always been and still are the first in terms of innovation. [Tom gives an example] In 2020, Equitom was the first horse clinic in Europe to invest in a high-tech robot CT scanner. This robot CT scanner has two large robotic arms that can rotate. Suppose you want to make a CT of the head or knee, then the arms rotate around the body part for 30 seconds and provides a CT image. To perform a CT scan you normally have to put a horse under general anaesthesia, but that entails risks. The robot allows such a CT image to be made without putting the horse to sleep. The horse is only given light sedation.

Such a robot is quite unique. There are only three in the world: one at Dubai Equine Hospital, one at the University of Pennsylvania, and one at Equitom. ◆ Other than avoiding general anaesthesia for a horse, does

14 December 2023

the robot offer any other advantages compared to other scans?

Although a CT scan mainly provides information about bone structure in 3D, you can also obtain certain soft tissue information. An MRI is different in that it provides information about, for example, cartilage, ligaments, the meniscus, and a lot of other soft tissues. The devices are complementary. Sometimes we do both a standing CT and a standing MRI on a horse to collect all the information about a certain area. ◆ Why this sort of investment?

Purely because we don’t have to put the horses to sleep.

Suppose you own a horse worth €5 million, and it’s lame.

You put the horse to sleep for a CT scan and it breaks its leg while waking up, or goes into cardiac arrest? Then you have a problem. This also applies to a horse that is worth much less because there is also such a thing as emotional value.

One in 3,000 horses that undergo anaesthesia has a fatal outcome. That is one of the reasons why horses from all over Europe are brought here to have CT scans taken by our robot in a standing, non-anesthetized state. This is about an investigation, not an operation. ◆ How much does such a robot CT scanner cost? €800,000. ◆ Why do you go a lot further than the average surgeon?

I have learned that through entrepreneurship one can change the world or contribute to it. A surgeon who only does his job can treat his patients well, but otherwise solves nothing. A lot needs to change in our sector. I operated on an average of five to 10 horses per day for more than 15 years. I have helped many horses with this. If I want to help all horses throughout Europe or the world, I have to do something different, starting with sharing my knowledge and skills worldwide. There are many problems in our sector. ◆ Can you give some examples of problem areas?

I think about the very bad work-life balance, and even suicide. The number of suicides committed by veterinarians is four times higher than the average, and our profession is at the top of the list. That number is extremely high and we must deal with this problem quickly.

Ten days ago, a young female veterinarian committed suicide, and also one a month ago. Nowadays, there is a lot of talk about this. The fact that thirty percent of the recently graduated veterinarians leave our profession after three years, and then no longer want to have anything to do with being a veterinarian, is a major problem. Fewer and fewer students are also taking up veterinary studies. This means that our profession is no longer attractive to young people. ◆ What are the reasons for this?

One of the reasons is that our profession is oldfashioned, conservative, and has not evolved or adapted to

contemporary society. Society is changing; our profession must also change. The medical order will not do it, nor will the universities. We as veterinarians will have to initiate the change. ◆ What do you think needs to change, specifically?

I am not very proud of what we, as vets, have done over the past 20 years. We all studied at university for six years.

Then one would have to have certain professional ethics and wisdom. I sometimes hear that vets are criticizing other veterinarians, colleagues, to their clients, and often without any valid reason.

Some veterinarians are extremely under-priced, so it turns into a real price war which is, of course, at the expense of the quality and sustainability of our profession. There are cattle veterinarians who will perform a caesarean section at night for €100.

Veterinarians have difficulty working together and are often too egocentric and become isolated. Due to the lack of collaboration and knowledge sharing they often speak a different language and have completely opposing opinions, thus giving conflicting advice, which is incomprehensible to many horse owners. As an owner, you take your horse to vet A and are told ‘your horse has this’; vet B says that your horse has something completely different. Just look at the problems surrounding prepurchase examinations.

Veterinarian one rejects the horse, vet two approves it. What the hell are we doing? ◆ Isn’t this due to the conflicting interests between a buyer and seller in the possible sale of a horse?

That shouldn’t happen. A veterinarian is a doctor. He or she must be objective no matter who or what is in front of him or her. It’s all about ethics. A vet who respects himself should never, ever allow himself to be influenced by anyone or anything. Veterinarians also need to communicate and collaborate better. Sitting around the table and saying pathology A, we do an examination and see a certain injury, what do we do with it now? Talk about it with each other. One says it’s good, the other says it’s not good. What are we doing?

Question yourself. Throw your ego aside and try to practice good medicine. Listen to others who know better than you.

That is also a major problem. Many people think they have a monopoly on the truth. However, there is always someone even smarter than you. Listen to others and dare to change your opinion. Veterinarians should review difficult medical cases and discuss them together. Two heads are always better than one, and only in this way do we move forward. These are all things that are urgently needed and must change. That is also one of the reasons why I founded the Equine Care Group. ◆ You have developed several new surgical techniques that are now performed worldwide...

I was the first to remove a kidney from a horse through keyhole surgery, and this was in a standing horse. I was also the inventor of the laparoscopic closure of the spleen-kidney space December 2023

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to prevent recurrent colic. Moreover, I developed a technique to reduce the size of excessively wide, internal inguinal rings in stallions through keyhole surgery, also while standing. This procedure prevents inguinal hernias in stallions.

Why did I do that? Equitom is called ‘the clinic of last hope’. I have a reputation for trying complex things and daring to go a step further. It’s very hard for me to quit. I always have a really hard time with something I can’t work out. As a surgeon, that’s a good quality. You should never give up as long as there is a glimmer of hope. In addition, I have always had an open mind. For certain cases I had consulted other top surgeons, also from human medicine.

I have now built up a whole network of top surgeons.

Thanks to these collaborations I have regularly developed new surgical techniques and subsequently shared them with others. At the time, I started demonstrating new techniques that I had developed to surgeons in the United States and elsewhere. I enjoy the fact that dozens of horses are helped every day with one of the techniques I’ve developed. That gives me great satisfaction and makes me happy. It won’t benefit me economically because I don’t have any patents, but that’s not what it’s about. Does everything in the world revolve around money? Not as far as I’m concerned. By the way, I am still motivated to perform new operations and develop treatments. ◆ One may have the best equipment in the world, but I assume that the people who have to work with it are also very important.

They are the most important. The best surgeons are the people who can perform a very complex operation very simply.

The worst surgeons are those who make a lot of fanfare about a minor operation. The equipment is just a tool to achieve something. It is true that the equipment at our disposal today offers enormous possibilities. For each service I’ve been able to recruit a head of department who is on the same page as me. The right person in the right place, so to speak. ◆ Talking about complex operations;

what is the most difficult operation you have ever performed?

I have already performed so many operations. To give you an idea; I’ve done over 40,000 arthroscopies, so far. After a while, nothing is difficult anymore. In my career it took seven years before I could operate without stress. Now, there is no longer any surgery that makes me nervous. Which are the most difficult operations? Things we are still inventing. I am one of the only surgeons in the world who performs operations on, for example, the neck or the spinal cord. I have done many hernia operations on the neck. Such operations are considered one of the most difficult, but I like to do them. As far as I’m concerned they are not difficult to implement.

But, to return to your question about the most difficult operation. Two years ago, I operated on a horse that had a gigantic malignant tumour on its head. The tumour was approximately 40 centimetres in size. The horse’s name is Flora; I’ll never forget that. The horse had already been in three clinics in France and the owner was always advised to euthanase. The owner said to me ‘as soon as there is a one percent chance of success, you can operate on my horse’.

We made a CT scan, which allowed me to look inside the skull in three dimensions. I reviewed that file together with human surgeons. We operated on the horse, and it was extremely complex. We had to remove half the face, the teeth, and so on. Fortunately, the eye was spared and, ultimately, the surgery had a good outcome. The horse had no subsequent relapses. Technically it was very delicate, considering the nerves and blood vessels that run there.

During the operation the human surgeon said several times that we should stop. I kept saying ‘no, we will continue’. I recently performed another complex operation: operating on a malignant tumour in a cervical vertebra. I removed the vertebra and replaced it with a prosthesis. Unique in the world.

These are very complex procedures for which I am super focused and very well prepared.

Such interventions require days of preparation, but that gives me energy.

Equine Care Group

Water treadmill at EquiTom and members of Tom’s team (above) 16 December 2023

For Tom, energy translates into new achievements, among other things. In February 2021, he founded the Equine Care Group together with Frederik Bruyninx (sports veterinarian and team vet of the Belgian showjumping team) and Bencis Capital Partners (investment fund). So 2023 has been the latest milestone in Equitom’s history. Two reasons: the creation of Equitom Namur in Wallonia, and the official opening and inauguration of Equitom’s fourth building on the Lummen site. The brand new wing in Lummen contains an ultra-modern, glass operation room equipped with the latest technologies.

◆ What makes this operating room ultra-modern?

It has glass walls and is completely pressurized. Horses are given general anaesthesia, positioned on a mobile surgical table, shaved, disinfected, and prepared outside the operating room. Once the horse is ready for surgery, the automatic doors of the operating room slide open, and the sleeping horse is wheeled in. Precisely because all these preparations are accomplished outside the operating room, the space remains unsoiled, and the risk of post-operative infections dramatically decreases. We have the world’s first glass operating room.

We have a second world first: the operating room is digital and equipped with the necessary streaming technology. On the floor above this glass operating room we have a conference room with a large screen on which images of the operation can be played in real time. This room can accommodate up to 90 surgeons, veterinarians, or other people, but we can also stream the operation all over the world. An owner in Qatar can log in to his computer live from his home or elsewhere in the world and follow any surgical procedure performed in our glass room. We remain a leader in innovation and, by the way, I am also one of the only surgeons who will allow people to attend a live operation standing next to me. ◆ Is there a second operating room in this building?

That’s right, there’s a standing operating room where we can perform some surgeries under local anaesthesia. ◆ In June 2023, Equitom Wallonia, in the former Le Château de Mazy in Namur, became a reality. Why did you choose to start a clinic in Wallonia?

My wife is from Wallonia, more specifically from Liège.

It was her wish and dream to set up the first private horse clinic in Wallonia. There was also a real need for a clinic and proper medical services in this region. ◆ What are the assets of this clinic?

The clinic is brand new, very easily accessible, and has all the modern technology. There is a very skilled team working there. It is also in very beautiful castle grounds, very pleasant to stay in. Anyone who arrives with their horse feels like they are in holiday mode. The domain extends with meadows and forests over a total of four hectares.

[Information: there are two operating rooms (one for operations under general anaesthesia and one for standing operations under local anaesthesia), two recovery boxes, five boxes for intensive care, 50 hospitalization boxes, two rooms for ultrasound and radiography, isolation boxes, a meeting room and two covered lunge circles for orthopaedic testing.] ◆ During construction of Equitom Wallonia, a lot of attention was also paid to ecology.

That’s right. This also applies to our branch in Lummen, where we have planted more than 1,000 trees and re-sown the meadows with herbal mixtures. We use neither pesticides

nor insecticides. The infrastructure is fully equipped with a bio anti-fly system so that cleanliness and sterility can be fully guaranteed. Eighty percent of the energy is generated by solar panels, both in Lummen and Namur. We use almost no city water. We purify rainwater and well water ourselves. The domain has its own wastewater treatment plant. The garden around the clinic is landscaped with local plants to increase biodiversity. We are talking about serious investments. That requires major efforts, but we want to contribute to a green planet. ◆ You have serious concerns about our planet?

I see an increase in congenital malformations, cancers, and other diseases in horses. Why, is the big question? What’s gone wrong? This can be due to inbreeding, pollution, medication, x-rays, and many more toxic influences in our environment.

During the past 20 years, deforestation, pollution, microplastic particles in our habitat, the number of fine dust particles in the air, and many other toxic factors have only increased. It is time to reverse the balance. If we don’t take action, we will wipe ourselves out. The globe has already been regularly destroyed in the past. Just think of the dinosaurs. We’re not going to survive. Those who will survive are those who also survived at the time. Mosquitoes were around before the dinosaurs and are still around. Other tough ones like the snakes, crocodiles, fish, and the like will also survive. We as mammals will not. We are doomed if anything catastrophic were to ever happen. We are not strong enough. I am convinced that things will go wrong if we don’t act now.

For example, in Tanzania you can take an hour-long journey through the bush on horseback and not see a single house, but you will find plastic bottles and other waste on the ground. Go to a resort in the Maldives and ask a guide to sail from there to an uninhabited island, then you will notice that you cannot enter the beach because of the mess. It is full of plastic and other garbage. There is one island there where it burns day and night. All the waste from all the resorts is taken there and burned day-in and day-out, while we do our best to sort our waste. We have to keep sorting, but unfortunately there are so many abuses in the world. We are destroying our oceans. Cutting off the sharks fins and throwing them back into the water, killing whales, killing rhinos for their horns, what the hell are we doing? Humanity has insufficient respect for the earth. We’re making a mess of it and it’s high time we turned the tide. We are nothing compared to the oh-so-powerful globe. We must respect her.

Fortunately, I see a substantially increased awareness among young people, and this gives me hope.

■ Read Part 2 of the fascinating interview with Tom Muriën which focuses on the Equine Care Clinic in the January 2024 issue of World Breeding News.

December 2023

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Eventing breeding comes of age according to the WBCYH

BY CHRISTOPHER HECTOR PHOTOGRAPHY: FEI/PSV Circumstances beyond my control prevented my attendance at this year’s championships.

Sad since Le Lion is one of my favorite events, double sad since the line-up of horses was so genetically interesting this year… but the opportunity to armchair analyze didn’t escape me!

C

hristopher Hector analyses the bloodlines at the World Young Eventing Horse Championships at Lion d’Angers No matter how many times it was repeated, the assertion that you cannot breed horses for eventing was always pretty daft since you only had to look at the success of the tiny group of pioneer breeders who set out to do just that – often with limited resources and making do with whatever horse-flesh they could lay their hands on.

Looking at the 2023 start list it is quite clear that eventing breeding is coming of age as more and more of the entries were obviously bred with an eventing career in mind.

The Dutch breeders have always been in the forefront when it comes to spotting the next lucrative market. They were the first to split their breeding program into jumping and dressage streams and are now reaping the Thomas Carlile (FRA) riding 7yo winner Golden de Beliard rewards. Now it would seem they have discovered the eventing market. Two years ago the KWPN were sixth on the WBFSH eventing studbook great Heraldik xx, and hoped he’d found him in the form of rankings, but in 2023 they are third, with eventers bearing Herald III, a moderately successful showjumper, by Heraldik the KWPN brand starring all over the world. xx, out of a mare by the Ladykiller xx son, Lorenz. Herald Who would have thought that two of the Irish seven-year- sired three of this year’s starters. old contingent, while branded ISH, would be by stallions Breeding eventers according to VDL from Holland’s mighty VDL stud? One, MGH Zabione was bred by Padraig McCarthy, but the horse is by VDL Zavall (Casall x Emilion) out of Viancara VDL (Nimmerdor). Also I asked VDL stud manager, Wiebe Ide van der Lageweg representing Ireland is Danos Lola, out of an Irish mare by if the Dutch eventers emerging on the scene were bred to be the renowned Irish showjumper, Cruising, but by Carrara eventers or still horses bred to showjump: “Mostly bred as VDL who is well represented on the start list with three of his showjumpers, but there are a couple of Dutch breeders who progeny. are taking eventing breeding seriously now.”

Carrara is by Cardento out of a Baloubet de Rouet mare.

Carrara is just 49.2% blood when the accepted wisdom is ◆ Including VDL? that somewhere round 75% is the ideal for an eventing sire.

“No we are breeding for showjumpers.”

He was a moderately successful showjumper with Jur Vrieling, his last win being a 1m45 Grand Prix at Vestfold in ◆ But you must be pleased with Herald III as he put three 2017. horses into the young eventing championship?

This year’s championships were certainly a vindication “Yes, when we bought him we took him because there for French breeding expert, Arnaud Evain who – in was more Thoroughbred blood, and in the back of our partnership with VDL – went looking for a successor to the minds was that he could produce some eventers because of

18 December 2023

Cross-country for the 6yo Hermès du Gevaudan, ridden by Stephane Landois (FRA)

his movement and his Thoroughbred bloodline, so we took him for both, jumpers and eventers.” ◆ And Carerra, he had horses there too, so will he breed eventers or was it just luck?

“For sure he will breed some because he has blood enough and he moves good enough, and they jump, they should be good eventers.” ◆ Once they said you couldn’t breed eventers…

“For sure you can, if they can move and have blood enough.” ◆ A few years back if someone had told you that two of the Irish team at the eventing World Breeding Championship for Young Horses would be VDL bred, you would have thought that pretty crazy…

“Nobody expected that I think, but it is good, another market is always good.”

Diarado proves himself again WBFSH number one eventing sire, Diarado had the most representatives with five, but once again, I believe this is a by-product of the thousands of mares bred to the stallion in the hope of a showjumping star, rather than any huge talent as an eventing sire.

For me, the absolute standout stallion was Upsilon, who died in April this year. The grey was reserve seven-year-old champion at the 2015 WBCYH, produced by the megatalented Thomas Carlile. The pair went on to win or place in every event they entered after that until the stallion contracted a life-threatening bacterial infection in 2019. He

was nursed back to a stage where he could be lightly ridden at home, and as his popularity as a sire increased he looked like saving the French Anglo-Arab more or less single-handed.

The French Anglo has a distinguished history, but the breed fell from favor until there were virtually no AA stallions left. Upsilon has been the most popular Anglo stallion of recent times who, despite being by the Holsteiner, Cantus, qualifies as an Anglo-Arab Section 3 thanks to his dam, O’vive x’s impeccable AA blood. She is by Fusain du Defey AA, out of a mare by Quarter de Plape AA. Five of Upsilon’s offspring fronted the course at Lion d’Angers this year, lead by the mare, Golden de Beliard (Jalienny AA), with Thomas Carlile riding her to a seven-year-old title after the pair won last year’s six-year-old championship. It’s the fifth time a horse has taken the consecutive titles and the second time for Thomas who won the double with Tenareze in 2013 and 2014. He also won the six-year-old championship in 2013 with Sirocco du Gers (Dorsay [SF] - Vieusinge du Maury AA x Jalienny AA, bred by Elevage de Beliard).

This year’s six-year-old championship was won by Britain’s Izzy Taylor riding Barrington Alice. The grey mare is by Cevin Z, a 1m50 jumper by the Cor de la Bryère grandson, Coriall, out of a Carthago mare. Alice is out of the Thoroughbred mare, Allercombe Mayday xx (Kuwait Beach xx).

Second place went to France’s Hermes du Gevaudan, bred by Les Hunieres and ridden by Stephane Landois. The gelding is by the Belgian stallion, Quintus D’09 out of a mare by the Oldenburger, Quality Touch, but it should be noted that both these horses are out of Anglo-Arab mares.

Third to New Zealand’s Amanda Goldsbury and Cooley on Ice (Cicero Z x Diamant de Sémilly). Fourth Sweden’s Therese Viklund and Sella (Mr. Vain GJ x Sabiango xx), whose sire, Mr. Vain GJ had two starters this year. He is a Swedish bred 1m55 jumper by Diarado out of a Holsteiner mare by the Ladykiller xx grandson, Lavirco. Australia’s Isabel Engish took fifth, riding CIL Dara Bombay S by Balou du Rouet out of a Diarado mare. Perhaps my doubts about Diarado are misplaced!

As mentioned earlier, the seven-year-old championship was won by the British-born French citizen, Thomas Carlile and Golden de Beliard, ahead of Lara de Liedekerke-Meir’s Kiarado d’Arville. The Belgian gelding is out of a mare by the Jalisco B son Jet Set du Rezidal and by… Diarado.

Third to Astier Nicolas and Gravure de la Mouline, out of a mare by the Quidam de Revel great-grandson Que Guapo and by Eldorado de Hus by Diarado! (that humble pie is looking tastier and tastier).

Eventing breeding is finally a serious topic of conversation, not just a throw away joke.

■ December 2023

19

José María Deza: Taking stock of over 30 years in breeding

BY JOSÉ LUIS FC PHOTOGRAPHY: JOSÉ LUIS FC Located rurally almost mid way between Madrid and the Bay of Biscay, José María Deza founded Yeguada Valle de Olid in 1992. Having always been passionate about horses, and after more than three decades breeding sport horses, he takes stock of all these years.

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t was a passion that led him to study veterinary medicine, and then to start breeding sport horses, activities that he continues to pursue with the enthusiasm of his first day. He was, in fact, a pioneer in Spain in the creation of a catalog of stallions, and in his early years imported such luminaries as Gervantus I (Grannus - Gentana II x Vollkorn xx”), Remondo (Renaldo - First Lady x Fruehlingstraum II), Centauer Z (Capitol - Wirane x Lord), and more recently Huppydam des Horts (Quidam de Revel - Dorypso des Horts x Double Espoir). All these sires have had a great influence in the world of Warmblood breeding in Spain.

The Yeguada Valle de Olid facilities have an area of 62 hectares, with all the necessary elements for breeding and preparing horses for competition. Currently there are around 110 horses, including broodmares, young horses or those in competition, both from the stud farm and from owners. Thus, like a veterinary clinic in which all reproduction techniques are practiced, they are located in Cubillas de Santa Marta, north of Valladolid, a quiet town in Castilla y León where there are several wine cellars.

Many horses that have been born at Yeguada Valle de Olid over the years, including competition stand-outs such as Tiffany de Olid (Huppydam des Horts - Coco de Mies x Centauer Z ), maternal sister of Corelli de Mies, Edwina Alexander Tops’ horse, and ridden by the Chilean rider

Samuel Parot; Troya de Olid (Centauer Z - Colunga x Cassini I) with Egyptian Mouda Zeyada, who competed this year in the CSIO3* Bratislava Nations Cup; Amarylis de Olid (Huppydam des Horts - Shana’s Jumper x Stalypso), winner with Juan de Jove this season of the five-year-old final of the Andalusia Sunshine Tour; Simba de Olid (Huppydam des Horts - Nana de Olid x Centauer Z), who participated in the Nations Cup with Argentina’s Juan Ignacio ÁlvarezFermosel, and who this season competed in the European Junior Championship with Spain’s Miquel Canals. ◆ What led you to start breeding sport horses and create Stud Valle de Olid?

Since I was little I had a great love for the world of horses and what I liked most was horse breeding, studying all the origins of the most important lines. Many years ago I collaborated with Revista Ecuestre doing reports on the most important stallions. My beginnings in breeding were with a mare that was not good and, therefore, things did not go well. It was a bad experience that had as a positive outcome as I realized that to parent you have to do it well. From that moment on I started looking for good mares, which is the basis for breeding good horses. I bought Blimea (Gepard Anka x Almé), ridden by Luis Álvarez Cervera, and Óscar del Río. Then I acquired many old glories, mares that had stood out in the competition and had good origins.

It all started as a hobby, and the turning point was the incorporation of Gervantus. Breeders began to bring me many mares to cover and that forced me to dedicate myself professionally. At that time I was working as an interim health veterinarian but I had to leave to dedicate myself to what I really liked, which was breeding sport horses. When I had been with Gervantus I for two years, so that the people who had bred with him could continue breeding, I incorporated stallions such as Centauer Z, Remondo and Duntroon (Donnerhall - Pik Stahl x Pik Bube I), from dressage, who had been the reserve champion in 1993 at the Oldenburg stallion approval at the age of two.

José María Deza, owner of Stud Valle de Olid, with one of the foals born in 2023 20 December 2023

◆ What have been the most important horses you have bred over all these years?

and I am also covering some three-year-old fillies, plus some of the mares that are in competition using embryo transfer. ◆ What quality do you highlight most in a broodmare?

A very important thing to raise in Spain, it is not the same as raising abroad, is the head. The vast majority of the horses I breed are not bought by top-level riders, they are bought by amateurs. There are horses in very good condition, with a lot of quality, but if they are not brave and do not have a good head they fall by the wayside due to the type of riders who ride them. That’s why I think that one of the most important qualities, apart from strength or overall quality, logically, is that they carry a good head. That’s what I usually look for in broodmares.

Bis Bis de Olid, 4yo stallion son of Untouchable - Simply Red x Sandro Song who has participated in CSI tests with Álvaro Muñoz Escassi and Luis Plaza It is very difficult to assess which is the best horse I have bred, there have been many. I think Tiffany de Olid, who is having a magnificent evolution with Samuel Parot. Although there is also Quebec de Olid (Centauer Z - Magia de Olid x Remondo) who did 1m60 classes with Benjamín Pérez. It was a horse that did not have extraordinary results, but competed at the highest level. For example Queka de Olid (Centauer Z - Fantome C x Winningmood) with María González, has not competed at such a high level but has won much more. There is also Carioca de Olid (Mar de Guinea Blimea x Guepard), who won the Ladies Grand Prix at the CSI5*W in Bordeaux with Reyes Martín, ◆ In the beginning you began breeding with mares that had stood out in competition and with good origins. What type of broodmares are you looking for now?

The best daughters of those who have been my main mares. That’s what I'm trying to do. With the youngest ones I do embryo transfers. There are two that I have now that I have high expectations for. One is Yakarta de Olid (Huppydam des Horts - Simply Red x Sandro), who is successfully competing with María González. Her dam, Simply Red, ran big CSI classes with Álvaro Muñoz Escassi and Luis Plaza, and she was breeding here until recently. She is also the mother of the four-year-old Bis Bis de Olid.

The other mare that I have a lot of hope for, but has not yet started competing, is Yira de Olid, born in 2016, and who is the daughter of Arko III, out of Tiffany de Olid, by Huppydam des Horts. I think she’s going to be very good. I co-own her with Ángel Cerdido, who has been working with her for several months. The vast majority of the broodmares I use are born at Yeguada Valle de Olid, although I also do it with other mares. Recently I received Visama Corina, a KWPN daughter of Indorado and F-Lordina, by Lord, which reached a good level over courses with Álvaro Díaz and Jaime Silvela; and Una du Keske Z (Ultimo van ter Moude Malmea x Jus de Pomme), winner of a national Grand Prix with Carolina Villanueva. Right now I have 10 broodmares

◆ From the beginning of your project you opted to import stallions. What led you to that?

When the passion for breeding, being a veterinarian, and my love for origins came together, Robert Smith offered me Gervantus I without me looking for him, that got me into the world of stallions. When I imported him he covered many mares in Spain, but in the economic crisis that occurred in Spain in 2008 it was very impactful, and many breeders stopped their activities, so having stallions stopped being interesting and productive. What I do now is import semen from foreign stallions, both for myself and for clients, specifically from Beligneux Les Haras, which I consider to be the most leading and complete in France. So we went from having a stallion here to inseminating with refrigerated semen that comes to us from France. ◆ What did the stallions that have passed through Yeguada Valle de Olid contribute?

When I imported Gervantus I he had already won the Oldenburg stallion approval at the age of three. He was owned by the person who owned stallions such as Argentinus (Argentan I - Dorle x Duden II) and Grannus (Graphit Odessa x Ozean). In his first year he covered many mares with very good production. When he arrived in Spain, the

Simba de Olid, winner of the Spanish National Horse Championship with Juan Ignacio Álvarez Fermosel December 2023

21

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level of mares was not like it is now, the mother was not selected as much, and they were bred with waste mares from the racecourse or mares that did not do well in jumping, and this was very noticeable in his production.

Then came Centauer Z who covered a level of mares similar to Gervantus I and had a very good production. His great virtue was that with good mares he gave good children, and with less good mares he also had good children.

Centauer Z had a lot of blood, a lot of strength, and an incredible head. He contributed very good things to the mares that were here at that time.

The last addition was Huppydam des Horts, a Selle Français son of Quidam de Revel and a mare by Double Espoir with whom Frenchman Bruno Rocuet rode in competition and won the CSI Auvers Grand Prix. At the beginning of 2008 he was imported to Spain for Ignacio Ferreras, with whom he would compete in two European Young Riders Championships. His results as a stallion are good as he combines very well with the daughters of Centauer Z, or mares of that type. He is a stallion with a lot of quality. Although Huppydam des Horts has already died, I still have a lot of semen from him; he was a very fertile stallion and I still cover many mares.

HORSES BORN IN 2023 Name (Sire - Dam x Damsire) • Flipper de Olid (Valentino de Hus Z - Quiona de Olid x Centauer Z) • Fyodor de Olid (Huppydam des Horts - Panama de Olid x Centauer Z • Fix It Félix de Olid (Huppydam des Horts - Vision x Gentleman) • Fabiola de Olid (Colestus - Briseida de Olid x Emerald) • Fado de Olid (Huppydam des Horts - Tarantela x Centauer Z) • Frodo de Olid (Huppydam des Horts - Queen Blimea x Centauer Z) • Fiona de Olid (Chacco Blue II - Bossa-Nova de Olid x Untouchable) • Focus de Olid (Colestus - Tudey de Olid x Arko III) • Firma de Olid (Huppydam des Horts - Firma de Olid x Centauer Z) • Fontana de Olid (Cooper van de Heffinck - Valkiria de Olid x Con Air) • Ficus de Olid (Valentino de Hus Z - Bahía de Olid x Untouchable) • Fauno de Olid (Huppydam des Horts - Parole de Olid Centauer Z) • Fetiche de Olid (Valentino de Hus Z - Yakarta de Olid x Huppydam des Horts) • Fábula de Olid (Valentino de Hus Z - Yakarta de Olid x Huppydam des Horts)

Tudey de Olid (Arko III - Morning Star x Damocles) with her filly

by Colestus ◆ What stallions do you currently use?

Other than Huppydam des Horts and the Beligneux Les Haras stallions I covered a lot last year and this year with Colestus (Cornet Obolensky - Spice Girl R x Stakkato). He is a stallion that I really like and he already has a good number of offspring competing at the 1m50 and 1m60 level.

Then, who also has a very good production is Cooper van de Heffinck (Caretino - Erle x Landlord), and I also like Emerald (Diamant de Semilly) a lot for the type of horses he gives, as well as Carthina Z, (Carthago Z).

In recent years I have also covered several mares with Valentino de Hus Z, a Casa’l Capellán stallion who competes in international competition with Santiago Nuñez Riva and is a son of Vivaldi du Seigneur, out of a dam by Trophee du Rozel. ◆ What are the lines you like to combine the most?

The stallion I use the most, because I have his semen at home, is Huppydam des Horts with the Centauer Z mares. I made a firm and very serious bet on the daughters of Centauer Z. Of the 10 broodmares I have, seven are his daughters. I try to recover those that stand out in competition to breed with them, such as Queka de Olid, who recently retired from competition and has been covered by Colestus, Firma de Luz (Centauer Z - Luz de Olid x Gervantus), and Parole de Olid (Centauer Z - India de Olid x Gervantus). ◆ What is your opinion about the current state of sport horse breeding in Spain?

It is true that a lot has been improved in recent years, but not enough. It is still a small production and used more as a hobby than a as a means of living. There are still many things to do, such as selecting stallions or cataloging the mares to make things easier for people who are starting to breed. They should have the data to be able to have a good mare and not wait five years to realize what they are breeding with a bad mare We are still very far from countries like Belgium, France, the Netherlands, or Germany, but it is true that in recent years the evolution has been important.

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December 2023

23

Spotlighting discrepancies in ranking systems per discipline

BY KIM LUNDIN GRAPHICS: KIM LUNDIN This article represents a critical analysis of the rankings published by the WBFSH, based on performance results in FEI competition. The fact that the FEI recognizes top-ranked combinations exclusively from high-level competitions in dressage is unproblematic...

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owever, when the same ranking is applied to produce the best breeding stallions through any one year, the comparisons are severely skewed in dressage compared to the other Olympic disciplines.

Every October, the WBFSH presents its ranking lists of sires, breeders, and studbooks distributed across the three Olympic disciplines (October 1 to September 30). The rankings are based on the FEI’s collection of competition results, where the FEI itself presents monthly presents rider or team rankings in slightly different formats. Rules for the calculation of ranking points have been very carefully prescribed as they also provided the basis for invitations to prestigious competitions of various formats. The ranking is important to the competition riders, and for the WBFSH it has informed their annual breeders’ awards for many years.

The rankings for jumping and eventing horses is quite similar. Points are awarded based on the principle that the higher the class of competition – according to the ‘star’ system – the more points are awarded for victory or a placing. Also, a large class of participants awards more points than a small starring field, and championships factor in additional points.

It’s important to note that ALL international competitions are used as a basis for ranking points, with some exceptions for show classes. The system works well apart from one downside; the points have a long shelf life so the ranking lists don’t necessarily reflect those combinations in current top form published on a monthly basis.

Showjumping is the FEI’s largest discipline and has many times more registered horses with an FEI license than eventing and dressage. Maybe that’s why no one reacts to how few dressage horses there are on the WBFSH list of ranked breeders of dressage horses. The calculation of ranking points for dressage horses differs in several crucial ways compared to the other two disciplines. In eventing and jumping, points are accumulated from competitions from one-star to five-star level and championships. In dressage, only three-star competitions and higher award ranking points, barely a quarter of all competitions, and not even all classes are currently included.

The other decisive difference is that instead of awarding points according to the level of competition, number of starters, and results, the percentage points a combination records is converted into points. Also, only the best eight

24 December 2023

results over a specific period are counted, so no world rider has anything to gain from competing once a month. Perhaps more importantly, riders might choose to only start in competitions where they are more likely to achieve a good percentage, which affects the FEI’s ranking of riders and horses.

As a basis for determining which stallions have achieved success, or their volume of competing offspring, the limitations are very clear. In part this is due to the fact that not even 25% of organized competitions are included in the data, as the conversion from percentage to points creates a skewed input.

In several different studies, the Dutch researcher Inga Wolframm* has identified factors demonstrating that certain combinations receive a relatively better outcome in terms of percentages via different forms of judges’ preferences. As a subjective sport, dressage is under scrutiny for many different reasons. Well-known combinations that have reached a high level might be awarded an even higher score, while new, lesser-known combinations must compete several times before it ‘pays off’. Cumulatively, this makes the dressage rankings extremely sluggish. By counting only the top eight results in each 12-month period, the FEI’s top dressage ranking appears as a slow-motion video, taking months and months before you see any change. Everyone likely remembers how Edward Gal and Totilas and Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro became world number ones long after the combinations split or had stopped competing.

In order to provide dressage breeders with more up-todate and relevant information, a more neutral system is required, similar to eventing and jumping, and based on the level of the competition, the number of starts, and placement. For younger stallions to appear earlier on the competition radar, all levels of competitions should be included. If points can be accumulated from one- and twostar competitions, horses will begin their rise in the Small Tour, as well as in the classes designated for young horses.

Currently, the statistics include only a handful of eight-yearold horses and older. Today, fewer than 16% of registered dressage horses are represented in the WBFSH statistics.

Around 2015, two online databases launched alternative ranking systems based on prize money. For eventing and jumping, there were no big differences as the points awarded largely follow the level of the prize money. For

dressage, on the other hand, it was revolutionary when many more competing horses were included. So far, little has changed in the top tier, but the possibility of identifying early signs of strong inheritance in younger horses via good competition results have greatly improved. A comparison between one database for the past 365 days and the WBFSH ranking – where both are based on results in FEI-classified competitions but using a different framework – shows a noticeable redistribution of the top places. It also illustrates the sensitivity of rankings based on prize money.

The late stallion Easy Game had two offspring participating in the most lucrative dressage competition: Lövsta Top-10 during the Stockholm International horse Show.

In December 2022, victory went to TSF Dalera BB and approved stallion Hermès, so it’s sufficient to take the lead when the criteria are established according to prize money in a discipline which typically offers smaller financial rewards.

Facts and figures Showjumping: 6,231 competing horses Eventing: 4,253 Dressage: 822 These figures represent the number of horses included in the WBFSH data towards awarding the best sire for 2023 (sourced from the FEI’s ranking date from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023). The data includes horses that have scored in jumping and eventing (which means being placed), where in dressage it’s based on participation and being awarded a score. To be included on the list, a breeder’s horse in eventing and jumping only has to have received one point. Horse number 622 in the dressage ranking has 59 points, meaning the horse scored 59% in at least a three-star-level show.

The ‘alternative’ dressage ranking based on prize money won by competing offspring includes events at all levels:

1. Easy Game (2003/Trak Gribaldi x Schwadroneur) €358,004 /2 offspring 2. Quaterback (2003/DSP Quaterman I x Brandenburger) €323,897 /47 offspring 3. Blue Hors Zack (2004/KWPN Rousseau x Jazz) €238,221 / 49 offspring 4. Glock’s Johnson TN (2002/KWPN Jazz x Flemmingh) €184,461/ 72 offspring 5. Lord Leatherdale (2003/Rhein Lord Loxley I x Ferragamo) €151,180 /13 offspring 6. Bordeaux 28 (2006/KWPN United x Gribaldi) €143,112 / 36 offspring 7. Fürstenball (2006/Oldbg Fürst Heinrich x Donnerhall) €130,499 / 53 offspring 8. Totilas (2000/KWPN Gribaldi x Glendale) €116,579 / 25 offspring 9. Ampère (2005/KWPN Rousseau x Flemmingh) €102,465 / 45 offspring 10. Everdale (2009/KWPN Lord Leatherdale x Negro) €100,490 / 26 offspring Links to rules for ranking: Dressage: https://inside.fei.org/system/files/FEI_Dressage_World_ Ranking_List_Rules_2021.pdf Eventing: https://inside.fei.org/sites/default/files/FEI%20Rules/ Ranking%20Rules%202023%2009%20Fev%202023_0.pdf Jumping: https://inside.fei.org/sites/default/files/LonginesRanking _Rules_2023_clean_0.pdf ■ Professor Dr. Inga Wolframm has a PhD in sports psychology and is Professor of Sustainable Equestrianism at the University of Applied Sciences Van Hall Larenstein in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands.

TOP-RANKED SIRES WITH THE WBFSH BASED ON FEI-LONGINES RANKING (WITH NUMBER OF COMPETING OFFSPRING) Jumping 1. Diamant de Semilly / 188 2. Chacco-Blue / 164 3. Kannan / 199 Youngest horse 7yo

Dressage 1. Johnson / 25 2. Blue Hors Zack / 19 3. Jazz / 21 Youngest horse 8yo

Eventing 1. Diarado / 45 2. Obos Quality 004 / 77 3. Birkhof’s Grafenstolz / 46 Youngest horse 6yo

December 2023

25

Holsteiner stallions gather for saddle licensing and testing

BY JEAN LLEWELLYN / PRESS RELEASE PHOTOGRAPHY: JANNE BUGTRUP At the end of October 2023, Holsteiner stallions from all over Germany and neighbouring countries gathered together in Elmshorn to participate in the saddle licensing and/or the shortaptitude or sport test. This event was followed by the riding horse auction.

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he licensing committee included Stephan Haarhoff, Christian Thoroe, and Matthias Wittke, who granted breeding approval to three stallions following the pavement inspection, free jumping, and assessment under saddle.

On the one hand it was the three-year-old I’m Extra EB (I’m Special de Muze x Colman), bred and owned by Evi Bengtsson (Itzehoe), who impressed in the short ability test with a weighted jumping final score of 8.50. According to breeding manager Stephan Haarhoff; “We saw a stallion with a lot of impression, masculine type, and wearing a wonderful dark coat,” who belong to successful Holstein mare line 6786.

With regard to the four-year-old Crackeur (Crack x Cassini II, breeder Hanno Lorenzen), Haarhoff confirmed that the typical grey horse from line 2978 has a very good topline and an outstanding hindquarters technique. The commission also awarded the four-year-old Bombastic (Baloubet du Rouet x Connor), from Witt Pferdezucht GbR. This tall stallion from successful line 741 has an excellent pedigree and impressed with a lot of ability and athleticism.

In the short test, the three-year-old Braeden (Balou du Rouet x Quevee Prestige) who was bred by Gerhard Ohlsen and licensed and auctioned in Neumünster in February 2023, passed with a weighted jumping final score of 8.66 and claimed the lead. Braeden was registered by Torsten Petith (Bad Homburg), presented by Sarah Pröpper, and awarded a 9.0 for three characteristics; namely his jumping ability, rideability, and willingness to perform.

In the four-year-old age group, an as-yet-unnamed Hanoverian stallion emerged as best overall: the Viscerado x Stakkato son having been sent to Elmshorn by the Celle State Stud and introduced by Christopher Dittmann. He recorded a weighted final jumping score of 8.69. Also from Warendorf, the winner of the five-year-old category was Charmer Blanc (Cornado I x Chin Champ) who achieved a weighted final jumping score of 8.62 under the saddle of Philipp Winkelhaus.

Holsteiner Verband (Elmshorn) achieved popularity ahead of the auction and found his new home with the German Equestrian Federation in Warendorf. “I am very pleased that this highly talented horse will have every opportunity to pursue a successful career in top sport,” said auction manager Felix Flinzer. Nightwish’s mother has produced, among others, the Association stallion Zuccarello (Zuccero), and is half-sister to Crunch (Clarimo) ridden by Rolf-Göran Bengtsson (SWE), as well as Dito (Diarado), jumping under the saddle of Irishman Denis Lynch.

The second highest price was paid for the United Way x Diarado offspring Maybe M, bred by ZG Meyn-Winder.

Customers from Italy invested €72,000 for this tournamentproven mare, from whose direct damline Belgian Jérôme Guéry’s Olympic hero Quel Homme de Hus (Quidam de Revel) descends. The grey mare Miss Colman (Colman x Graf Grannus), bred by August Stucke, also convinced, having already placed in showjumping classes up to 1m30, and will make her new home in the United States.

Bred by Bettina Friemel, Cornelius (Cascadello I x Catoki) was worth €57,000 to new owners. This five-year-old goes back to none other than the exceptional horse and Olympic champion Fein Cera (Landadel), and has already scored jumping victories up to 1m20 level.

According to Flinzer, “Customers from all over the world have once again secured valuable Holsteiner genetics; new customers from Berlin and Mallorca alone acquired three talents for Garau Sport Horses.”

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Riding Horse auction The Holstein elite riding horse auction concluded with an average price of around €40,000 and a top price of €125,000 for the four-year-old Nixon van het Meulenhof x Uriko son, Nightwish. This impressive gelding bred by the

26 December 2023

Braeden – winner of the 3yo short test

Masterful triumph as Primavera Montana steals the spotlight

BY ROBERTA MILANI (INFO FROM BH) (TRANSLATION: CAROLINE PADILLA) / ABCCH PHOTOGRAPHY: LUIS CARLOS RUAS Marking a remarkable debut at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, 34-year-old Stephan Barcha steered the impressive Chevaux Primavera Montana Império Egípcio/aka Primavera Montana to the coveted individual gold medal in showjumping.

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he stage for this memorable achievement was Quillota, the equestrian host city, north-west of Chile’s capital city, Santiago. With a captivating performance, the duo overcame the competition’s challenges as well as their fellow competitors.

Facing obstacles at 1m60, Stephan Barcha and Primavera Montana (Calvaro Z [Holst] - HFB Primaluna [BH] x Paroli [Rhein]) maintained precision, despite a fault at the last vertical of the final course, and the outcome was a welldeserved gold medal in their Pan American Games debut.

Overall, the victorious pair accumulated 8.06 points, including the score from the first day plus two flawless rounds in the Nations Cup, where Brazil secured team bronze.

The team competition unfolded with two identical courses designed by the Brazilian international course designer Marina Azevedo, the first woman in Pan Am Games history to set the showjumping course. Thrilling to the end, Brazil needed three faultless performances in the second round to win team gold in a battle with the USA, but fell short and had to be satisfied with bronze, with a total of 20.32 points. The Brazilian team included

Gold for Brazilian Sport Horse Chevaux Primavera Montana Império Egípcio and Stephan Barcha (BRA)

Marlon Zanotelli with Deesse de Coquerie (Consul de Vie Z*GFE), Rodrigo Pessoa riding Major Tom (Vagabond de la Pomme), Pedro Veniss with Nimrod de Muze (Nabab de Reve), Stephan Barcha with Brazilian Sport Horse Chevaux Primavera Império Egípcio, and Doda Miranda as the team reserve with Dinozo Un Prince (Diamant de Semilly).

The partnership between Stephan and Primavera, a 12year-old BH mare, owned by Haras Império Egípcio, celebrated its six-year anniversary in 2023, with the rider expressing his admiration for her sensitivity at the beginning of their partnership and highlighting their successes in all the competitions they’ve faced together. “Today is a very special day that will go down in history. Primavera is an incredible mare, and I’ve always tried to handle her in the best possible way,” Stephan emphasized.

With an impressive resume, including titles such as the two-time Brazilian senior top champion in 2020/2021 and outstanding performances in the country's major Grand Prix classes throughout 2022, Stephan and Primavera traveled to Europe in early 2023, aiming for a spot on the Brazilian team. Among this year’s achievements are team gold in the Nations Cup in La Baule, France, and bronze in the five-star Rolex Grand Prix in Rome. Previously, in 2022, the pair won team gold and individual silver at the South American Games/ODESUR, held in Asunción, Paraguay, securing Brazil’s team spot for the Pan American Games.

After celebrating victory, and with his eyes on Paris 2024, Stephan Barcha is already anticipating the planning for next year’s Olympic challenges. “Today, I will celebrate a lot, but starting tomorrow the planning for the Olympic Games begins. But before that, Primavera will also have a welldeserved rest.” Stephan Barcha and BH Primavera Montana leave their mark on the history of the sport, celebrating the triumph of national talent on Pan-American soil.

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December 2023

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Ten ‘premium’ Hanoverian dressage stallions awarded

BY JEAN LLEWELLYN / PRESS RELEASE PHOTOGRAPHY: HANNOVERANER VERBAND During the first week in November, the 10 best youngsters of the 2021 crop were awarded premiums during the Verden licensing of dressage stallions. A total of 30 out of 54 stallions presented were licensed and, later, seven found new owners during the stallion sale.

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Bon Courage x Rotspon son (breeder: Hans-Ludwig Dittmer, Rhadereistadt, exhibitor: ZG Dittmer, Rhadereistadt) presented himself at the highest level on all three licensing days. According to Heike Kemmer’s comment on the liver-chestnut, who will now be trained at the Schulten-Baumer dressage stable, “We’ll be seeing him again in sport.”

A black stallion by Dancier Gold x Vivaldi (breeder: Michael and Claudia Roehrhoff, Mönchengladbach, exhibitor: Gestut Sprehe GmbH, Löningen), in whose veins flows the blood of Isabell Werth’s Olympic mare Weihegold, was sold for €150,000. After the liberalization of the stallion licensing, this stallion will go down in Hannoveraner history as the first Oldenburg to be licensed in the Niedersachsenhalle and awarded a premium.

A regular customer from Schleswig-Holstein won the bidding duel at €135,000 for an extremely strong-moving Le Formidable x Florencio son (breeder: Catharina Harten

Denker, Beesten, exhibitor: Katharina Ehrengut, Bad Oldesloe). Meanwhile, a stallion owner from Emsland secured a Secret x Lord Loxley son (breeder and exhibitor: Johann von der Decken, Krummendeich) for €110,000.

“Riding horses are made from these ingredients,” said breeding director Ulrich Hahne, describing the largeframed bay.

An eye-catching chestnut by Benicio x Valentino (breeder: Dr Michael Luhs, Wagenfeld, exhibitor: Gestut Allerhop, Hamburen), an extremely likeable premium stallion who opened the licensing, will henceforth move into a stable in France.

Another stallion station in the west of Lower Saxony will become home to a powerful black stallion by Dancier Gold x San Amour (breeder: Martin Honigfort, Haselunne, exhibitor: Heinrich Gießelmann, Barver), for whom the auction hammer fell at €55,000.

The last premium stallion presented for sale was worth €40,000 to a loyal customer from Bavaria: a liver chestnut from the first crop of the Celle state stud stallion Von Und Zu, who has a Santino dam (breeder: Heiko Feldhus, Grethem, exhibitor: IB Berger, SulzbachRosenberg). Like the premium stallion

by Le Formidable, he once enriched the lot at the Verden Foal Auction.

Three premium stallions were not offered for sale: • A Totilas x Sezuan son (breeder: Moormann-Hanke GbR, Wettrup, exhibitor: BG Klausing and Bluefields Warmblood Stud, Diepholz); • A Bon Courage x Ehrenpreis son (breeder: ZG Lenzen, Heinsberg, exhibitor: Theo Lenzen, Nettetal) from the direct dam line of the Warendorf State Stud stallion Ehrentusch will follow in the footsteps of his granddam’s brother and move into the North RhineWestfalian state stud; Moving to the Schulten-Baumer dressage stable, the premium awarded liver-chestnut stallion by Bon Courage x Rotspon, bred by Hans-Ludwig Dittmer, presented himself at • A strong-moving Valdiviani x Sir Donnerhall son presented by the Schult the highest level on all three licensing days

28 December 2023

stallion station (breeder: ZG Wencek, Sonsbeck), who will be available to breeders in Hunxe next season under the name Vjento.

German state studs also secured excellent uncut diamonds. A Bon Vivaldi NRW x Royal Blend son (breeder and exhibitor: Wilhelm Kamps, Cuxhaven) moves to Celle, sold for €50,000 by the director of the state stud, Dr Axel Brockmann. The Marbach State Stud purchased a black stallion by So Unique x Totilas (breeder and exhibitor: Willem Klausing GbR, Diepholz) for €30,000, while the Moritzburg State Stud spent €106,000 to acquire a Totilas x Sir Donnerhall son (breeder: Thorsten Hogrefe, Stöcken, exhibitor: BG Enning und Laufhutte, Dusseldorf).

A Dynamic Dream x Lord Loxley son (breeder: Andreas Ingenbleek, Kevelaer, exhibitor: Elsbeth Schult, Hunxe) was also sold for €100,000 to supporting hands in Luxembourg, which made the liver chestnut the most sought-after licensed stallion without a premium.

Unlicensed stallions were also met with great interest when a buyer from Baden-Wurttemberg paid €50,000 for a Dynamik Dream x Don Nobless son (bred by Johannes zur Lage, Bersenbruck, exhibitor: Gennadii Sydorenko, Kiev, Ukraine).

Statistics showed an average price of €70,542 for 24 licensed stallions, with several highly successful international dressage trainers securing future young talents for the big dressage arena. An average of €23,024 was paid for 21 unlicensed stallions.

During an impressive show program, and in addition to the presentation of the premium stallions, an entire bloodline took centre stage.

Bolero (Black Sky xx x Bleep xx), born in 1975, has characterised Hannover’s dressage horse breeding for almost half a century. His genes are still in demand today through his heirs such as the stallions Bon Courage, Bon Amour, and Bonhoeffer. Bolero’s breeder Heinrich Behrmann, Stedebergen, was honoured to the applause of the

audience.

It was fitting that the breeder of this year’s Grande Prize winner, Bon Coeur (Benetton Dream x Sandro Hit), also received her certificate, and the circle was completed with the Benicio x Desperados son Beck’s (breeder: Christian Thelker, Venne).

The bronze medallist at the World Championships for five-year-old dressage horses was awarded the FRH name affix of the Hanoverian Sponsorship Association, as was the Hannoveraner champion of five-yearold dressage horses, Shakeela (Secret x Royal Blend (breeder: Wilfried Putz, Wiesentheid).

The Fritz von der Decken Prize was awarded to the most successful stallion breeder of the past evaluation period, and went to Dr. Kerstin Klieber and Stefan Sandbrink. In their honour, the privately owned stallion Federer (Farrrell x Livaldon; breeder: Wienke Winkelmann, Wurster Nordseekuste), who entered the Verden stallion park three years ago, danced through the Niedersachsenhalle.

It goes without saying that breeding and sport go hand in hand in Verden, when the FRH Cup for sevento nine-year-old dressage horses celebrated a successful inauguration.

Following the presentation of the young stallions on the triangular track, the Niedersachsenhalle was well filled and provided a great backdrop for this premiere! The DSP gelding Diamante Negro (DeLorean x Furst Romancier) was the overall winner with Juliane Brunkhorst (76.179%), ahead of Zinq First Vienna FH FRH (Vitalis x First Dance; breeder: Beekenhof GmbH & Co KG, Bommelsen) and Lucie-Anouk Baumgurtel (73.455%). The small final had already been held earlier in the day, when the Escolar x Rohdiamant son, Escamillo (breeder: Dr Carolin Langhorst, Ratingen), masterfully ridden by Manuel Dominguez Bernal, demonstrated his quality and won with 75.040%.

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Top price for jumping aspirants: €20,000 for son of Diathago

BY JEAN LLEWELLYN / PRESS RELEASE PHOTOGRAPHY: RECKIMEDIA Twenty-one unridden youngsters came under the Westfalian Studbook hammer recently, with a top price of €20,000 paid for a son of Diathago x Cayetano L. Sixteen of the horses on offer changed hands during the online auction for an average price of €12,141.

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he young horses presented during this Westfalian online auction aroused international interest and saw ann exciting end to the evening bidding. In some cases, the hammer prices of the sold youngsters doubled or even tripled during the final bid-up.

All of the jumping youngsters sold achieved prices of over €10,000, with the most expensive being Dos Mas (Diathago x Cayetano L), bred

by Petra Leusmann from Grevan, exhibited by Kim Adina Kramer. Dos Mas is a half-brother to the victorious advanced level Caju. After an exciting bidding duel between Germany and Switzerland, the bay stallion was finally knocked down to a buyer from Baden-Württemberg.

The second most expensive jumping youngster at €16,000 has the significant name Count On Me. The son of Comme Prévu x A conto As (bred by Konrad Böth, Weimar; exhibited by Mika Fallenberg, Enningerloh) is a half-brother to Diacontina, who is a highly successful CSI showjumping competitor under the saddle of Christian Kukuk. Count on me will start his sporting career in Finland.

Fine Step (For Romance I x Fidertanz) 30 December 2023

Dos Mas (Diathago x Cayetano L) From the group of dressage youngsters, a son of For Romance I x Fidertanz (breeder: Franz-Josef Wübbold, Lindern; exhibitor: Marcel Ohmeis, Dorsten) danced his way to the top of the price list. The appropriately named Fine Step descends from the dam line of Wansuela Suerte, who collected gold medals at the World Championships and Olympic Games under the saddle of the famous Hubertus Schmidt. At the hammer price of €18,500 euros, the beautiful bay will begin his career in the United States.

The bidding for head number one lasted for 30 minutes and saw 29 bids from seven clients, with the virtual hammer falling at €16,000 for the bay stallion Redington-D (Bon Joker x Chagall, bred by E. Dijkema, in the Netherlands.

A total of 75% of the youngsters on offer found new owners. The international clientele invested an average of €12,141, and seven of these young talents will begin their careers outside of Germany.

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Grading of young Holsteiner stallions ready to begin

BY CAROLIN TASSIUS-DIEDERICH / HOLSTEINER VERBAND PHOTOGRAPHY: JANNE BUGTRUP From December 14-16, the grading of the Holsteiner young stallions will be held for the first time ever at the Elmshorn Verband facility. The pre-selections took place in late October (see pg. 26), with around 50 colts receiving their ticket to the event, previously always held in Neumünster.

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he list of colts makes for a very promising read, with lined, the grading decisions will already be announced on anticipation being especially high for the first crops by Friday evening, after the presentation of the riding horse Cahil (2017/ET: Cornet Obolensky - Operette III x collection.

Contender) and Chinchero (2017: Chopin VA - Camara VA On the Saturday morning, one of the most interesting x Clarimo) – the celebrated champion and reserve questions is answered: Who is crowned Holsteiner champion champion, respectively, of their own gradings. stallion? Afterwards, the stallions for sale and the riding Cahil and Chinchero will both be represented by three horses will be auctioned, with head of marketing Felix sons who will be presented before the eyes of the grading Flinzer stating; “The entire Holsteiner Verband team and I committee in the week before the third Sunday in Advent. are looking forward to this premiere at Elmshorn. We want Other stallions with three or more sons apiece are: to provide a worthy framework for this long-established • Casall (1999: Caretino - Kira XVII x Lavall I, bred by event while at the same time offering something new.”

Wilfried Thömann) Flinzer continued by adding; “In addition to the auction • Cascadello I (2009: Casall - Viviana x Clearway, bred by of the young stallions, the auction sale of the small but select Detlef Hennings) collection of riding horses held in a pre-Christmas ambience • Chopin (2011: Clearway - Tinka’s Corona x Coronado I, will definitely be a highlight.” bred by Markus Hanssen) Tickets for the December grading of the young stallions • Clarimo (2003: Clearway - Wisma x Caletto II, bred by are available through www.eventim, at all known ticket Johann Hermann Claussen) agencies, and on site at the Holsteiner Verband Elmshorn • Corniolo (Cornet Obolensky - Dora x Quadros 3, bred by facility, from €15.

■ Witt Pferdezucht) • Keaton (2016: Kannan GFE Zahara II x Contendro I).

Not only is the venue new, but the format for the grading has also changed. According to breeding director Stephan Haarhoff, “To ensure the colts’ optimal evaluation and selection, the free jumping is held on Thursday as well as on Friday for the first time.” Both free jumping efforts will form part of the grading in equal measure and follow the same pattern: The colts are not being led into the jumping chute but run in at liberty.

Before the colts are free jumped, they have to undergo the traditional inspection on hard ground on the Thursday of the event. With the entire No. 148 Zuccero son DE421000139321, bred by Sigrid Czolbe-Thomsen grading procedure streamDecember 2023

31

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Polish-bred Hanoverian stallion achieves FRH suffix

BY AGATA GROSICKA PHOTOGRAPHY: STEFANO GROSSO/GLOBAL CHAMPIONS TROPHY Constable (Contendro I x Diarado), the five year old Hannoverian stallion bred by Poland’s Ilona Turowska, has achieved his most notable success thus far with his extraordinary performance in October 2023 during the Studbooks Global Champions Trophy in Valkenswaard.

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onstable was nominated to represent the Hanoverian Association at the inaugural WBFSH Studbooks Jumping Global Champions Trophy. His three spectacular clear rounds, with Jarosław Skrzyczynski in the saddle, helped ensure the team win in the five-year-old category.

Individually he was also classified in first place. This outstanding performance secured him a stallion approval for Hanoverian breeding and he was later awarded the FRH suffix. He was subsequently granted approved status by AES, with a PZHK licence pending.

This achievement wasn’t his first international win, as Skrzyczynski and Constable were victorious in the CSI-YH five-year-old finals in Zielona Gora in April 2023 and CSI-YH Baborowko in August 2023. To date, they’ve recorded an impressive resumé of wins and podium placings at international, national, and regional level.

As a very young horse, Constable impressed the judges and the audience at the Anglo European Studbook stallion licensing in 2021, when he was invited to the champion’s circle as the second-highest-scoring stallion at the event. He later received a lot of attention and, due to demand, was made available to breeders that year. As soon as he fulfilled his breeding obligations, he arrived at the stable of Poland's best showjumper, Jarosław Skrzyczynski, who started Constable under saddle, paving the way to success.

Constable is the first foal of Diascada, a mare that descends from a dam line successful in sport and breeding.

Diascada competed internationally at the 1m25 with her new owner, who later decided to take advantage of her qualities as a broodmare.

Diascada is the daughter of Gundi, who competed internationally at the 1m45 and halfsister to Lordanz, a 1m45 Longines ranking class jumper, who also collected numerous wins and placings.

Constable and Jarosław Skrzyczynski

Constable is sired by the famous Contendro I; an incredibly versatile sire with offspring at the very top level in all three Olympic disciplines. In 2019, for the fifth year in a row, he was ranked number one in the world as an eventing sire, and has been among the top 25 sires in showjumping for the past eight years. He was 1999 Holstein premium stallion and won the Adelheidsdorf stallion performance test in 2000. His intense breeding schedule only allowed for sporadic appearances at shows but when he competed, he always took home a ribbon. Contendro I has an excellent temperament, and passes on his good mind, rideability, and type. (Description of Contendro I sourced from his owner’s page.)

In October 2023 the Hanoverian Association awarded Constable the FRH suffix, a quality seal reserved for highly gifted top-class horses, after Dr. Axel Brockmann, director of State Stud Celle, reviewed videos of Constable’s first performances as a four-year-old: “In the course he seems to have a capacity to jump and is also very rideable. He is a very modern, good type. It is an excellent dam line, with Steingilde in the background. Goodman may not have been an internationally known stallion but Graf Grannus was excellent and Thoroughbred in the background is good as well”.

During the AES 2021 licensing, Dr. Ludwig Christmann, now retired from the Hanoverian Association, stated during his free jumping: “I like the way he jumps; confident but very attentive and scopey.” Adding: “His dam line with Steingilde is so great. It produced stallions like Stakkato’s sire Spartan and Graf Top”.

There are many approved stallions and performers jumping at the highest level in the Steingilde family. In addition to the legends mentioned above, this dam line is represented by 1m60 stallion For Keeps, and Laptop – also widely used in breeding. Jarosław Skrzyczynski’s World Cup Final partner, 1m60 jumper Chacclana, also descends from this dam line.

Breeder Ilona Turowska commented on Constable’s international success: “We are thrilled with Constable's performance. To be honest, we were all nervous about taking on this challenge, as it was all new. New footing, new heights, new degree of difficulty of the jumps. Brilliantly guided by Skrzyczynski, Constable really showed quality. He thrived in the arena and all three rounds were beautiful to watch. We hope to return next year.”

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33

Unprecedented mother and daughter World Cup success

BY SALLY REID PHOTOGRAPHY: CORNEGE PHOTOGRAPHY It was an unprecedented World Cup win – a New Zealand first, and maybe a global first: the battle for victory between a mother and daughter, Holsteiner ares from Sta, 2067, in te CSI1*-W at Takapoto last month. Coincidentally, the mother beat the daughter into a close second.

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he winner was LT Holst Andrea (Casall - Palaune x Lavaletto), who was bred in Germany by Hans-Joachim Gerken, and imported to New Zealand by Ewen Mackintosh when he founded his now very successful Lake Taupo Holsteiners stud.

The runner-up, with clear jumping in both rounds but a single time fault, was Andrea’s gorgeous grey daughter by Colman, LT Holst Freda. Freda was a 2014 ET foal and is a twin: her full sister, LT Holst Francis, has an exciting daughter of her own by Emerald.

LT Holst Andrea is now 15 and, based on Southern Hemisphere equine ages, she was born in 2008, and came into the 2023-24 competition season looking superb in the hands of Brooke Edgecombe, who rides and owns her. Andrea has been the VDL-Equibreed top-ranking mare every year since 2018, and is the reigning NZ Horse of the Year, which she won

in 2020. The HOY title has not be contested since then, due to Covid and weather-enforced cancellations, but all being well should be held again this coming March 2024.

Incidentally, LT Holst Andrea was in foal to Clinton when she arrived in New Zealand. That foal – LT Holst Elizabeth – later travelled back to Europe with her owner/rider Annabel Francis and had good placings both there and in the United States. She was sold to European owners earlier this year.

Freda’s multiple awards

LT Holst Freda, who is now nine, won the National Seven-year-old Young Horse Championship in 2021, with the only double clear in the final class and faultless jumping throughout the three days of competition. She also won the style prize.

She finished fourth in her s i x - y e a r- o l d championship, was the five-year-old champion in 2019, and was a real standout as a fouryear-old: once again the only horse of her age to finish three days of jumping without a single fault, winning the national title and the style prize. She is owned and ridden by Julie Davey, who has had Freda since the age of two.

Third place in this leg of the World Cup went to another very interesting mare owned and ridden by Julie Davey: the LT Holst Andrea and Brooke Edgecombe (left), with her daughter LT Holst Freda and Julie Davey KWPN import Just D

34 December 2023

(Durango VDL - Carina x Veron). Just D is from Winckenburg-stam, Merrielijn 28, Fokfamilie 274 and was bred in the Netherlands by Laurens Droste. Her dam, Carina (Elite IBOP spr prest prok) has a number of super offspring, including her 2020 foal Precious (Kardesh), who was the top jumping mare at an October KWPN inspection at Team Nijhof under assessor Wim Versteeg. A big, beautiful grey, Just D is owned by Kokako Farms and recently won a leg of the North Island Premier League Championship.

Just a fraction behind these three terrific mares was a stallion, Bravado Ego Z (Balougran Z x Carthago Z) who was imported from Australia. He was bred by Dr. Linda Mayer who has been researching and using Zangersheide genetics for more than 25 years at her stud, Ego Summersea in New South Wales. Bravado is a very impressive horse and has held the title of Equibreed Leading Stallion for three years running. Now fourteen years old, Bravado is owned by Sue Holden, Fiona Hall, and his rider Logan Massie.

Bravado’s Australian-born dam, Cressida Ego Z (Carthago Z x Almé Crack Z), was also bred by Linda. His sire, Balougran Z (Baloubet du Rouet Agrana x Grannus), bred by Paul Schockemöhle, was the winner of his 2002 performance test with five 10s for jumping, and was one of Baloubet’s first licensed sons.

Bravado Ego Z has ‘Principal in Sport’ status with the New Zealand Warmblood Association, receiving a mark of 77.08% at his inspection under Gerd Küst and Michelle Zielazo in 2013. He was described as ‘a great example of the Baloubet line, a strong, masculine stallion with powerful movement, good scope and technique’. He is also licensed with the NZ Hanoverian Society.

The focus of Bravado’s life has been competition rather than breeding, but he does have some progeny, one of which was New Zealand’s first foal from in-vitro fertility treatment using intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). The dam of this filly is an imported KWPN mare,

Wonette (Papillon Rouge - Sonette x Cavalier) from Hannover Stutenstamm, Schridde 1124. Interestingly, Bravado also has a KWPN daughter in the Netherlands, Orangina Zet, whose dam is Ballerina S, Elite IBOP spr (Lucky Boy x Corland x Good Times), from Oberlina-stam, Merrielijn 24, fokfamilie 312.

NZL World Cup rankings New Zealand’s World Cup is very different from its Northern Hemisphere counterparts, in that almost every rider has just one horse.

The 2023-24 season is still in its early stages, but at the moment LT Holst Andrea tops the rankings, with Waitangi Skynet (Cassini II (Cassini II Pétanque x Aberlou xx) in second place. This gelding was bred by Joss Bayly at Waitangi Sport Horses in Northland and is owned by his rider Sophie Scott. He won the opening World Cup round in October.

LT Holst Freda is in third place, Bravado Ego Z fourth, and Haupouri Drama NZPH (Orlando - Vidal NZPH x Pezetas du Rouet) in fifth. This 11-yearold mare was bred by New Zealand Performance Horses, and is owned and ridden by Kathryn Loiselle. Her dam, Vidal NZPH, was a successful 1m40 jumper.

Sixth is another 11-year-old, the NZWA gelding Millionaire VWNZ (VDL Emilion - Showtym Girl xx x Green Perfume xx) who is ridden by his owner/breeder Vicki Wilson. This horse’s dam – a beautiful little Thoroughbred – is now 24, but was a jumping legend in her time: winner of numerous Grands Prix, and a string of titles, including Speed Champion, North Island Champion, Seven-yearold National Champion, and Derby Champion. She and daredevil Vicki also achieved a bareback Puissance jump of 1m82 at HOY: Showtym Girl is just 15.2hh.

The next round of World Cup jumping will be held this month at the National Equestrian Centre in Taupo. ■

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Horse Sport Ireland 2023 Foal Championship

BY HORSE SPORT IRELAND / HSI PHOTOGRAPHY: LAURENCE DUNNE/JUMPINACTION The 2023 Horse Sport Ireland Foal Championship was held on 25th October in Co. Kildare’s Coilóg Equestrian Centre. The Championship was contested by the winners of the four regional qualifiers held nationwide. ith over €26,000 in prize money available across five categories in the Championship and qualifiers, it boasted the best of Sport Horse and Sport Pony breeding in Ireland.

Since its inauguration in 2015, the Horse Sport Ireland Foal Championship, which is funded under National Breeding Services by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, has sought to identify, and evaluate foals with the potential to be competitive at the highest international level.

Foals are judged under the criteria of functional conformation, walk, trot, canter, overall athleticism and balance, as well as pedigree, with bonus points available for foals from successful competition families.

Horse Sport Ireland would like to extend their congratulations to all competitors on their success throughout the competition and to all breeders, owners and connections of the 2023 Foal Championship finalists and Champion foals.

Of the 20 qualified foals, four competitors were presented in each of the following four categories: Pony Showjumping Foal, Pony Eventing Foal, Horse Show Jumping Foal and Horse Eventing Foal. The top four Traditionally bred horse foals from across the qualifiers were

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judged and presented with the top Traditionally bred foal for 2023.

Horse Sport Ireland were delighted to be joined by an expert judging panel across each category. Active breeders Andrew Hughes and Norman Allen assessed the athleticism and potential aptitude of the showjumping foals. Eventing foals and Traditional foals were judged, separately, under the expert eyes of Olympians Mairead Ryan and Sam Watson.

Eventing Pony Foals The final began with the pony eventing section, with Marjorie Hardiman’s colt Creganna Smarty Pants (ISP) taking the title and the judges commending his loose movement and lightness off the ground. Creganna Smarty Pants (ISP) is by HSF Lucky Boy (ISP) and out of Creganna Gypsy O (ISH) by Road To Happiness (TB). Creganna Smarty Pants qualified for the final at the last qualifier in Tubberbride EC. Marjorie was delighted to see her foal take the win having bred the dam herself and has had the damline for five generations, and also having bred a half-sister to this colt foal. She has plans to keep and produce these ponies with her daughters, making it a family affair.

The reserve for the Pony Eventing Foal category was Barryroe Princess Ceremony (WPB) a filly by Orielton Top Secret (WPB), out of Dowhills Ceremony (BRP) by Whalton Highwayman (WPB), owned and bred by Jerry Moloney. Jerry saw great success with his foals through the qualifier stages having two qualified Eventing foals at the final in Coilóg.

Showjumping Pony Foals

Eventing Pony winner Creganna Smarty Pants 36 December 2023

Having crowned the Pony Eventing Foal Champion, the eventers took a short break, and the next class was the Showjumping Pony Class.

Connemara Pony colt Ballywildrick Mirah’s Legacy,

by Westside Mirah II (CP) out of Ballywildrick Sylvia (CP) by Dark Editon (CP), owned and bred by Diane Weatherup was named the Champion after deliberation by judges Andrew Hughes, and Norman Allen.

out of Rathlee Candy Lady (ISH) by Sligo Candy Boy (ISH). Judges were impressed with his lovely temperament and correctness.

Best turned-out in the Horse Eventing foal section went to Daniela Cardillo Corr and her foal Bawnlusk Constantino (ISH) by Continental Blue (OS) out of Soolmoy Lady (ISH) OBOS Quality (Oldbg).

Traditional Foals

Showjumping Pony Winner - Ballywildrick Mirah’s Legacy Diane Weatherup was delighted with the win having bred the dam herself, and having had both the granddam and grandsire before her.

Showjumping Pony Reserve went to Jane Ryan’s Killelton Glenwood Girl (ISP) a filly by Glenwood Oak (CP) out of Killelton Snow Queen (ISH) by Tyson (KWPN). The judges were impressed with the light movement in this filly and her athletic action. The announcement of the Pony Showjumping Champion brought the pony foals sections to a close.

Eventing Horse Foals The Eventing foals were back up with the horse classes beginning next. Sam Watson and Mairead Ryan were on double duty judging the Eventing foals and then Traditionally bred foals immediately after this class.

The Eventing section saw a high standard of competition leading to some tough decisions for the judges. This section was won by Centrefire (ISH), a colt by Alicante (Holst), the former ride of Belgium’s Jerome Guery, out of Junderstand (TB) by Champs Elysees (TB). This colt is owned and was bred by Mark Mayne, and qualified at the qualifier in Kernan’s Equestrian Centre.

Understandably, Mark was extremely proud of his foal with his partner, Victoria, commenting to Horse Sport Ireland on the day of their decision to use the sire the renowned stallion Alicante, who 'has a fantastic mix of Holstein bloodlines, while still having 44% Thoroughbred blood, meaning athleticism and speed is in his genes'.

Reserve Eventing Champion went to Michael Hanley’s confident colt Carrowmac Avos Candy (ISH) by Avos Jordan Z (Zang)

In the Traditional Irish Horse section, Maria Melvin's colt, Glenkeeran Dance in Time (ISH)[TIH], was crowned Champion on the day.

This foal was sired by Crosstown Dancer (ID) and his dam is the Thoroughbred mare Desert Moon, by Desert Storm (TB). Maria is no stranger to the Foal Championship final having qualified in 2022 with this foal’s full brother. Maria is a great fan of the sire Crosstown Dancer and is delighted to see his progeny doing well. Judges were impressed with Glenkeeran Dance in Time (ISH)[TIH] citing him a 'very complete foal with lots of presence'.

Donal Goland’s colt Ballinglen Next Generation (ISH)[TIH], by Financial Reward (TB) out of Ballinglen Cruise Girl (ISH)[TIH] by Rebel Mountain (ID) was the reserve champion. Judges saw good potential with this foal to award the reserve champion title.

Best turned out in the TIH section went to Susan Malee’s filly foal Carrabeg Spirit (ISH)[TIH] by her own stallion Carrabeg The Full Irish (ISH)[TIH] out of Rakish Diamonds, by Rakish Paddy (ID).

Showjumping Horse Foals The final of the Foal Championship 2023 concluded with the Showjumping Horse foal section and awarding the

Eventing Horse Foal winner – Centrefire (ISH) December 2023

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Showjumping Horse Foal winner – Pleasure For Sure (ISH)

worked well and maintains recognition of good breeding decisions and assessment of foal quality on the day. I would like to thank each of our judges, who supported us throughout this initiative and provided valuable space for breeders to discuss their foals and breeding programmes.

“Additionally, I would like to thank the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine for their funding and continued support of the Foal Championships each year under National Breeding Services. They highlight the importance of identifying and rewarding breeders who have bred a foal that has the potential to be competitive at the highest level in the disciplines of showjumping or eventing. Such evaluation of our young horses and ponies is imperative to the continued success of our Irish-bred horses

champion Pleasure for Sure (ISH), a filly by Another and ponies.

Pleasure (KWPN) out of Donogue Cavalier Girl (ISH) by “As always, I look forward to a future of supporting these Cavalier Royale (Holst), bred and owned by Ciaran Ward. foals through the Horse Sport Ireland breeding initiatives Ciaran explained his choice of stallion on a friend’s and wish them every success in their future performance.” recommendation, having assessed the sire’s performance Over the course of the past eight years, several of these foals record and deeming it a good pairing with his Cavalier have come of age to begin their competitive career.

Royale (Holst) mare, who has previously produced 1m40 For Co. Galway breeder and producer Olive Clarke, and 1m50 progeny. Judges noticed this filly's good topline 2015 saw FSS Zodiac (ISH) take the Reserve Showjumping and super trot and canter.

Filly Championship in Millstreet. The Cornet Obolensky Catriona Redmond and her colt BLF Ollee by Zirocco (BWP) mare is out of Olive’s 1m50 competitor Paradise G Blue VDL (SF), out of Emelee (ISH) by Emerald van’t (KNHS) by Indoctro (KWPN), including twice placing in the Ruytershof (BWP) were reserve champions and also took Hickstead Speed Derby. FSS Zodiac (ISH) has since gone on home best turned out. to compete in her first 1m30 classes in 2021 for the Four Of the 2023 Foal Championship, Dr Sonja Egan, Head Seasons Stables rider. of Breeding, Innovation and Development, said: “This In 2016, Olive was again back to the HSI Foal initiative is run under National Breeding Services and open to all studbook-registered foals – it was fantastic to see the crossstudbook success through the qualifiers and finals and I would encourage all breeders and producers to continue to use these initiatives, which are designed to support their breeding programmes.

“I would like to congratulate the 2023 champions of our horse and pony eventing sections, showjumping section and our Traditional section. In 2023, the pedigree bonus point system was reintroduced in the horse section with a different weighting system; this has Traditional Foal winner – Glenkeeren Dance in Time (ISH)

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Championship, this time going one better, taking the top placing in the Showjumping Colt Foal Championship with FSS Freestyle (ISH). The colt by Plot Blue (KWPN) has since been exported to the USA where he competed for a time under the saddle of Freestyling Farms’ Jill Gaffney. “The HSI foal championship have been extremely useful in the development of our breeding program. We try to match our mares with stallions that we feel will improve the quality of the young stock. Presenting them at the foal selection days has allowed us to get fair, unbiased assessments from some of the sport’s top judges. It also allows us to see what other breeders are using, as well as what types and characteristics stallions are producing. With FSS Zodiac (ISH), we allowed her to prove herself in sport up to 1m30 level in Ireland before sending her breeding.

She had her first foal, a filly by Zirocco Blue (SF) in 2022.

“In 2020, Zodiac’s half-brother, FSS Knockout (ISH) by Tyson (KWPN), was also Reserve Champion Showjumping Colt foal. The class has been a great shop window for us as we sold Freestyle after winning the final.

Knockout has been sold to the same people as they were so happy with the first horse. They know that the foals are top quality as they have gone through the HSI process.”

Along with FSS Freestyle’s (ISH) victory in 2016, the Showjumping Filly Foal class that year also saw an impressive line-up in the final. Co. Carlow’s Pam Walshe took the Reserve with another daughter of Cornet Obolensky (BWP), Cornet Q (ISH).

This filly’s dam, Jump The Q (ISH), is a full sister to the OBOS Quality (Oldbg) son, Mark Q (ISH), the Grand Prix winning mount of Ireland’s Kevin Babbington. Jump The Q (ISH) is also the dam of Max Kuhner’s EIC Cooley Jump The Q (ISH), by Pacino (BWP).

The Champion Showjumping Filly of 2016 was bred in Co. Longford by Lady Georgina Forbes; the KWPN Kannan-sired Castle Forbes Gillian (ISH), her dam being the multi-Grand Prix winning Castle Forbes Libertina

(Westf). Under the guidance of Ireland’s Jessica Kurten, one of those Grand Prix victories included the 2008 RDS Dublin Horse Show Grand Prix.

Much like her dam, Castle Forbes Gillian (ISH) is already plotting her way through a successful sporting career, with 2023 seeing her jumping in the Horse Sport Ireland seven-year-old Studbook Series with Gerard Clarke.

That same year, 2016, also saw the Holsteiner Colandro-sired Silken Icon (ISH) take the win in the Eventing Colt Foal Championship for Ballinteggart Stud’s Helen Troughton. As a sevenyear-old, the dam, Silken Twist represented Ireland at Le Lion d’Angers in 2006 with Ross Crawford.

Now competing with Irish Olympian Sarah Ennis, Silken Icon has gone on to compete in the Stepping Stones League and showjump up to 1m10 classes. The Co. Meath based rider is very hopeful for this horse’s future. “If ever I had a horse that I thought was destined for Burghley and Badminton, this is it. He’s a gentle giant, standing at 17hh and has all the qualities and traits of a top event horse. He moves, jumps, and is a really powerful horse. He progressed very successfully through the Stepping Stones league as a fourand five-year-old becoming the fiveyear-old champion in 2021. I’m very excited to see what the future holds for this special boy.”

Horse Sport Ireland would like to thank all of the judges through the qualifiers, Damien Griffin, Andrew Gardiner, Andrew Williams, Emily MacMahon, Jack Doyle, Cathy Cooper and Philip Scott, and the judges at our final, Sam Watson, Mairead Ryan, Norman Allen and Andrew Hughes, for their expert views and knowledge during the 2023 Championship. All four judges at the final commended the high standard and tough competition in the final this year. HSI would also like to express their gratitude to all Arena Party members, vets, host venues, and the countless other individuals that help run the Foal Championships each year.

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SYNDICAT LINARO

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December 2023

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Nine-generation breeder of sport horses: Bertil Andersson

BY ANETTE SÅNESSON (TRANSLATED BY HILLEVI BRASCH) / SWB PHOTOGRAPHY: ANETTE SÅNESSON AND PRIVATE COLLECTION In 2022, we saw Bertil Andersson proudly posing next to his own-bred horses during the threeyear-old SWB championships for mares in both dressage and jumping horses at the SWB Equestrian Weeks.

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ndersson was also among those who received plaques of In 1985 Browalja was awarded a premium, as was Bocia’s honor for his elite mares. Last year, the ninth daughter Bonita. The two mares ranked first and second at generation was born at Ängagården in Bjuv, Skåne, the result the three-year-old test in Hjärnarp. Both branches have since of a lifelong effort. “Horses are everything to me,” Bertil produced numerous competition horses. For example, explains. “I find it difficult to part with them.”

Bocia produced Maraton’s son Marlon, who was successful in His interest in horses dates back to childhood when there advanced showjumping with Eamon Hickey. A notable mare were Belgian Draft mares with foals on the family farm. Since is the elite mare Ballerina, who had 14 offspring. Blå Fjädern then, approximately 300 horses have been produced under and Belicia, two of her daughters, received elite awards, Bertil’s guidance. “It’s not spring if no foals are born,” he says. while Brixton competed successfully in 1m50 showjumping In the early 1970s Bertil acquired his first Warmblood with Jens Fredricson. Blå Fjädern, in turn, produced Bricco, mare. He received a recommendation to contact Hillevi and a high-level showjumper, also under Fredricson’s saddle.

Inge Wilhelmsson outside Lund and bought the pregnant Hillevi Wilhelmsson and her daughter Anna Wilhelmssonthree-year-old mare, Barbara. Barbara belonged to mare Sahlin later returned to Bertil to buy horses from the line family 33 – the Varia family – and this mare line has become that once began with them. a signature for Bertil and his breeding. Upon the purchase, In 2022, seven foals were born on Bertil’s farm, followed Bertil also promised the breeders by the same number in 2023. If a Hillevi and Inge that the offspring’s mare receives a premium as a NINE GENERATIONS FROM MARE FAMILY 33 names would start with the letter B, three-year-old Bertil prefers to and this tradition has continued as a breed with her, partly because 1970 Barbara (Sombrero) - Elite mare hallmark of the maternal line. This the mare is of good quality and 1978 Bocia (Ciceron) - Elite mare line has produced the nine partially because he can utilize 1982 Bonita (Warrigal) - Diploma mare generations, with hopes for a 10th. the scholarship from Amilon’s 1989 Bonanza (Napoleon) - Elite mare Barbara produced the fund for which the Skåne 1996 Ballerina (Pascal) - Elite mare 2007 Belicia (L’acteur) - Elite mare daughters Bocia (Ciceron) and breeders can apply.

2012 Brillete (Cabachon) - Diploma mare Browalja (Dawson), each continuing Over the years, Bertil has 2016 Blixthindra (Conthinder) - Diploma mare a separate branch of the mare line. focused on both dressage and 2021 Bright Future (Chageorge) jumping in breeding horses, but gradually, there has been more emphasis on the jumping side. More recently other mare families have also become part of the farm, starting with mare family ‘1’, when Ingvar Nilsson came to Ängagården to breed his Krevad mare, Krevera, with L’acteur, and she ended up staying on the farm. The result of the breeding was Karisma, who received a premium as a three-year-old and won the National Mare Show in 2010. Karisma is now owned by Bertil’s good friends, Petra Wittzäll and her partner Niklas Karlsson.

Petra received an elite award for the mare this year.

Among Karisma’s offspring are three mares – Karmencita, Estelle, and Ester – all of whom received diplomas and reached the finals at the National Mare Show as three-year-olds, skillfully handled by Caroline Bore.

Caroline is now the owner of Karmencita and has trained The walls in Bertil Andersson’s kitchen walls are adorned with photos and ribbons her up to M-level dressage.

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Ninth generation, Bright Future with her dam Blixthindra In 2009, Bertil bought the Westfalian mare A’pershing, the dam of three approved stallions, Corlensky G, Corlensky G II, and Floré Star. She is 24 years old this year and has had her 16th foal, with Bertil proudly highlighting the quality of the mare. In addition to the stallions, A’pershing has produced Cornelia (Cardento), who competed at 1m45 with Malin Baryard Johnsson and participated in the prestigious London-Olympia pre Christmas show.

Bertil also purchased Stakkato daughter Shiva from Hanover, whose offspring have begun to show their potential both in competition and in breeding. During last year’s Breeders Trophy competitions, horses with their origins at Ängagården could be found in both disciplines. The mares Blueberry and Bolanja finished second and fourth, respectively, in the National Mare Show for jumping and dressage, both from mare family 33. Ester, mentioned earlier, finished second in the National Mare Show for dressage, and in the six-year-old dressage final, Banksy finished sixth. Banksy’s mother, Bigley, was bred by Bertil, and his own-bred Karmencita also participated in the final.

Bertil spotlights his veterinarian Barbro Olsson, who has been with him from the beginning, and whose extensive knowledge he much appreciates: “I’ve been lucky to get to know Barbro; she knows the mares better than I do,” Bertil explains, continuing with a laugh: “This year I planned to reduce and breed fewer mares, but then she wondered why I wasn’t breeding my elite mares, so three more were added.”

For many years Ängagården served as a stallion station for some of the Flyinge stallions and, in the late 1970s Bertil bought his first stallion, Dawson. A few years later, Bertil approached the then-manager of Flyinge, Ingvar Fredricson, to inquire about standing stallions at stud, and Pascal moved to Ängagården. Bertil fondly remembers Pascal as “having an amazing temperament,” and he resided at Ängagården until his death. He also passed on his dark bay/brown color and short, smooth coat.

In the early 2000s, L’acteur came to the stallion station.

He initially had a stall next to Pascal but soon had to move since Pascal did not appreciate a younger stud on the farm.

L’acteur stood with Bertil for several years, covering around 200 mares before returning to the Netherlands. Nowadays,

Bertil mainly uses stallions from Paul Schockemöhle's operation. The stallions are well-bred and trained and compete in a professional manner, something Bertil appreciates, along with the knowledgeable input he’s received from Helena Torstensson, formerly employed at Schockemöhle's branch in Sweden. Bertil also monitors competition statistics himself to use stallions with internationally attractive pedigrees.

Bertil prefers to keep his horses long enough so that they can be presented at the young horse tests but, of course, sells them when there is an interested buyer. Years of breeding high-quality horses mean that Bertil doesn’t need to advertise to sell his horses; success has led people to reach out, knowing there are competition horses with good rideability at Ängagården. “It’s been a long time since I advertised,” Bertil explained. “Many people call me when looking for a horse; some are repeat customers, others have received recommendations from friends or their trainers.”

The young horses roam freely on the farm’s pastureland, a simple and efficient arrangement. Previously, Eamon Hickey handled the basic training, but now Johanna Wall and Anna Krügel pick up the horses as two-and-a-half-yearolds and begin their training. Team Johanna Wall also presents the horses at young horse tests, assisted by the skilled handlers Maths Örtbring and Mattias Åstrand.

Bertil emphasizes the importance of having a good mare line and matching them with quality stallions. He is also stringent regarding selection, cutting the few horses that don’t meet his standards early on.

There are numerous prizes and awards decorating the rooms at the Ängagården residence. Ribbons and plaques of Bertil’s horses adorn the walls, and on a shelf sits a trophy on which Bertil received so many engravings that it was presented to him in perpetuity.

Bertil takes his time answering when asked what he is most proud of. After some consideration he replies; “I have bred sound horses; they have had good legs and temperament. That’s what I’m proud of.”

Bertil has lived a lifetime with horses, bringing him many new friends in his social circle. His hobby has become a job, and vice versa. Hopefully, a 10th generation will be at Ängagården in a few years.

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Bertil’s own-bred Karisma won the National Mare Show at Strömsholm in 2010 December 2023

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Sorine Winther: Taking it all the way in equitation

BY CHRIS GOULD / CWHBA PHOTOGRAPHY: CEALY TETLEY Successful breeding and sport go hand in hand, but it is relatively unusual when the breeder herself is also involved at the point of success in sport. Even more unique, when it is all in the same family.

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his was the case when Colby Winther Konig, 15, of Prince George, BC, won the prestigious Canadian Equestrian Team (CET) Medal for riders 21 and under, at the Royal Winter Fair Horse Show in Toronto this past November.

Mounted on Big Ticket, an 11-year-old Canadian Warmblood, bred and owned by her mother Sorine Winther – who also happens to be her coach – Colby took the jumper equitation championship after three challenging rounds against top junior riders from across Canada. To top things off she also won the Jump Canada Medal for riders 18 and under.

I had the opportunity to talk with Sorine Winther about their unique achievement, only to find that this is not the first time her family has won this award. In 2021 her eldest daughter Taylor, then 19, won the CET Medal at the Royal West Show in Calgary. We spoke at length about what it means to win an equitation championship, her successful breeding program and her long term affiliation with the CWHBA. Equitation is a very challenging and exacting division that gets progressively harder as one advances to regional finals and then national finals. I asked Winther first about the equitation division and why it is so valuable in the development of a young rider. “The goal is to learn the technicalities of how to ride a course effectively and smoothly. Without equitation they don’t always learn the smoothness involved. Equitation rewards that piece of it, that the horses are well broke and that the kids learn to ride track in a seamless and invisible manner.

“When you get to the regional qualifiers and the finals it becomes a three-phase test (two at the qualifying classes). The first day is a gymnastics and flat phase – a course with a number of tests. They’ll be asked things like bounces, and something that we see often is two lines requiring a certain number of strides going in one direction, then adjusting to a different stride pattern coming back.

They’ll be asked for all sorts of flat work, counter Colby Winther Konig riding Big Ticket in the CET canter, shortdivision at RAWF 2023, Toronto ening and

lengthening, back up, and turn on the haunches. The second day is a jumper round. In the regional finals the top six come back, in the National Finals the top four ride off in the second round.”

So what makes a successful Equitation horse? “Well I think an equation horse specifically has a little bit different set of attributes. It needs to be a good enough jumper: not huge scope but at least medium scope. It needs to have a big stride and, more than anything, an incredible amount of tolerance.

So it has to have a really great brain. A horse that is willing to be drilled on a little bit, and I hate that word, but its got to handle the repetition. It takes so much repetition for both the horses and the kids to learn and hone those skills. You really need a horse that’s willing to work with you.”

Often Equitation horses are quite tall. Is that because of the striding? “Yes. The picture the Equitation judges look for is a horse that appears to be going slow, so you don’t want them to look like they are galloping to get down the line. They should appear to be making it easily, and the adjustability is huge because so many of the tests involved lengthening and shortening, so they need to be super adjustable”.

In North America, Equitation is often the stepping stone to a professional career. Many top American and Canadian pros started by winning in this division. Do both your daughters have ambitions to carry on riding and see this as a career path? “When Taylor won, I think it really lit a fire with Colby. She spent some time thinking about it and a year ago she just said ‘this is what I’m doing; this is my goal. I would like to go to the Royal.’ She said at the time, ‘I don’t have to be the winner, I just want to be happy with my performance’.

“So, yes, they will continue riding, but I don’t know that I’m encouraging that as a career path. Taylor, my oldest, has always wanted to be a vet and she is actively pursuing that dream, but she has another young mare that we bred that she has shown up to the 1m45, and has done very well in the U25 division. I don’t see her giving it up, and Colby’s young so I’m not entirely sure what she is going to do. She has some ideas and has competed at 1m30 on a leased horse, but we need to seat her a little better to allow her to move up.”

We then segued into a discussion about her successful breeding program that started with the purchase of one mare in 1993. Next month, in part two, we discuss her breeding philosophy and her journey as a small scale breeder to her present success.

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Maja Gerritsen-van Klei: “Success is a joint effort.”

BY GEMMA JANSEN / KWPN PHOTOGRAPHY: JESSICA PIJLMAN, DIRK CAREMANS For her first horse, Maja Gerritsen-van Klei saved persistently for a few years. However, when she finally had the money, she discovered that she could only afford a one-and-a-half-year-old mare, not a fully grown horse. egardless, Fiona came to Leerdam, marking the Not a three-year-old

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beginning of a successful breeding journey that produced, among others, the remarkable horse Fame.

Dressage enthusiasts had the chance to enjoy Fame during the recent European Championships in Riesenbeck, where he delivered a stellar performance and won team gold ridden by Britain’s Carl Hester.

Horse passion was ingrained in Maja from her childhood: “In one of the photos from my youth, I am three years old, sitting on a horse belonging to my father. He was a true horseman and worked with horses on the family farm until 1962 when tractors took over. I really wanted a pony, but it didn’t happen right away. Instead, my parents and an acquaintance gave me a ten-ride pass for the riding school.

During those lessons, I sometimes fell off, but I didn’t cry because I was too afraid that I wouldn’t be allowed back to the stable. Eventually, I got my own pony and later a horse.

With the horse, I competed for the Stuwruiters and rode in the M2 dressage class. Nowadays, that might not be exceptional, but in our region, there were only a handful of riders at that level.”

“I married a farmer’s son from the neighbourhood, Gijs Gerritsen, but continued riding until the birth of our oldest daughter, Marga. Then, riding was temporarily put on hold.

After Marga, Leonie, and Rianne were born, and around my thirtieth year, the desire to ride returned, and I really wanted to get back into it. A few years later, our son Jan was born, but after the birth of our three daughters, I set aside money every week for a horse until I thought I had enough for a three-year-old mare. Our business was in the building phase and we were not well-off. Unfortunately, during the period when I wasn’t riding, prices had risen significantly, and with what I’d saved a three-year-old was not reasonable. So, I ended up with a year-and-a-half-old mare, Fiona, who was with Henk de Man at the time.

“I had no knowledge of bloodlines back then and didn’t find her particularly special, but she was affordable. She was a daughter of Aktion and came from the registered mare Urssina, a daughter of Juburg, bred by the well-known breeder Thijs Schaap from Woudrichem. I was able to buy

The Gerritsen family with their horses 44 December 2023

Carl Hester riding Fame during the 2023 European Championships, Riesenbeck her for 1,800 guilders (just under €1,000), but I had to take the Shetland pony that was in our pasture at the time along with her.”

From her own breeding At three years old Maja trained Fiona herself: “In practice, this meant that Gijs held her with a halter or bridle, and I would then get on her. When she stayed well-behaved after a few back-and-forth walks, we called her saddlebroken. Actually, it was quite easy because Fiona had a very nice character. There was only one thing she really disliked, and that was going on a trail ride with me. In sports, I could compete with her in the Z class, but then she unexpectedly died from laminitis after a uterine infection. Fortunately, we already had a few offspring from her.

“The first one was Joris, a son of El Corona, with which José Breeden started ZZ-Light at the time. In 1994 and 1995, two daughters of Havidoff followed: Missy Brown and No Limit. Our daughters were already enthusiastic about pony riding and I thought it would be nice if they rode horses from our own breeding. They were, of course, still too young for that, so those two Havidoff mares were mainly used for breeding. Missy Brown eventually started M2 dressage with our oldest daughter Marga and also gave birth to eight foals, including the keur preferent Saigon (Jetset-D), the Small Tour horse Be Cool (UB 40), and Ecuador (Webster), who competed in ZZ-Light.”

On course for Paris “We initially sold No Limit as a foal to Enschede,” Maja continues. “She turned out to be too energetic for her new owner as an adult horse, so we bought her back for a low price and as an eight-year-old she returned to Leerdam. At home, Marga started riding her and, later, a friend of hers rode her recreationally, which went well from the start. No Limit has given birth to eight foals for us, including Bonaventura (Rhodium). As a foal, she went to the National Foal Inspection. Our daughter Rianne started her in the Z2 class, and after that we used her for breeding. She is the mother of Fame.

“He was her first foal, and Joop van Uytert had a lot of confidence in Fame from the first day and bought a half share in him. Fame was invited to the third viewing at the KWPN Stallion Show. Unfortunately, the curtain fell there due to too little sport in the dam line. Through Joop he was sold to the Belgian Larissa Pauluis and her late husband Grégoire Naslin. Eventually, he ended up with Fiona Bigwood in England. She patiently trained him up to Grand Prix, after which Carl Hester took him over, making his international debut in January. During the dressage European Championships in Riesenbeck, he was in the lead after the first Grand Prix day, finished fifth in the Grand Prix Special, and seventh in the freestyle. For now, Carl and Fame are on course for the Olympic Games in Paris next year. We had to make quite an effort, but fortunately, we managed to secure tickets for it.”

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Standard D-OC After Fame, the full sister J’Adore was born, and she starts in the ZZ-Heavy class with Joan van’t Klooster. J’Adore is pregnant with the Vivaldi son One Million for the upcoming spring. “Usually, I am well aware of where the horses from our lineage are,” Maja continues. “But unfortunately there is no trace of Limoncello, born in 2016, a full brother of Fame.”

From Bonaventura comes Noblesse Oblige G, also a full sister to Fame. “Recently, she became Hippiade champion in the L1 class with our daughter Rianne in the saddle. That can be called a miracle because as a foal, she was infected with the rhodococcus equi bacteria. Our vet suspected this and immediately sent her to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Utrecht. This quick action really saved her life, but she was terribly ill with this bacteria. Fortunately, she completely recovered, and she has now given birth to a filly, Soblige G, a daughter of My Blue Hors Santiano.

“From Bonaventura we have only kept Noblesse Oblige G and granddaughter Soblige G. Her daughter by Johnny Depp, Reverse, was sold to Slovenia, and her In Style daughter is now in Belgium. Last year, Joop bought a colt by Blue Hors Monte Carlo TC from Bonaventura. This year, we got a filly from that stallion. Bonaventura intentionally remained empty for the coming year because we notice that carrying and nursing a foal is becoming more difficult for her. We don’t want to breed at the expense of the mare, but if she is in top condition again next spring we may inseminate her again, preferably with Bordeaux. The offspring of Bonaventura are all good in terms of D-OC, and we always have that test done.”

Born saddle-broken In the early days of their breeding, going to inspections for the Gerritsen family was not so successful. “Fiona, Missy

Fame’s dam, Bonaventura (Rhodium) 46 December 2023

Brown, and No Limit all received only a second premium.

That changed with Saigon and Bonaventura, who have different predicates. The horses are always prepared for inspection at Joop van Uytert’s, and during that period, they are also inseminated with the stallion’s semen chosen for the respective mare. Afterwards, and for the past few years, they immediately went to Gerrel Vink. The horses are accustomed to lunging before being prepared for inspection, which is already half of the training. Gerrel breaks them in and then trains them for the IBOP. When Noblesse was with him, he called once and said, ‘that horse was born broke in.’ Gerrel does his job well because when they come home after the IBOP, they are very obedient and well-schooled. These young horses have gone through a challenging and busy period, so they immediately get a vacation and maternity leave. Only after foaling do we determine the further course, depending on how a horse has developed. Maybe she will be bred again, and maybe she will be further trained.”

Fine and willing Anyone reading this story attentively has probably noticed that the Gerritsen family mostly uses stallions from Joop van Uytert. Maja explains why: “He doesn’t live too far from here, always wants to brainstorm with us, and has given us some valuable advice. Besides, he has a good stallion for every mare on his station. In the last few years, we’ve only ‘cheated’ twice.

“As a three-year-old we saw Desperado at the KWPN Stallion Show, and Marga, Rianne, and I unanimously agreed that we wanted to use that stallion. Not at that moment because the Havidoff blood was still too close in our line. Three generations later, we dared to take the risk, and now we have a beautiful yearling in the field, Santorini.

Desperado is black, but from the combination of dark brown x black, we got a chestnut mare. Not a usual colour for us.

“When we started breeding we focused more on conformation and movement than on an honest and down-to-earth character. But we have since realized that a fine and willing character is the most important, and it sells well too. Our experience with Vivaldi is that his offspring are without exception very nice horses. Marga, Rianne, and I really wanted to use Vivaldi, but Gijs thought the stud fee was too high. He rarely gets involved in the choice of stallions and hardly knows the name of a stallion. He also knows nothing about pedigrees but finds a horse either beautiful or not. During our visit to the stallion show at Joop’s, Vivaldi appeared in the arena, and then he said, ‘that’s a beautiful stallion, let’s breed with him.’ ‘Do you know how much that costs?’”

Rianne asked... But that didn’t matter at that moment.

Saigon has also brought a lot From Vivaldi, the family gets, among others, the elite sport mare Estrada. She is born out of Saigon, a preferent elite mare of Jetset-D, with which Rianne started at M2 but could not continue in sport due to an injury. Rianne then competed with Estrada in the ZZ-Heavy class, but later it was decided to mainly use her for breeding. “This was especially because Rianne already had two young horses to compete in sports. Our granddaughter Meike rides Estrada with great pleasure. The first foal from Estrada was Jupiler, a secondround stallion by Bordeaux. Her second foal, a young El Capone named Kinky Boy, is ridden in Z-dressage by his owner. This year she got a filly by Just Wimphof, which recently moved to her new owner in Belgium.”

From her mother, Saigon, also came Honduras, a preferent elite mare by Charmeur. As a foal, she became champion of the young foal inspection in HazerswoudeDorp. As a three-year-old mare, she finished fourth during the Central Inspection in South Holland. “She is a special mare. She will never bite or kick, but she does have an instruction manual. After she was born, we became even more focused on a good character.

“Her oldest foal, by Vivaldi, Licor, is now known as Vivalicor. He has been approved as a stallion by the NRPS and successfully competed by Dirk Jan van de Water in young horse classes and ZZ-Heavy at the age of seven. Then came elite mare Mississippi G, a daughter of In Style. Otrabanda G, Honduras’s next daughter, is also elite and a descendant of Vivaldi. Rianne has now taken her over from us to continue the family breeding with her. She participated with Otrabanda and her foal by Nordic Blue Hors in the foal inspection at Joop van Uytert’s at the end of August. Joop was particularly fond of this Tommy G and bought him on the spot. Otrabanda is pregnant with Nordic Blue Hors again for next spring. The intention is that Rianne will then compete with this mare in sport.”

What the boss asks “Honduras is expecting a foal by Fürst Dior next spring.

We already have a beautiful two-year-old mare, Ravenna G, from this combination in the field. From Honduras, we got a nice colt by Extreme US this year. This Toulouse G was sold through the KWPN Online Foal Auction. If a combination of one of our mares and a certain stallion works well, we use the same stallion calmly once or several times. Like Bordeaux, when I saw him for the first time as a three-year-old, I immediately fell in love with that horse; his appearance and whole behaviour. And I was also charmed by the bit of solidity in him, making horses strong and seemingly able to handle the work easily. The combination with Bonaventura turned out to be good every time.

“All offspring have a top character; they are peopleoriented, well-behaved, work when they need to work, and seem to really enjoy it. They are certainly not slow horses,

and they can also be quite curious. We saw that with Fame and Carl Hester during the European Championships in Riesenbeck and with Noblesse Oblige G before Rianne’s test at the Hippiade. When they enter the ring, they find it exciting for a moment, but right after that, they are focused and do what the boss asks.”

Fine and workable “As we had horses longer, we became more and more interested in breeding. We all consciously think about the choice of stallions, visit various inspections and, of course, the KWPN Stallion Show. Our goal is to breed a healthy, fine, and workable horse that both a top rider and an amateur can enjoy. When I talk about us, I mean Gijs, our daughters Marga, Rianne, and myself. Our other two children, Leonie and Jan, will always help if necessary, but they don’t have a special affinity with horses. Marga stopped actively riding two years ago but ensures that the horses always look great, and she also helps with daily care. She is my right hand at home; it’s also doable for her because she lives on my parental farm, on the same property where Gijs and I live. Her daughter Meike also helps wherever she can.

“Rianne lives a few villages away and has completely found her way ‘in horses.’ She worked for many years at a large riding school in Zeist, obtained her teaching qualifications, and now gives many lessons in her region, both to riders at a riding club and at home. She also competes our mares in sport, providing a valuable addition to the paperwork. Carl Hester is her great example in riding; sitting still and being successful without pulling and jerking.

She always says, ‘thanks to you, I have such good horses,’ and that naturally makes us proud and happy. Her 10-year-old daughter Fay rides a pony and is just as enthusiastic as her mother, promising much for the future.”

Fifth generation “Unfortunately, I can no longer ride myself due to problems in my hips, although I would still love to. I always read Rianne her test at competitions and remain involved in the sport. I also try to keep track of where our sold foals end up and what they achieve. I also always try to visit them when they are a bit older. With a friend, I visited Fame when he was still in Belgium. Visiting Carl Hester has not worked out yet, but it is certainly still on the wish list. In Riesenbeck, Marga and I tried to get to Fame’s stable, but we were immediately stopped. Logical, of course, but still a pity.

“After Fiona, I never wanted to buy another mare, and I still enjoy breeding only with our own line. The fifth generation has now been born here. As a breeder, you depend on where the horse ends up. You can’t influence what a rider will do with it. The only thing you can do is try to breed a good utility horse. We hope to continue doing this together for a very long time. I could never do it alone, but I can with everyone. Being successful is a joint effort,” Maja concludes.

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AES: UK Autumn Stallion Gradings Tour

BY EVA MARIA BROOMER / AES PHOTOGRAPHY: HORSEPOWER CREATIVE The AES held another highly successful series of stallion gradings this autumn, visiting venues in Cheshire and Sussex. Public stallion grading tours are held twice a year in the late autumn and spring, which gives stallion owners more flexibility to present their stallions in the best condition.

A

s part of the studbook’s commitment to welfare, we always offer a number of different venues in locations across the country to reduce unnecessary stress and travel time. Members of the public are warmly welcome to watch, and the venues are advertised online via our website.

This year’s team of evaluators consisted of Robbert Ehrens who joined us from the Netherlands, Carron Nicol, Lucy Simpson, and Eva-Maria Broomer. Stallions were evaluated depending on their age, either loose or under saddle, and our visit to Cheshire brought some exciting new editions to our stallion portfolio.

Balou’s Bobby is a young son of Balou Peggio purchased from Denmark and owned by Alice Weightman. He showed a lovely willing attitude under saddle and was careful over the fences. He was awarded registered status and will now have the opportunity to prove himself in his work.

Licensed status was awarded to Picture Perfect MJ Scaldia, a very elegant, long lined, athletic type who showed exceptional jumping ability and scope. This stallion was bred

by J Martens in the Netherlands and purchased as a foal by Jade Meagher. He is by the very interesting Heartbreaker son Hardrock Z. His motherline, the Zottie Stam, has been prolific, and in the direct mare family we find 1m60 horses such as Wiesielottie (Rash R), HBR Tennessey (Concorde), and Amadeus (Guidam), to select only a few. He particularly impressed with his excellent brain for jumping that will ensure him a bright competition future.

Already well established under saddle was Bartender, owned and bred by Hannah Bate. This very interesting son of the Heraldik xx son Herald III has a pedigree that would be of great interest to jumping and eventing breeders alike.

His mother Barones II was internationally successful in eventing up to CCI4*. She is a daughter of the great Concorde and a half sister of numerous Grand Prix horses, among them the 1m60 jumping stallion Empire (Calvaro Z), the 1m60 Can Ya Makan (Canturo)

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horse O Come On M (Come On), and the 1m55 horse Flavio (Cicero Z van Paemel).

Bartender has started his showjumping career with promising per for mances Nadim il faut (Comme il faut) and convinced at his evaluation with balanced, active gaits and strong conformation.

The team travelled south to Sussex where it was a great treat to visit Al Shira’aa stables who continue to invest in excellence in breeding and the sport. Al Shira’aa successfully presented four very interesting young stallions all of whom gained licensed status.

Troy Z is a son of Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve and was bred by B. Bosklopper and MFS Horses B.V. He is a daughter of the Nabab de Reve daughter Venus, who was successful at 1m45 level with the British rider Deborah Jackson. From the same pairing come Beezie Madden’s highly successful Grand Prix stallion Darry Lou, Deborah Jackson’s Kandy, and the 1m55 mare Beat Me, who combined her successful competition career with an outstanding breeding record, including the stallion F One USA (Toulon) with international Grand Prix winnings of over €250,000. Troy convinced with excellent jumping ability, and conformation which is very harmonious and complete for his age. He is a long-lined, elegant type whose pedigree alone will be enormously attractive to breeders.

King Leon Z is a very attractive liver-chestnut stallion showing exceptional potential for the future. He is by Kassander van’t Roosakker out of the 1m40 jumping mare Kwasabi van’t Heike. His grandam is Volympia van’t Heike, a daughter of Darco and successful at 1m50 with Yves Vanderhasselt. From this direct line come the 1m60 mares Evian van’t Heike (Nabab de Reve) and Fair Light van’t Heike (Vigo d’Arsouilles). He is still growing into his frame, but showed an excellent, balanced canter and outstanding jumping scope.

Errill Z was bred at Al Shira’aa stables and is by the great

Emerald out of the 1m60 Ice Baby, a daughter of Eros Platiere. From this line also come Un Blanc de Blancs – a 1m60 stallion by Sheyenne de Baugy, and Vodka – a 1m50 stallion by Ernest. Errill is a powerhouse of a stallion, quite compact in type, with enormous jumping ability and a very quick action and take off.

Cantona 18 brings the important blood of Comme il faut and completes this year’s string of new stallions for Al Shira’aa. This stallion comes from a Holstein family that has produced licensed stallions such as Comme d’Hab J&F Champblanc (Clarimo), Lacatraz (Lands River), and Lone Star I and II (Landlord). Cantona has a compact and very powerful frame and showed excellent scope and a keen yet careful attitude.

All stallions were excellently produced and presented and have a very bright future ahead.

We concluded this year’s tour with a grading day at Breen Equestrian at Hickstead. There it was a particular treat to catch up with the AES Elite stallion Can Ya Makan (Canturo) who was bred at Studfarm Overis. He looks excellent for his age and is very much enjoying his retirement from the sport.

Z7 For T is a young stallion bred at Breen Equestrian by the great For Pleasure out of a prolific daughter of Voltaire who has already produced highly successful international jumpers, such as the 1m60 stallion Z Seven Ascot (Nonstop).

He is a very attractive young horse with long legs and a careful attitude, showing exceptional rideability and a very good temperament, as well as plenty of scope. He achieved licensed status and we look forward to watching him develop.

Nadim Il Faut is a young stallion who has already produced some very good foals and was awarded an upgrade to approved status. He is a son of Comme il faut out of a Kannan x Indoctro mare. He convinced with strong, harmonious and correct conformation, exceptional gaits, and outstanding jumping ability. He was bred by D. de Jong and has started his competition career with Adam Ellery. It was a nice touch that this mare family has produced Robbert Ehrens’s successful 1m55 gelding Eleganto (also by Indoctro), as well as the 1m50 horse Guiness (VDL Corland).

Oakingham Stud presented the young home-bred stallion Vodka Martini O.S. by Faltic HB out of a Vulkano x Cassini I mare who showed a wonderful temperament and was beautifully produced by Mackenzie Ray. This stallion has a very active hind leg, giving him great adjustability in his gaits and a quick, positive jump with plenty of scope. He is very correct in his conformation and very harmonious for his age. Vodka Martini achieved licensed status and will now focus on his competition career.

We thank all our owners and breeders for taking the time to present their horses and wish everyone the very best for the future.

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Balou’s Bobby (Balou Peggio)

Bartender (Herald III)

King Leon Z (Kassander van’t Roosakker)

Troy Z (For Pleasure) December 2023

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WBFSH sires’ ranking 2022/2023 by discipline SHOWJUMPING

50 December 2023

DRESSAGE

EVENTING

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Oxytocin predicts training behavioural responses

BY TARU NITTYNENa, VEERA RIIHONENb, LIZA R. MOSCOVICEc, SONJA E. KOSKId GRAPHICS: THE AUTHORS Ensuring horse welfare is a central aim in equestrian activities. Training is an important context for welfare, as horses form long-lasting representations of people and actions at a young age.

However, only a few studies have addressed horses’ emotional responses during early training with humans.

I

n this study, we followed N=19 young horses, including naïve yearlings and more experienced two- to three-year-olds, through five foundation training sessions over nine months.

Our goal was to combine physiological and behavioral measures to assess emotional responses to early foundation training. Specifically, we measured salivary oxytocin (sOXT) in N=100 samples and salivary cortisol (sCORT) in N=96 samples before and after training sessions. We also recoded behavioral responses during training. Changes in sOXT during training predicted individual variation in behavioral responses: Horses who showed more affiliative human-directed behaviors during training had increases in sOXT, while horses who showed more behavioral indicators of discomfort during training had decreases in sOXT. Salivary cortisol was not related to individual behavioral responses, but experienced horses had lower sCORT concentrations both before and after training, and all horses showed decreases in sCORT and in behaviors indicative of fear or discomfort as training progressed. In addition, sCORT increased during longer training sessions, consistent with the established role of cortisol in responding to physical stressors. We conclude that individual variation in positive or negative behavioral responses to foundation training corresponds with acute changes in sOXT concentrations in young horses, suggesting that sOXT may be useful as a noninvasive indicator of emotional responses in young horses.

1. Introduction Horses used in sports or recreational activities require systematic training to be safe to handle and to learn the various tasks required of them. Horses are typically subjected to their task specific training from three years of age onwards, preceded by foundation training in which horses learn basic responses before being ridden (McGreevy et al., 2018).

Young horses may experience considerable stress during training, as measured by changes in behavior and physiology (e.g., Schmidt et al., 2010a; Kedzierski et al., 2012). There is also concern that some training and restraint practices may cause physical injuries and discomfort (McLean and McGreevy, 2010). Therefore, increasing attention is being given to training practices and their effects on horses’

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emotional well-being (McGreevy and McLean, 2007, King et al., 2018, ISES, 2018). While emotions cannot be directly assessed in animals, there have been major advances in recent years in methods for indirect assessment of emotions, based on identifying short-term changes in behavior, physiology and/or cognition in response to biologically-relevant stimuli that help individuals to avoid harmful situations and to seek out positive and rewarding experiences (reviewed in: Mendl et al., 2010; Paul and Mendl, 2018).

As training lays the base for the horses’ experiential knowledge of interactions with people, promoting positive emotions and reducing negative emotions during training is highly relevant (Sankey et al., 2010a, Sankey et al., 2010b).

However, it is still relatively unclear how various training practices influence horses’ emotions and welfare, and how this is related to horses’ age and previous experience with humans. Handling at a very young age has been proposed to affect horses’ later emotional expression and trainability.

Neonatal handling may decrease emotionality and facilitate learning (Heird et al., 1986, Henry et al., 2009), although the effects may be only temporary (Lansade et al., 2005), and may result in too-familiar attitudes towards humans, which may in turn cause a lack of motivation later in life (Pereira-Figueiredo et al., 2017).

Some studies show that ‘sympathetic’ (or: ‘freestyle’) training, which proceeds stepwise and is adjusted to individual progress, is less stressful than standard training in 2- to 3-yearolds (Visser et al., 2009, Kedzierski et al., 2012) and results in improved relationships with people (Fureix et al., 2009). Yet, the classical European training program has been reported to cause only mild elevation stress in 3-year-olds, as measured by cortisol and heart rate, with the exception of first mounting, which is a significant stressor (Schmidt et al., 2010a).

There is also debate over the application of ‘natural horsemanship’ practices, which aim to adopt horses’ natural social behavior to the context of training with humans (McGreevy et al., 2009). Some studies suggest that application of natural horsemanship methods results in accelerated learning and lower heart rates than conventional training (Fowler et al., 2012), but others have argued that these methods increase stress and fear and involve erroneous assumptions about dominance (Fenner et

al., 2018, McGreevy et al., 2009). It has also been suggested that ultimately, horses’ emotional responses to the applied training depend more on the trainer’s skills than on the method as such (Rozempolska-Rucinska et al., 2013).

In addition to the aforementioned forms of handling and training, horses typically go through foundation training that takes place after weaning, prior to the initiation of formal training to learn more specific skills. The timing and methods of foundation training are less formalized and less often studied, but typically they involve a mixture of sensitizing and desensitizing practices (McGreevy and McLean, 2007). The skills being trained include basic handling, standing, forward walking, being led and allowing hoof care and grooming, and possibly also more disciplinespecific aspects. However, only a few studies have assessed emotional responses of horses under 3 years of age in foundation training.

Thus far, studies have shown that housing and the use of bit affect emotional responses to training in young horses.

Pasture-housed yearling Arabians showed calmer responses to foundation training compared to stalled yearlings (Rivera et al., 2002); group-housed foals learned faster than singlehoused foals in foundation training from 6 months to 2 years of age (Søndergaard and Ladewig, 2004); and bitted twoyear-olds exhibited more distress behaviors than those wearing an unbitted bridle (Quick and Warren-Smith, 2009). However, we know much less about the factors that influence positive emotional responses during early training practices, a pattern which is also evident in applied animal

science research more generally (Kremer et al., 2020).

Identifying behavioral and physiological correlates that are associated with positive emotional responses is critical for promoting positive welfare in horses during training, and in domesticated animals more generally (Boissy et al., 2007).

Behaviorally, positive emotions in a horse are recognized by relaxed eyes, extended upper lip, and backward pointing, unpinned ears in the nose line (Lansade et al., 2018). Positive behavior towards humans includes approaching, nudging, and nibbling (Sankey et al., 2010b). Regarding physiological correlates, there is increasing interest in the potential for increases in the neuropeptide hormone oxytocin to serve as an indicator of positive valence (Rault et al., 2017).

Oxytocin is synthesized in the hypothalamus and can be released centrally and peripherally, in a coordinated or independent manner, in response to species-specific salient social stimuli (reviewed in Valstad et al., 2017). In domesticated animals, affiliative interactions with humans have been linked to increases in oxytocin concentrations either centrally (pigs: Rault, 2016) or peripherally (dogs: Romero et al., 2014; MacLean et al., 2017).

The few prior studies assessing oxytocin in horses in relation to behavior have relied on blood sampling. Plasma oxytocin levels were positively associated with docility and friendliness and tended towards a negative association with fearfulness in adult horses (Lee and Yoon, 2021, Kim et al., 2021).

Another study reported, counter-intuitively, that gentle grooming was related to decreases in plasma oxytocin concentrations in horses, while standard grooming did not influence oxytocin (Lansade et al., 2018).

TABLE 1 Finally, being involved in equine assisted therapy did Ethogram used for behavioral analyses during horse training sessions not cause changes in horse plasma oxytocin concentrations (Malinowski et al., 2018).

To obtain a more complete picture of emotional responses of horses during training, one should address possible negative emotions and effects of stressors as well. Several behavioral indicators of acute stress have been identified in horses, such as head tossing and shaking, head upping, neck tension, tail swishing, stepping, and bucking (König von Borstel et al., 2017, Visser et al., 2009, Quick and Warren-Smith, 2009, Rietmann et al., 2004). Stressful situations can also provoke aggressive behaviour such as kicking and biting (Wulf et al., 2013).

Physiological correlates of stress may include changes in cardiac function and/or hormone concentrations (reviewed in König von Borstel et al., 2017; Hall et al., 2018). Previous research has established that salivary and plasma cortisol concentrations reflect changes in heart rate in young (Schmidt et al., 2010a) and adult horses (Rietmann et al., 2004; Becker-Birck et al., 2013, Schmidt et al., 2010b). However, other studies comparing cortisol and behavioral indicators of stress have found somewhat contradictory results December 2023

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(Rivera et al., 2002, Ellis et al., 2014, Perez-Manrique et al., experienced (n=8) horses (n=9 fillies, n=9 colts, n=1 gelding; 2021), which may in part be due to the potential for Finnhorses and Warmbloods), group housed in an open shed elevations in cortisol in response to a range of arousing stable at a breeding farm in Southern Finland. Two horses (FR physical as well as psychological stimuli, regardless of valence and FU) died after the second or third training session due to (reviewed in Hall et al., 2018, König von Borstel et al., 2017). an injury and illness, respectively, and one horse (FM) was In this study, we assessed physiological and behavioral dropped out of the study by the owner after the second responses to foundation training in young horses. The training session. One horse (MA) failed to give the saliva subjects were yearlings that were completely naïve to samples on the first sampling round. As a result, we obtained handling, and 2- and 3-year-olds that had some, albeit still only partial data from these horses. The rest of the horses limited, previous training experience. We measured salivary participated in the full study. Most subjects had been born at concentrations of oxytocin and cortisol in horses both the farm and all were maintained in identical conditions. Prior before and after training. Methods to measure salivary to weaning, the foals had lived in groups consisting of mares oxytocin (sOXT) are relatively new compared to the more with dependent offspring. After weaning all subjects lived established methods to measure salivary cortisol (sCORT), continuously in social groups of 6-14 individuals throughout and valid concerns still exist, especially regarding the mode the year. In the colder half of the year, from October to April, of transfer of oxytocin from blood to saliva (Gröschl, 2009). groups were housed in an open shed stable with semi-heated However biological and laboratory validations of sOXT covered indoor spaces, peat and straw bedding and free access have been conducted in several species (e.g., dogs: MacLean to the fields. Water and hay were provided ad libitum and oat et al., 2018; pigs: López-Arjona et al., 2020; Moscovice et al., and mineral supplements were given daily. From early May 2022; humans: de Jong et al., 2015), and sOXT is until late September the horses lived on large natural outdoor increasingly favored as a non-invasive alternative to more paddocks with streams, woodland and grassy growth, and had established methods that rely on brain CSF or blood no visual access to neighboring groups. They did not receive sampling (MacLean et al., 2019). We also measured a range any training during this time. of behaviors that have been linked to positive and negative 2.2. Training emotions in other studies, as described above (Table 1).

If training was rewarding, we expected horses to show The naïve horses (yearlings) were not accustomed to increases in affiliative behavior towards their trainers, handling, as it had been applied scarcely during their first year potentially linked to increases in sOXT, over the course of of life. They had been haltered a few times prior to the study the training sessions. We also predicted that within a training but were not yet desensitized to a halter and had never been session, sOXT would increase in horses who showed more led. The experienced horses (two- to three-year-olds) were positive behaviors towards trainers. We further predicted familiar with the halter and bridle and had practiced long that as training progressed, horses would show decreases in reigning and lunging. They had received the year before the negatively-valenced behaviors, and corresponding decreases same training that was given to the yearlings during our study. in sCORT in later training sessions. We also expected that We did not enforce a controlled training regime, as we horses who showed more negatively-valenced behavioral aimed to study early training as it typically proceeds on this responses within a training session would exhibit increases in farm. The benefit of this approach is that we could assess the sCORT within that session (e.g. Aurich et al., 2015). effects of the most typical practice, rather than enforcing a Since training sessions varied in duration and longer training system that is not typically applied. The trainers training sessions also required more physical activity, we were n=12 experienced farm staff and other individuals who controlled for any effects of duration of training on sCORT in regularly trained young and adult horses. All horses were all models, as a way to account for influences of physical activity trained by several (2−4) trainers, often within the same more generally on cortisol responses. Since previous studies training session. There was no systematic rotation of the have reported contradictory results on sex differences in trainers or horses. Although causing variability, this also responses to training FIGURE 1 (Aurich et al., 2015, Schmidt et al., 2010a), we The schedule of the video-recorded training sessions and associated saliva sampling. Between each included sex as a predictor recorded training session, the subjects received 1-3 unrecorded training sessions. in the models but made no directional predictions.

2. Methods 2.1. Subjects and housing Subjects were one-yearold naïve (n=11) and twoto three-year old more

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TABLE 2

The general training regime was the same across all horses within each age group: the naïve horses (yearlings) received training on accepting a lead rope, standing, walking with a trainer and, on the latter three training sessions, trotting, long-reining, bit in mouth, and carriage training. The experienced horses (two- and three-year-olds) received lunging, riding and carriage training, which often lasted for longer and required more physical exertion. The pace of training followed the idea of sympathetic training in that the trainers accounted for the horses’ individual skill and confidence at each phase when determining the progression of the training. There were therefore differences among the subjects FIGURE 2 in the number of training sessions Salivary OXT concentrations in naïve and experienced horses as training progressed. received and in the particular tasks Regardless of experience, horses had higher sOXT concentrations mid-way through trained within a session, which training, during Training session 3. For full model results see Table 2. unfortunately could not be controlled for.

The subjects received 11-17 training sessions applied in two periods in 2020: Period 1 from March-April and Period 2 from October-December. Between these periods the horses had a five-month-long summer pasture season during which no handling or training was applied. Two authors (TN and VR) video-recorded five training sessions of each subject: two in Period 1 and three in Period 2 (Fig. 1).

The fifth recorded training session was timed at the point when the subject was able to complete the required tasks.

Between these five sessions, the horses minimized possible influences of differences among the received some additional training sessions (1-3) that were not trainers on the horses’ behavior or hormone responses. recorded. Therefore, while we cannot assess the precise Trainers were not aware of the study hypotheses or the learning progress with recorded data from each training ethogram that was used. session, we can address the general behavioral and The training progressed gradually and included a physiological patterns over the course of training, as well as mixture of standard European foundation training and changes in individual behavior and hormones within each of more individually paced, sympathetic/freestyle training the five recorded training sessions. The sessions were recorded (sensu Visser et al., 2009 and Kedzierski et al., 2012), which in full length and varied in duration from ca. 5–30 min was consistent across all subjects. It relied on standard (median=11 min). When the horses were trained in a manege negative reinforcement of pressure-release but included also or arena, the researcher recorded behavior from a fixed spot; frequent positive reinforcement with verbal praise and when training occurred outside, footage was taken while gentle scratching as rewards. walking beside or behind the trainer and the horse.

In negative reinforcement, the trainer removes an 2.3. Hormone sampling and measurement outcome that the horse wants to avoid to increase the occurrence of a desired behavior. In the pressure-release Saliva samples were collected from subjects immediately technique the negative outcome is pressure applied by the before and after the first, third and fifth recorded training trainer and, upon the correct response, released. Positive session (Fig. 1). The goals were to assess short-term changes reinforcement, in turn, means addition of an outcome the in sCORT and sOXT concentrations during the training, horse values to increase the occurrence of a desired behavior and to gain insights into general patterns of hormone (McGreevy et al., 2018). reactivity across training sessions in more and less Model estimates of predictors influencing horse salivary OXT concentrations (log transformed) during training. Significant predictors are indicated in bold.

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TABLE 3 Model estimates of predictors influencing sCORT concentrations (log transformed) in horses during training sessions. Significant main effects are indicated in bold.

FIGURE 3 Changes in sCORT concentrations during training in horses who received shorter or longer training sessions than on average. Note that training duration was analyzed as actual duration in the models; the categorization is included here for illustration

FIGURE 4 alivary cortisol concentrations in naïve and experienced horses as training progressed.

Experience and training had independent effects on sCORT concentrations. For full

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experienced horses. By using a withinsubject sampling paradigm, we minimized effects of variation in timing of sampling, individual differences, and any uncontrollable prior events on hormone concentrations (Bohák et al., 2013). In addition, all samples were collected by one researcher (TN), who also spent time habituating the horses to her presence prior to collecting samples for the study.

For the pre-training sampling, the horses were walked into a traditional box stable from the open shed stable in pairs or small groups where they were allowed time to adjust. When calm, horses were placed in single-horse stalls with auditory and visual, but not physical contact with other horses. Horses did not receive food during the adjustment time or training, and no food was available during sampling, to minimize any potential interference with sampling. Prior to collecting the pre-training saliva sample, horses were kept in the stalls for 15 min, to ensure that no food had been consumed for > 15 min before sampling. Sampling was identical for all subjects in all sampling rounds with one exception: the first pre-training sample of yearlings was taken while they were still in the shed stable, as walking them to the unfamiliar box-stable might have been stressful.

After the pre-training sample was taken, the horse was tacked and taken out for the training session. Training ended when the horse was returned to the box stable, at which point the post-training sample was taken. The saliva sampling was conducted without restraining the horses and was well accepted by all horses, who did not show any signs of distress during sampling (see link under ‘supplementary materials’ sub heading at end of article).

We recorded the time of the sampling and the duration of the training. If the training lasted for less than 10 min, we waited until 15 min has passed from the onset of the training to ensure sufficient time for excretion of hormones into saliva. Previous research indicates that the release rate of cortisol into saliva depends on the duration of exercise and is detectable within 15 mins from the onset of a stressor, with the peak occurring at 1530 min following the stressor (Kedzierski et al., 2013; Peeters et al., 2011). In dogs

(MacLean et al., 2017) and pigs (Lürzel et al., 2020), increases in sOXT are observed within 10-15 min following affiliative interactions with humans.

Saliva was collected using synthetic SalivaBio childrens swabs (Salimetrics©, PA, USA). The swabs are designed to collect passive drool from humans and have been used in validations of salivary oxytocin in a range of animal species (e.g. dogs: MacLean et al., 2018, pigs, cattle and goats: Lürzel et al., 2020). The swab was taped onto a plastic rod, inserted into the mouth of the horse and placed gently beside or under the tongue for 1-2 mins until saturated. Saturated swabs were immediately placed into a polypropylene tube and stored in dry ice until transfer to a –80 °C freezer.

Between one to six months after collection, samples were shipped on dry ice to the Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN, Dummerstorf, DE), where they were analyzed in the Institute of Behavioral Physiology. Samples were thawed and centrifuged, and the eluent was aliquoted into eppendorf tubes and stored at − 80 °C until analysis.

Cortisol was run in a commercially available enzymeimmunoassay (Demeditec Diagnostics®, GmbH, Kiel, Germany). The standard curve ranges from 0.1 to 30 ng mL1 and assay sensitivity is 0.019 ng mL-1. After thawing, samples were spun at 2500 g for 5 min, diluted 1:1 with assay buffer and 50 µl of supernatant were run in duplicate.

We performed analytical validations of parallelism, accuracy/recovery and reproducibility. To test for parallelism, we estimated and compared the slopes of the fitted lines between the cortisol standard curve and a serial dilution of pooled horse saliva, using the ‘lstrends’ and ‘pairs’ functions in the package ‘lsmeans’ (Lenth, 2016).

The test revealed no differences in the slopes (t-test, n = 5-6, df=7, t ratio=−1.159, p = 0.285). Recovery of sCORT in three different pooled samples of known concentrations, each spiked with cortisol standards at two different concentrations (1.7 ng mL-1 and 30 ng mL-1), was 106.4 ( ± 10.5)% (n = 6 spiked samples).

To determine reproducibility, we measured intra- and inter-assay correlations of variation (cvs) in low (2 ng mL-1) and high (5 ng mL-1) pooled horse saliva samples that were stored in multiple aliquots and run on each plate in replicates.

The intra-assay cvs for low- and high-concentration controls were 4.2% and 3.8% respectively (n = 10 samples). The interassay cvs for low- and high-concentration controls were 13.5% and 11.1% (n = 6 samples).

Prior to sOXT measurement, we performed a solid phase extraction (SPE) following a protocol modified from Lürzel and colleagues (2020). Samples were thawed on ice and centrifuged at 4 °C (5 min, 2,000g). We mixed 250 µl of saliva with equal parts 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid (TFA)/water, vortexed, and then centrifuged at 4 °C (15 min, 17,000g). We loaded the supernatant on 1 mL, 30 mg sorbent, HLB cartridges (Oasis Prime®, cat no. 186008055, Waters Corporation, MA, USA), primed with 1 mL 99% acetonitrile (ACN), followed by 3 mL 0.1% TFA/water. Samples were washed with 3 mL 0.1% TFA/water and eluted with 3 mL

36% ACN/ 0.1% TFA. Eluents were evaporated using a Vacuum concentrator (SpeedVac® SC210, Thermo Fisher Scientific, MA, USA), and frozen at − 80 °C until measurement. We measured sOXT using a commercially available enzyme immuno-assay (Cayman Chemical®, kit no.

Cay500440, MI, USA) that has been validated for sOXT in several species (dogs: MacLean et al., 2018, farm animals: Lürzel et al., 2020). The standard curve ranges from 5.9 to 750 pg mL-1 and assay sensitivity is 20 pg mL-1.

Prior to measurement, we reconstituted samples in 250 µl assay buffer, and then followed the kit instructions. We performed analytical validations to confirm that the assay measures the majority of oxytocin present and is suitable for measuring oxytocin in horse saliva. Tests of parallelism revealed no differences in the slopes between the standard curve and a serial dilution of pooled horse saliva (t-test, n = 4– 5, df=5, t ratio=0.649, p = 0.545). Recovery of sOXT in three different pooled samples of known concentrations, each spiked with oxytocin standard at two different concentrations (375 pg mL-1, 187.5 pg mL-1) was 99.9 ± 6.9% (n = 6 spiked samples). To determine reproducibility, we measured intraand inter-assay cvs of pooled low (30 pg mL-1) and high (150 pg mL-1) horse saliva samples that were stored in multiple aliquots, extracted along with test samples and run in replicates on plates. The intra-assay cvs for low- and highconcentration controls were 6.2% and 5.4% (n = 11 samples) and the inter-assay cvs were 14.6% and 12.8% (n = 6 samples).

2.4. Behavior coding The coding of videos was done with Boris (version 7.10.2). We coded several behaviors from the training session videos as indicators of positive (affiliative contact) and negative (explosive, fearful, head toss, head up) affective responses based on earlier research (Table 1). When the horse was not completely visible, no video was scored and we subtracted the not-visible time from the total duration.

Behaviors that were functionally similar based on earlier behavioral studies (references in Table 1) were combined into composite scores by summing the event behaviors and, for duration behaviors, first scaling and then summing them.

2.5. Statistical analyses Statistical analyses were performed in R (v 4.0.5 R Core Team, 2021). We tested for repeated measures correlations between each horses’ cortisol and oxytocin concentrations either before or after training using the package ‘rmcorr’ (Bakdash and Marusich, 2020). We built linear mixed models (LMMs) and generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) using the package ‘lme4’ (Bates et al., 2015). We first tested whether changes in sOXT or sCORT were related to horses’ experience level or their progression with training.

Since we were particularly interested in the effects of training on changes in hormones, we included the sample context (pre- or post- training) as an additional predictor, and tested for a three-way interaction of sample context, experience and training session, since we expected that December 2023

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more experienced horses would acclimate to repeated training more rapidly, as measured by decreased sCORT responses and/or increases in sOXT responses to later stages of training. We also tested whether changes in hormones from pre- to post-training were influenced by the duration of training or subject sex. We included the time of each sample collection as an additional control predictor.

We then tested whether changes in behavior during training were related to each subject’s characteristics, particularly their level of experience and their training progression across the five training sessions, as well as an interaction between experience and training session. We tested whether the two uncategorized behaviors, head up and head toss, were correlated. We treated rare behavioral categories (explosive and fear behaviors) as binomial data and modeled their likelihood of occurrence using GLMMs with a binomial error distribution. For the other behaviors (affiliative contact and head-toss), we used LMMs with gaussian error distributions to model their frequencies of occurrence. For each behavioral model, we included subject sex as a control predictor, and we included the duration of training as an offset term. We also included random intercepts of subject.

Finally, we tested whether changes in hormone concentrations during each training session were predicted by the occurrence (for exploding and fear behaviors) or the frequency (for affiliative contact and head-toss) of distinct behavioral indicators, to provide further insights into the usefulness of using sOXT and sCORT as indicators of emotional responses in horses. To test for a relationship between specific behaviors and changes in hormone concentrations, we tested whether hormone concentrations were influenced by an interaction between each behavioral measure and the hormone sampling context (pre- or posttraining). We included the time of sample collection as a control predictor, and the duration of training as an offsetterm. For all models predicting hormone concentrations, we included random intercepts for subject and for the paired hormone samples from each subject. To avoid over-fitting the data, and to keep the type I error rate at a nominal 5% (Schielzeth and Forstmeier, 2009), we also included all theoretically identifiable random slopes (see ‘supplementary materials’ link). We log-transformed hormone concentrations to approximate normal distributions, and we z-transformed continuous predictors, to facilitate interpretability of the results. We confirmed that models were stable by comparing the model estimates derived from the full data set with those obtained from a model with each subject excluded one by one.

We tested for variance inflation using the ‘vif’ function in the package ‘car’ (Fox and Weisberg, 2019) and found no evidence for collinearity of the predictors (VIFs < 1.44). For the two binomial models, dispersion parameters were between 0.56 and 0.88, indicating no evidence of overdispersion. We used likelihood ratio tests (Dobson, 2002) to compare each model to a reduced model excluding the test predictors, and present results of models that differed significantly from the reduced model.

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We tested for significance levels of the fixed effect predictors using t-tests with the Satterthwaite approximation (Luke, 2017) in the function lmer of the package lmerTest (v 3.1–3, Kuznetsova et al., 2017) and a model fitted with restricted maximum likelihood. To determine overall effects of experience level and training session, we further compared the full model with a reduced model excluding the specific factor of interest. Unless otherwise noted, results are presented as mean ( ± SD) and a P-value < 0.05 was considered significant.

2.6. Ethics The study was evaluated and granted permission by the Board of Ethical Evaluation of the University of Helsinki (decision 5/2020) and complied with the ethical guidelines of the International Society for Applied Ethology (Sherwin et al., 2003). All horse owners gave informed consent and were free to withdraw from the study at any time. All data was held according to the EU General Data Protection Regulation Act 12–14 (2016/679). The individual behavioral and hormonal means are provided in the supplementary materials; full raw data is available upon request.

3. Results 3.1. Changes in hormones related to experience and training progression Mean sOXT concentrations were similar before and after training sessions (117.33 ± 57.25 pg mL-1 vs. 111.06 ± 59.93 pg mL-1; see Supplementary Materials Table S2). The full model predicting changes in sOXT during training differed significantly from a reduced model with horse experience and training session excluded (likelihood ratio test, chisquare=19.85, df=10, p = 0.03). The interaction terms were not significant and were removed from the model. In the final model, there was a significant effect of training session on overall sOXT before and after training (F2,28=7.52, p = 0.002), due to peaks in sOXT in experienced and naïve horses midway through training (see Table 2 and Fig. 2). In addition, males had lower sOXT concentrations than females (F1,64=12.45, p < 0.001, see Table 2). Horse experience level had no effect on sOXT concentrations (see Table 2).

Mean sCORT concentrations were 2.54 ( ± 1.40) ng mL-1 before and 3.30 ( ± 2.62) ng mL-1 after training (see Supplementary Materials, Table S2). There was no correlation between each subject’s sCORT and sOXT concentrations in pre- (rrm=−0.06, df=27, p = 0.75) or post-training (rrm=−0.07, df=28, p = 0.73) samples. The full sCORT model differed from a reduced model excluding the effects of experience and training session (full-null model comparisons with likelihood ratio tests, chi-square=18.93, df=10, p = 0.041). The three-way and several two-way interactions were not significant and were removed from the model. In the final model, the only significant predictor of changes in sCORT during training was training duration. Horses who had longer training sessions also had greater increases in sCORT from pre- to post-training samples (F1,52=13.46, p < 0.001, see Table 3 and Fig. 3). In

TABLE 4A Model estimates of predictors influencing head tossing during training. Significant main effects are indicated in bold.

FIGURE 5 Mean ( ± SE) number of head tosses per minute by experienced and naïve horses across five training sessions. For full model results refer to Table 4a.

0.47, t = 4.92, df=85, p < 0.001) so we excluded head up from further analyses and analyzed head toss as an indicator of mild discomfort or stress (Wulf et al., 2013, Quick and Warren-Smith, 2009).

The full models containing experience level and test session explained more of the variation in each behavioral measure than reduced models that did not include the test predictors (full-null model comparisons with likelihood ratio tests, affiliative contact: chi-sq=39.15, df=9, p < 0.001, head toss: chi-sq=46.42, df=9, p < 0.001, fear: chi-sq=32.61, df=9, p < 0.001, explosive behavior: chi-sq=23.61, df=9, p < 0.001). However, only head toss was influenced by an interaction between experience and session (F4,69=6.58, p < 0.001, see Table 4a), such that experienced horses showed consistent decreases in head tossing over sessions, while inexperienced horses did not (see Fig. 5).

Regardless of experience, horses showed decreases in fearful behavior (F9=29.94, p < 0.001, see Table 4b) and explosive behavior (F4=22.60, p < 0.001, see Table 4c) across sessions. However, affiliative contact also decreased over training sessions for all horses (F4,69=8.45, p < 0.001, see Table 4d).

There were no sex differences in any of the behavioral responses (see Table 4a, Table 4b, Table 4c, Table 4d), although males tended to show more explosive behavior than females (est ± SE= 1.46 ± 0.80, p = 0.07, see Table 4c).

3.3. Influence of behavioral responses to training on changes in hormones

addition, experienced horses had lower sCORT concentrations overall (both before and after training, F1,22=8.39, p = 0.008, see Table 3 and Fig. 4). There was also a significant main effect of training session on overall sCORT concentrations (F2,23=4.27, p = 0.03), mainly due to lower concentrations on the last training session, for both experienced and naïve horses (see Table 3 and Fig. 4).

3.2. Behavioral responses related to experience and training progression Over the course of the five training sessions, we analyzed the expression of three functional behavioral categories referring to Affiliative contact, Fear and Explosive behavior (see Table 1). Two additional uncategorized behaviors, head toss and head up, were positively correlated (Pearson, r =

The full model relating changes in sOXT concentrations during training to behavioral measures differed from the reduced model with the behaviors excluded (likelihood ratio test, chisquare=28.02, df=9, p < 0.001). Several behavioral measures contributed significantly to explaining acute changes in sOXT during training. As predicted, horses who had more affiliative contact with trainers during a training session had increases in sOXT concentrations during training (est ± SE=0.10 ± 0.05, p = 0.039, see Table 5). Interestingly, acute changes in sOXT were also strongly inversely related to behaviors associated with negative affect. Specifically, horses who showed explosive behavior during training had decreases in sOXT from pre- to post-training samples (est ± SE=−0.30 ± 0.10, p = 0.003, see Table 5 and Fig. 6). In addition, horses who showed fear behaviors during training tended to have decreases in sOXT concentrations after December 2023

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TABLE 4B Model estimates of predictors influencing fear behaviors during training.

Significant main effects are indicated in bold.

training (est ± SE=−0.19 ± 0.10, p = 0.06, see Table 5).

The full model relating changes in sCORT concentrations during training sessions to behavioral measures differed from a reduced model with the behaviors excluded (full-null model comparison, likelihood ratio test, chi-square=17.39, df=9, p = 0.043). Unlike the sOXT results, there were no significant effects of any behavioral measures on changes in sCORT during training, although there was a tendency for horses who exhibited more head tossing during a training session to have increased post-training sCORT (est ± SE=0.18 ± 0.09, p = 0.057).

4. Discussion TABLE 4C Model estimates of predictors influencing explosive behaviors during training.

Significant main effects are indicated in bold.

TABLE 4D Model estimates of predictors influencing affiliative contact with humans during training. Significant main effects are indicated in bold.

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We assessed behavioral and noninvasive physiological indicators of emotional responses in young horses during opportunistically recorded foundation training. We specifically focused on sOXT, which to our knowledge has not been measured previously in horses, as a potential indicator of positive emotions. In addition, we measured sCORT and assessed the relationships between these hormones, horse experience and training progression, and behavioral expression during training.

We found that acute changes in sOXT during training were predicted by individual behavioral responses, although effects were strongest for behavioral indicators of negative emotions.

Specifically, horses that showed explosive behavior during training had decreases in sOXT. Explosive behaviors indicate horse’s discomfort and attempts to avoid a situation (Rietmann et al., 2004, Quick and WarrenSmith, 2009). Fear behaviors tended to show the same pattern. These results suggest that sOXT decreases when horses experience mental or physical discomfort.

In addition, horses who had more positive contact with the trainer exhibited increases in sOXT during the training. These results are consistent with evidence that horse friendliness and trainability positively predict plasma oxytocin concentrations (Lee and Yoon, 2021, Kim et al., 2021).

In addition, results support evidence for increases in sOXT associated with affiliative human interactions in

higher in samples taken both before and after training in naïve yearlings compared Model estimates of predictors influencing changes in salivary oxytocin with the more experienced two- and threeconcentrations (log transformed) from pre- to post-training samples. Significant main year-olds. This suggests that yearlings may effects are indicated in bold. Significant main effects are indicated in bold. have had increased arousal already when being brought for tacking to the boxstable, which was an unfamiliar place to them, and that their sCORT may have remained high during training, in comparison with more experienced horses, due to greater psychological stress.

We also found that sCORT increased, as predicted, during longer training sessions, which usually included more strenuous exercise. This suggests that shortterm changes in peripheral cortisol during training may have been triggered primarily by physical arousal and exercise (Ferlazzo et al., 2020), while heightened sCORT both before and after training may reflect greater psychological stress. Indeed, the behavioral indicators of negative emotions within each training session did not directly predict changes in sCORT during the session, domesticated animals more generally (pigs: Lürzel et al., which lends further support for short-term increases in cortisol 2020; dogs: MacLean et al., 2017). The finding that positive reflecting energetic, rather than psychological, stress. contact behaviors did not increase over the course of Our results emphasize the importance of controlling for training is not necessarily inconsistent with this, given that differences in energetic activity when attempting to the training became progressively more demanding over the investigate the link between peripheral cortisol and course of training, which may have reduced possibilities for psychological stress. affiliative behaviors. Although this is the first study to assess An important caveat of the study is that the training sOXT in horses, results are supportive of further research regime was not standardized to follow a predetermined pace into the use of sOXT as a non-invasive indicator of shortand order, and that multiple trainers were often involved in term changes in emotions in horses. a training session. A more strictly standardized system would Both pre- and post-training levels of sOXT were higher on have allowed us to specify the exact effects of each training the third training session in comparison with the other task as well as trainer identity on hormones and behavior. sessions. However, we have no obvious, biologically meaningful However, as the training was paced individually according to explanation for this statistically significant finding. The third each horses’ level of development, it closely resembles the recorded training session took place within days of bringing ‘sympathetic training’, which is shown to be supportive of the horses back to the open-shed stable after the long summer positive emotional experiences in young horses (Visser et al., pasture season. It is possible that some aspect of returning to 2009; Kedzierski et al., 2012; Fureix et al., 2009). The the stable and being housed in different social groups after the training method may have contributed to the horses’ summer season may have influenced sOXT concentrations. It positive emotional responses and, conversely, minimal stress would be interesting to collect a larger number of sOXT during the training sessions. samples from these horses under varied housing conditions Another caveat is that we were not able to include and social contexts, to examine whether specific differences in measures of facial expressions as indicators of emotions due to the husbandry conditions between seasons may be reflected in the face being out of sight during much of the video sOXT concentrations. recordings. Horses have highly expressive faces (Wathan et al., In line with our general predictions that young horses 2015), and many studies on horse emotions assess facial would adjust to training, all horses showed decreases in expressions (Lansade et al., 2018, Trösch et al., 2020). behavioral indicators of fear, explosive behaviors and headIntegrating measures of facial expression with other behavioral tossing from their first to last training sessions during the and physiological responses may provide further insights into study period. Our interpretation is supported by the emotional responses during training. In addition, personality decrease in overall sCORT across training sessions in both is likely to have influenced the horses’ responses. Adult and naïve and experienced horses. young horses have stable inter-individual differences in Further, in support of our predictions, sCORT was responses to novelty and threat, isolation, and humans (Perez-

TABLE 5

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FIGURE 5 Changes in sOXT concentrations in horses who exhibited explosive behavior during training, and those who did not.

For full model results see Table 5.

Manrique et al., 2021, Rankins and Wickens, 2020). Personality is known to influences stress responses (Hausberger et al., 2019) and learning (LeScolan et al., 1997, Lansade et al., 2017; but see Christensen et al., 2012) in horses, so individual differences probably also contributed to the variability observed in our study. Future research should incorporate personality trait scores in targeted test paradigms with emotional responses to foundation training to gain further insights into the factors underlying stable inter-individual variation in responses (Duberstein and Gilkeson, 2010).

5. Conclusions Our results indicate that salivary oxytocin can be measured non-invasively in young horses and may be useful as an indicator of young horses’ acute emotional responses during foundation training. Salivary oxytocin did not reflect horses’ previous training experience, nor did it show clear patterns of changes across the training period. Rather, shortterm decreases in oxytocin during training corresponded with behavioral indicators of negative emotional responses, while short-term increases in oxytocin corresponded with behavioral indicators of positive emotional responses.

We also found that although early foundation training was somewhat stressful for young horses, the applied training methods facilitated positive experiences. During this study, all horses exhibited reductions in cortisol and in negative behaviors during later training sessions at the end of the nine-month training period, compared to earlier training sessions. Interestingly, acute cortisol reactivity during training was not related to horse experience level or to any of the behavioral indicators, but rather reflected differences in training duration and likely energetic expenditure. The

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combined results suggest that sOXT and sCORT, together with appropriate behavioral measures, may be useful as noninvasive indicators of more immediate and long-term emotional responses to training in young horses.

Authors a. Taru Nittynen: University of Helsinki, Organismal and evolutionary biology research programme Biocentre 3, Viikinkaari 1, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland b. Veera Tiihonen: University of Turku, Department of Biology, 20014 University of Turku, Finland c. Liza R. Moscovice: Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology, Institute of Behavioral Physiology, Wilhelm-Stahl-Allee 2, 18196 Dummerstorf, Germany d. Sonja E. Koski: University of Helsinki, Organismal and evolutionary biology research programme Biocentre 3, Viikinkaari 1, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland

Author contributions SEK and LM conceived and funded the study, TN and VT collected the data, LM conducted laboratory analyses, LM and TN conducted statistical analyses, SEK and LM wrote the manuscript and the revision.

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgements We are grateful to the Kylämäki Farm and the horse owners for permission to conduct the study and the farm personnel for assisting at every stage, and to Tero Pohjolainen and Anders Ingman Stable and Irina Kokko at Kulta-ahon Ratsutila. We thank Océane Liehrmann for assistance in data collection. We are grateful to Birgit Sobczak and Petra Müntzel of the FBN Institute for Behavioral Physiology, for their assistance with hormone analyses. Funding: This work was supported by Kone Foundation [to SEK, grant number 201806482] and by the FBN.

Supplementary materials Full ‘open’ access to this article, including a video and supplementary materials can be found here: https://www. sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159122001654

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Res, 8 (2013), pp. 238-244 Cited by (2): Variation in salivary cortisol responses in yearling Thoroughbred racehorses during their first year of training 2023, PLoS ONE Measuring heart rate variability using a heart rate monitor in horses (Equus caballus) during groundwork 2022.

Frontiers in Veterinary Science 1.

Shared last authorship due to equal contributions.

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WBFSH U WBFSH STUDBOOK RANKINGS 2022-2023 DRESSAGE

■ WBFSH STUDBOOK RANKINGS 2022-2023

■ WBFSH STATE OF THE INDUSTRY REPORT

SHOWJUMPING

WORLD BREEDING FEDERATION FOR SPORT HORSES VILHELMSBORG ALLÉ 1 8320 MAARSLET. DENMARK TEL: +45 (0)87 475400 FAX: +45 (0)87 475410 WWW.WBFSH.COM

EVENTING

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WBFSH STATE OF THE INDUSTRY REPORT 2022-2023 (SECOND EDITION) The eagerly awaited State of the Industry Report 2022-2023 is now officially released, marking a significant milestone in the ongoing WBFSH SIRE RANKINGS 2022-2023 DRESSAGE efforts to enhance the Warmblood breeding sector.

Building onFranziska the success of the inaugural report in 2021, this year's edition places a Photo1: spotlight on Welfare and the Social License to Operate (SLO), striving to create a better future for all stakeholders in the industry.

The first report, released in 2021, provided a comprehensive snapshot of the scale and activities within Warmblood breeding, contextualized within the broader horse industry. With the release of the second State of the Industry Report, the focus expands beyond data to encompass the critical aspects of Welfare and Social License to Operate.

Schwarz, Key objectives of the 2022-2023 edition include: Philipp • Transparency for a Conscious Industry: Emphasizing transparency, the report seeks to bring greater visibility to industry practices, appealing to a more conscious and informed audience. By sharing insights into breeding practices and industry operations, it aspires to create a more accountable and responsible sector.

• Constructive Engagement: The 2022-2023 SOI Report encourages constructive and productive engagement among key stakeholders, including the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH), studbooks, breeders, the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI), National Federations (NFs), and riders. This collaboration aims to foster unity and cooperation for the improvement of the industry.

• Identifying Emerging Trends: In addition to providing a current snapshot of the industry, the report aims to identify emerging trends that can shape the future of sport horses breeding. By staying ahead of challenges and opportunities, stakeholders can proactively navigate the evolving landscape.

• Relevant Information for Industry Development: The report remains committed to providing relevant and practical information that SHOWJUMPING Photos, clockwise from top leftdevelopment – A great atmosphere on the WBFSH Providing spacecan forinform conversation; Jovian’s breeders, Ten contributes to the continuous of the industry, which stand; includes insightsathat decision-making, policythe developBosch family and Andreas Helgstrand; Van Olst, ment, and strategic planning.

Lottie Fry, Jan Pedersen, A few word from the Report's authors: “While this second State of the Industry report has allowed us to create an overview of the industry’s current landscape, going forward, with the collection of statistics of subsequent years, it will be possible to gather more data on trends, between studbooks, but also from the industry as a whole. Studbooks can measure their success, and for smaller studbooks, there is the opportunity to make comparisons with their peers, rather than to measure themselves against the bigger players in the industry. But these trends are important not only for our breeders and studbooks. The sectors of breeding and sport are closely connected and interdependent. And we hope to have captured the interest of other stakeholders in the industry – national federations, riders, owners etc. For the next SOI report, to examine further how the health of the breeding industry impacts on sport and vice versa, we hope to expand on how registrations of horses, the number of horses going into the sport, and the worldwide economic state influence the sectors.

Covid-19 was not as detrimental to the breeding industry as initially anticipated, with foal numbers having actually continued to rise.

But with worldwide pressures we are now facing, with war and an economic decline, we expect to see changes in the years to come.

“In addition to statistics of the industry we explored the frequency and types of breeding technologies used. This data was difficult to collect, and it is clear that there is a lack of transparency on the frequency of use of various techniques. ET, ICSI, cloning etc are techniques that are changing the landscape of breeding, but it will only be in years to come that we can establish quite how our industry has been shaped by these. Are there implications for inbreeding, for health, and other factors yet to become apparent to us? We hope to EVENTING be able to shed some light on this in the future.

“Collection of data will remain an important element of future reports. But insights into health and welfare, and the social license to operate will provide building blocks to good breeding practices. Selection for health, not just of performance, is an important consideration for every breeder. Some conditions that have been current in the media have been examined in this report, and future reports will continue to build on exploring other conditions that are note-worthy for our breeders.

“A separate project of the WBFSH on producing a Welfare Statement that will underpin elements of good breeding practices has kicked off, in collaboration with Hartpury University. Results of this project are anticipated at the end of 2024. There is a strong overlap between the State of the industry report and the Welfare Statement, with topics of mutual importance. Social license to operate and welfare are continuing themes, and therefore will continue to form an important element of following State of the Industry Reports.

We have started off with an overview or these two topics, and aim to further explore them, so that we can fulfil our responsibilities to our horses and our industry as a whole. It is the love of the horse that is at the root of all of this, and we want to be able to continue and Dark Legend, ridden Henrik von Eckergrowbyfor years to come, Charlotte Fry so that our industry is healthy and sustainable”. mann (SWE) Chacco-Blue/Andreas SandroHenrik Hit with Ulf Katy Holder-Vale riding King Edward Renai Hart Kaasandra Chee

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS PLEASE, ALWAYS CHECK UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION WITH STUDBOOKS OR EVENT ORGANIZERS AS GLOBAL SITUATIONS MAY CHANGE AND EVOLVE EACH MONTH

DECEMBER 30/11-2 Verden (GER) Hanoverian Stallion Licensing and sales – jumping stallions Tel: +49 (0)4231 6730 hannoveraner@hannoveraner.com www.hannoveraner.com 2 Klein Offenseth (GER) Advent Stallion Show of Stallion Stations Maas J Hell and Dirk Ahlmann Tel: +49 (0) 4126 38272 info@stallhell.de www.stallhell.de

13/14 Saint-Lô (FRA) Selle Français stallion championship and licensing Tel: +33 (0)9 72 11 89 33 info@sellefrancais.fr www.sellefrancais.fr 13-16 Elmshorn (GER) Holsteiner stallion grading 2023 Tel: +49 (0) 4121 49790 zucht@holsteiner-verband.de www.holsteiner-verband.de

JANUARY

3-6 Münster (GER) Westfalian Stallion Licensing Tel: +49 (0) 251 328 090 info@westfalenpferde.de www.westfalenpferde.de

10-13 Leeuwarden (NED) Royal Friesian Studbook (KFPS) Stallion Show Tel: +31 (0)900 9000 801 hengstenkeuring@kfps.nl www.kfps.nl

3-4 Westfalian Online (GER) Westfalian Auction of dressage stallions Tel: +49 (0) 251 328 0959 muench@westfalenpferde.de www.stallhell.de

11 Liege (BEL) Belgian Warmblood (BWP) Stallion Selection Show – 2nd phase Tel: +32 (0)16 479 980 info@belgian-warmblood.com www.belgian-warmblood.com

5-6 Westfalian Online (GER) Westfalian Auction of showjumping stallions Tel: +49 (0) 251 328 0959 muench@westfalenpferde.de www.stallhell.de

13 Liege (BEL) Belgian Warmblood (BWP) Top Stallion Auction Tel: +32 (0)497 538 982 info@belgian-warmblood.com www.bwp.auction

9 Ankum (GER) XLIV PSI Auction Tel: +49 (0)5401 89200 info@psi-sporthorses.de www.psi-auktion.de

15-27 Verden Online (GER) Hanoverian Sport Horse Auction Tel: +49 (0)4231 6730 hannoveraner@hannoveraner.com www.hannoveraner.com

15 Schijndel (NED) AES Stallion Licensing Tel: +31 (0) 73 690 7573 info@aesbenelux.com www.angloeuropeanstudbook.co.uk

31-3/2 Den Bosch (NED) KWPN Stallion Show Tel: +31 (0)341 255 555 info@kwpn.nl www.kwpn.org

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MARCH 1-3 Gesves (BEL) Belgian Sport Horse (SBS) International Selection Show Tel: +32 (0)81 330 660 sbs@sbsnet.be / www.sbsnet.be 11 Liege (BEL) Belgian Warmblood (BWP) Stallion Selection Show – 3rd phase Tel: +32 (0)16 479 980 info@belgian-warmblood.com www.belgian-warmblood.com

APRIL 8-20 Verden Online (GER) Hanoverian Sport Horse Auction Tel: +49 (0)4231 6730 hannoveraner@hannoveraner.com www.hannoveraner.com 25 Verden Online (GER) Hanoverian Foal Auction Tel: +49 (0)4231 6730 hannoveraner@hannoveraner.com www.hannoveraner.com

MAY 8 Verden Online (GER) Hanoverian Foal Auction Tel: +49 (0)4231 6730 hannoveraner@hannoveraner.com www.hannoveraner.com 23 Verden Online (GER) Hanoverian Foal Auction Tel: +49 (0)4231 6730 hannoveraner@hannoveraner.com www.hannoveraner.com

JUNE 6 Verden Online (GER) Hanoverian Foal Auction Tel: +49 (0)4231 6730 hannoveraner@hannoveraner.com www.hannoveraner.com