inDressage Horse
Breeding
Whether trotting across the diagonal or clearing an oxer, today’s sport horse takes flight. Uphill movement and an active hind leg are qualities that riders seek for international sport. In top dressage horses, those qualities have frequently revealed ancestors who made their names as world-class jumper sires. In both sports, the equine athlete must have the natural ability to engage the hindquarters and lift the forehand.
w By Charlene Strickland
orld and Olympic dressage champions often trace to sires
that produced athletes in multiple sports. For example, Salinero (Salieri x Lungau), Satchmo (Sao Paulo x Legat) and Elvis VA (Espri x Garibaldi II) are all sons of German stallions known for their jumper offspring.
Jumping lines do still apply, even in this age of
specialization. “When we breed dressage horses, besides using the dressage lines, it can be of benefit to use suitable jumping lines as well, and of course to add refining stallions,” says Dr. Ludwig Christmann of the Hannoverian Verband. Experts debate as to whether dressage breeders should
select only dressage bloodlines. Yet jumper ancestry has proven valuable to give jump in the canter and the engaged hindquarters, both important for the dressage sport. Regardless of their breeding, trainers, riders, and judges seek natural talent, not horses that tend to be “earthbound” in the trot or canter.
Blending over Generations Europe’s dressage lines developed from equine athletes that excelled in jumping. A jumper sire or dam can pass on strength in the back and also contribute to the quality of the canter. Deborah Harrison, DVM, breeds Dutch horses at Lio Lomas Dutch Warmbloods in San Juan Bautista, California. She says, “Besides having a very good gallop, jumpers also need to have good balance and agility, be able to collect and extend, have good trainability and be brave—all valuable traits in dressage horses as well.” Two legendary jumper sires show up frequently in
dressage pedigrees. Voltaire (Furioso II x Gotthard) combined French and German lines. The Anglo-Norman Furioso II (Furioso xx x Talisman) is also sire of Purioso (Furioso II x
Martell), whose son is Cocktail Preferent (Purioso x Le Val Blanc xx). Furioso II is also grandsire to Florestan I (Fidelio x Rheingold), sire of top dressage horses like Florencio (Florestan I x Weltmeyer) and Floriano (Florestan I x Wittenberg). The Holsteiner Ramiro (Raimond x Cottage Son xx) was an
international jumper and is a grandson of Ramzes x, known for influencing jumping lines. Ramzes x was an ancestor of Romadour II who grandsired the famous Rubinstein. Other recent successful sires reflect their jumper ancestry
with Holsteiners, who strongly contribute to all sports. Contender (Calypso II x Ramiro) is the sire of Contango, who produced America’s superstar Ravel. Sandro Hit (Sandro Song x Ramino) traces to the Holsteiner Sandro (Sacramento Song xx x Wahnfried) and Ramiro. Satchmo is a Sandro grandson through his sire Sao Paulo (Sandro x Gepard). Flemmingh Preferent (Lacapo x Carneval) was another jumper and KWPN sire bred in Holstein. Two of his top dressage sons are Krack C (Flemmingh x Beaujolais) and Lingh (Flemmingh x Columbus).
above, left to right: Salinero (Salieri x Lungau), presented by Sjef Jansen at the Dressage Horse Inspection, WEG 2006, Aachen, Germany. Satchmo (Sao Paulo x Legat) with Isabell Werth, Bremen, Germany, 2006. Elvis VA (Esprit x Garibaldi II) with Nadine Capellmann, Bremen, Germany, 2006.
All photos (including sidebar photos) , except for the photo of Contango (p. 44) by Charlene Strickland. Warmbloods Today 43
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