BREEDER’S POINT OF VIEW By Faith Fessenden
Can – and Should – Warmblood Breeder’s Specialize for Eventing?
try of origin or studbook. However, with the mantras ‘modernization,’ ‘specializa-
I
tion’ and ‘lightening of the type’ within the North American Warmblood breeding communities (directed by the home offices in Europe), we are finding more and more of the stud- book labels (Han, Westf, Trak, KWPN, Bad-Wu, Rhein, Sw, Hol, Old, etc.) attached to entries in horse trials and event horse competitions around the U.S. and Canada. (The Irish Sport Horse is in a league of its own here, having started their journey, oh so successfully, using xx’s on their na- tive mares.)
My Story I breed primarily Dutch horses. I say ‘primarily’ since that is my mare base. I have used Thoroughbred, Olden- burg, Hanoverian and Holsteiner stallions depending on, in this order: breeding goal/use; needs of the mare—with a nod to considering the wow factor, as in “WOW! I’d love to try THAT stallion”—hopefully common sense prevails in helping to discern whether he is appropri- ate or not; and the stallion’s availability, whether for fresh or frozen semen.
Last but not least, for every breeding I have to consider
costs as I cautiously peer into my checking account. Is there enough glinting/rustling there to cover vet expenses, mare care, board and all the other associated expenses? Unfortunately, my own top breeding/sport product hap-
pened to be an early one. I say ‘unfortunately’ because it makes one feel oh, so brilliant, when in truth luck plays a large part in sport horse breeding and the hope for a repeat keeps one going and going and going. For my success story, the stallion I used was an old Thor-
oughbred with a ‘sport horse’ look whom I located after see- ing one of his offspring with a super gallop on a cross-coun- try course. I soon introduced my heavy home-bred Dutch Gelders mare to this Thoroughbred “buff-boy.” It was an easy match for me to make: he was ‘in the neighborhood,’ had
Early Breeding History Let’s take a look at the major players (countries/studbooks) starting in the post-Renaissance time period. For German, Polish, French and Swedish studbooks, the standing caval- ries and nobility required a certain type of horse as a racing, riding and fighting animal. Several hundred years’ worth of that goal solidified certain qualities and characteristics. The passing of bloodstock back and forth among the countries/ regions occurred through either gifts or as the spoils of war, and notable lines were disseminated. By contrast, the agrarian communities (Holland and to
a lesser extent Belgium) focused upon the utilitarian horse with the riding horse being secondary. Often times it was the same horse.
Warmbloods Today 89
t’s no secret. Today’s three- and four-star event horses are either Thoroughbred (xx) or they contain a significant per- centage of Thoroughbred blood, regardless of their coun-
an excellent ‘distance’ pedigree, and offered both live-cover breeding and a low stud fee. Twelve years later, she—the result of that breeding—was the number one mare (Advanced ***) on the USCTA leader- board, third in USEF national championships and short-listed for Sydney. (Don’t you just hate it when the horse breeding odom- eter clicks over in decades?) I was a genius. Did I mention the importance of an excellent rider/trainer as part of the equation? Many foals later (and another decade having rolled by),
This event horse in Holland has a strong dressage pedigree. His sire is “Johnson” (Grand Prix Dressage stallion) x Contango (Grand Prix Dressage stallion) x Beaujolais (Dressage and Jumper sire).
none have reached that level, but I was left with a passion for, and an incredible appreciation of, the uber-athlete of the equine sport horse world: event horses. Whenever the op- portunity arose, I jumped at the chance to continue my immersion in the eventing world. By pairing observations of great horses with- in that decade of watching the best at Fair Hill, Radnor, Fox Hall with the education gained within the studbook (breeders) process in Holland, I learned an incredible amount. As a result, if I happen to ob-
serve the KWPN label on any event horse, I stop in my tracks. Who bred
the horse? What is his or her pedigree? A KWPN-bred horse in eventing is not very common, at least when compared to the German breeds. History can help us understand why.
Courtesy KWPN
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