For automobile buffs, the acronym ‘LS’ stands for either ‘Luxury Sedan’ or ‘Lux- ury Sport.’ For show jumpers, LS is a well recognized acronym indicating a horse most likely came from Mexico’s luxurious stud farm, La Silla.
LS L
a Silla-bred horses compete in show jumping are- nas around the world, clearing fences and win- ning titles at all levels of the sport. Bred in North- eastern Mexico, they are proving the success of a top breeding program that boasts the motto
“Quality Is Inherited.” Right now, the superstar of the group is Chela LS—the
first North American-bred to win one of the richest prizes in show jumping. This 10-year-old mare (Chapultepec La Silla x Tláloc La Silla) claimed first place in the HITS Million Dollar Grand Prix at HITS Thermal in March of this year, rid- den by Ashlee Bond Clarke of Little Valley Farms in Hidden Hills, California. Until now, all the other six winners of the HITS Million Dollar event have been European imports.
Three Parts Make a Whole La silla translates to “the saddle,” and is named for Monter- rey’s saddle-shaped mountain, Cerro de la Silla. Owned by two-time Olympic rider Alfonso Romo (1996 and 2000), Club Hipico La Silla is based in Monterrey, Mexico, just 150 miles south of Laredo and its training and show facility is in the hills above the city. (“Hipico” is the Spanish word for “equestrian.”) It hosted an international show, a CSI part of the Pulsar Crown Monterrey, for many years. La Silla also has Studbook La Silla, a member of the
World Breeding Federation of Sport Horses. Horses with the LS, La Silla, or LS La Silla suffix represent the studbook.
TOP: Chela LS with Ashlee Bond Clarke competing in Grand Prix at HITS Thermal 2014. Photo Charlene Strickland
By Charlene Strickland
It’s the mares of La Silla that produce their winning jump- ers. Almost all are successful in sport before they join the broodmare band. The La Silla breeding farm that houses these mares
is in Montemorelos, an hour southeast of the club. In an area of orange groves, the 200-hectare farm has large pas- tures for mares and foals, weanlings, yearlings and two- year-olds. The farm is a prolific breeder of jumpers bred for the sport. Besides Chela, many other La Silla-produced jumpers are winning and have won around the globe.
Breeding for Success “They started quite a few years ago, when they imported top sport mares,” says Simon Nizri of Wildflower Ranch, Encinitas, California. From Mexico himself, Simon is the U.S. representative for La Silla. Two foundation mares were Dollar Girl La Silla and Re-
nata La Silla, whose descendants continue winning in the 21st century. Dollar Girl (Dynamo x Salem) was a star of the 1980s, winning over two million dollars in her career and competing in the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games. Re- nata (Ramiro x Pantheon xx), another successful jumper, produced 13 foals for La Silla, including the Olympic jumper Rebozo LS, also known as HH Rebozo (Tláloc La Silla x Ramiro Z). Simon explains, “They took embryos of Renata and
Dollar Girl to produce their own breeding. And they also import—if it’s a super good sport mare, they add it to their portfolio. And they add stallions from all over the world, always innovating and adding better quality.”
Warmbloods Today 53
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100