Breeders’
By Liz Cornell
Best Bloodlines
NORTH AMERICAN BREEDERS HAVE COME A LONG WAY IN THE LAST THIRTY YEARS. Thanks to time, experience and reproductive technologies, breeders have made huge strides in their breeding programs. Today, leading bloodlines are bringing us top sport horses produced on this side of the Atlantic.
Breeder Maggie Sjoberg says, “The Warmblood breeding busi- ness is full of very high highs, very low lows and everything in between. The bloodlines that you find you can connect with will, in the end, make you the most successful.” For this reason, we reached out to over 800 North American
sport horse breeders urging them to share with Warmbloods Today which bloodlines and breeding strategies have brought them the most success. Organized alphabetically by farm name, we present 23 breeders from around the continent who are willing to share some of their strategies and, perhaps, best-kept secrets. Take note that there are no two breeders revealing the same combination of bloodlines. Therefore, as Maggie suggests, perhaps it is the indi- vidual connection to a particular set of bloodlines—an indefinable magic—that ultimately brings a breeder the most success.
Branscomb Farm, Woodside, California
www.branscombfarm.com At Branscomb, we rely on German Verband-approved mares from the “big four” Holsteiner lines (A-C-L-R). I like more elegant Holsteiner types- Acorado, Calido, Diarado— and, although I might put a little French or Thoroughbred blood on top every second generation or so to lighten the frame and add character, I always stay true to the limita- tions of Verband breeding so we can offer German registra- tion with our U.S.-born foals.
Branscomb’s stallion Contiano BF (Contefino–Lanciano-Der Clou) with farm manager Daniel Zilla.
Like the great German breeders Uwe Baumann and Maas Hell (now deceased), I believe you start with really great mares and watch production over 10-20 years, culling constantly. This long, slow and expensive process brings a consistency of type and quality to your foals. While the inherent quality of the mare herself (i.e., performance, athletic ability, confor- mation and soundness) is as important as pedigree, I do think bloodlines matter. If I experiment, it is with choice of stallions—never the mares.
Bridlewood Farm, Union, Kentucky
www.bridlewoodhanoverians.com Bridlewood Farm has had success since 1988 through stallions with strong foundation Hanoverian pedigrees such as Grande, Wendekreis and the legendary Oldenburg Donnerhall and his sons/grandsons. We have combined these bloodlines with versatile refinement sires from very proven Trakehner and Thoroughbred lines. Our Elite Hanoverian breeding stallions over the last 28 years reflect this success: Adios III (Arsenik/Diplo- mat/Woehler), Donnerkeil (Diamont/Lukant/Kemir ox), Guarantor (Gross- fuerst/Aktuell/Cardinal xx), Wolkenglanz (Wolkenstein II/Bolero/Akzent), Fabu- leux (Fabriano/Augustinus xx/Absatz) and currently through Dacaprio (Davignon/Caprimond/Laterit). Dacaprio has sired numerous breed show champions, breed site cham- pions, dressage champions and international dressage horses. We place strong emphasis on our exceptional brood-
Dacaprio (Davignon/Caprimond/ Laterit), Elite Hanoverian stallion also approved by numerous other registries.
mares, among them SPS Donna DeNira (DeNiro/Caprimond), SPS Mon Amour (Matcho AA/Damnatz), SPS Laureen (Lauries
Warmbloods Today 43
Bernd Eylers
Donna DeMari
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