When Hannah Bennett posted on Facebook that she was geeking out over researching European sport horse bloodlines, I asked her to write about the topic for EN. She agreed — yay! Hannah worked for the USEA through last year, so chances are you’ve seen her behind a camera at events, and she still designs Eventing USA magazine. Many thanks to Hannah for writing, and thanks for reading!
Hannah Bennett. Photo via Flashpoint Photography.
From Hannah:
I’ve ridden horses all my life. I started riding like so many of us do — at a week-long day camp at the local eventing barn, and despite my mother’s persistent warnings about horses being dirty, I fell in love. I started taking lessons, bouncing around from barn to barn as I tried my hand at many different disciplines, learning more and more about these mesmerizing animals as I went along. I rode consistently throughout high school and college, but when the time came to get my own horse, it just never quite worked out, due to either poor timing or lack of finances.
I made it work, falling in love with my fair share of lease horses, catch rides and donated IHSA school horses, but I never actually had the opportunity to have my own horse that I could ride consistently and develop a long-term relationship with.I tried very hard, for a year and a half, to buy one after I graduated from college, but after three failed vettings and several thousand dollars down the drain, I was forced to give up.
So, here I am, years later, just as horse crazy as I was when I first started out, but still horseless. In addition to being annoying, frustrating and a major hindrance of progress, constantly needing to ride someone else’s horse makes for a lot of awkward lag time between situations. During these times, I have to grit my teeth and dredge through weeks, sometimes months, when I don’t get to do a lot of riding. Scratch that … I don’t get to do ANY riding.
But, something I try very hard to avoid is stewing over, complaining about and otherwise making myself miserable by constantly dwelling on what I don’t have (considering that I have been given so very much in the grand scheme of things). So, instead of whining, crying, complaining — or my personal favorite — eating my feelings, I channeled my energies in a more productive direction.
Everyone is always writing about their game plan for the off-season and taking advantage of down time to learn new skills, fix holes in training programs and improve upon experience garnered the previous season. So I decided to view my time between rides as a kind of off-season where I dedicated the time I would’ve spent riding to learning all I could about something horse-related. Naturally, I did what any 21st-century millennial would do — I turned my attention to the Internet, and more specifically, using it to research and learn about European sport horse breeding.
Why I Got Started
There are several reasons I decided to research sport horse bloodlines, but my main inspiration came from one of my most favorite catch rides. This spring, after leasing an event horse for six months and burning through most of my savings, I had to make the tough decision to end my lease early and focus on getting my finances in order. I was pretty devastated, because I had set some pretty major goals for the year, and they were all instantly out of the picture.
I still wanted desperately to ride, so, on a whim, I posted a quick ad on a horse-related classifieds website about being available to hack horses if anyone had extras that needed to be ridden. The response I got was pretty unbelievable. One of the first e-mails I received was from a girl about a half hour away who needed help keeping her … get this … Grand Prix show jumper exercised. I read the email a few times over, double checking that I had actually read it correctly, picked my jaw up off of the floor, and immediately replied that I was interested and available.
Long story short, I ended up getting to ride, occasionally jump and even lesson on her horse, Corland, which was an invaluable, somewhat surreal experience (Sitting on a horse that thinks the 4’3” gymnastic you’re taking him through is “small” is … well … I don’t really have the words), and I cannot thank the owner and her family enough for their unbelievable generosity.
But, in addition to riding a pretty unreal horse, I got to experience something that I hadn’t anticipated. Early in the summer, she imported a second horse from Germany, a young Holsteiner gelding with international-level potential. When the horse arrived, he was not yet 5 years old, and within a month, he had flown across the world, gone through quarantine in New York and stood on a trailer for several hours before finally arriving in Northern Virginia.
After a day or two, we decided to take the horses down the road to a park with a larger arena to jump a few fences. I watched in awe as the young horse jumped over flowers, roll tops and brick walls without blinking. He had only been jumped a handful of times in Germany and had had enough changes of scenery in the past month to last him quite a while, and yet he still marched politely into the ring, did his job, jumped his fences and didn’t waste a second snorting, spooking or even glancing at any of the lurking monsters.
Lars and Corland this summer. Photo by Danielle Quinn.
I decided right then and there that I wanted one (surprise, surprise). Not only was this horse stunningly beautiful, well put together and obviously talented, but he had a mind that completely blew me away. As the summer wore on, riding the experienced horse and watching the younger one continue to learn and progress, I was floored at how unbelievably business-like, level-headed, talented and kind these horses were.
Especially the young one, who had been through a lot of upheaval and had hardly been under saddle for more than a few months. He was calm, professional and thoughtful about everything he faced. This was not at all the kind of young horse I was used to (more of the bucking, spinning, refusing variety), and it made it seem possible to envision myself having a young horse and training it, with copious amounts of assistance, without ruining it.
How I Got Started
The biggest dream of my life began to take shape this summer as I started to toy with the idea of importing a horse. I told the owner of the two horses about it, and her first piece of advice was to research the bloodlines of the horses I was interested in so that I could know what kind of traits to expect.
So, I sat down at my computer to start my research, and as I gazed at my blank Safari window, I realized that I didn’t have the first clue where to start. I couldn’t exactly Google “German sport horse breeding for dummies.” I knew absolutely nothing about breeding, let alone breeding in a foreign country halfway across the world. I didn’t even know what questions to ask. I poked around a bit on my own online, to no avail, and quickly became frustrated.
Then, something happened that I thought was totally unrelated, but ended up being the perfect springboard into the deep, vast ocean of breeding research. My best friend from home bought a horse … a Holsteiner. He didn’t really have his own name, as the people who imported him had been calling him by his father’s name, Quality, so I made it my personal project to give him a great show name (remember, I can’t ride, so I had nothing better to do!). To get some ideas, I asked her to send me his lineage, so she texted me a photo of his passport.
My best friend’s new horse, Corbin, by Quality and out of Venecia. Photo via Jordan Coy.
VOILA. I had my springboard. I had never thought of it before, but what better way to start learning about bloodlines than to learn everything you can about a horse you have somewhat of a connection to? It seems obvious looking back, but when there are mountains of information, deciding what first step to take can be really confusing. I decided that my first step turned out to be researching just one horse I was interested in.
So, with the photo at the ready, I returned to my blank Safari window and typed in “Quality sire” in my Google search bar. I was directed to the national Holsteiner site where I found photos and some information, as well as the farm where he was standing at stud. I googled the farm and found more photos and videos of the sire, and again, was blown away by his talent and versatility.
The Sires
I continued to Google each one of the ancestors of my friend’s horse, and I ended up learning about some of the most famous, landmark stallions of the Holsteiner breed, namely Quidam de Revel, Jalisco B, Landgraf I and Cor de la Bryere.
Quidam de Revel is actually a Selle Francais, but he was introduced into the Holsteiner line in an effort to improve the breed, which I have found a lot of during my research, and speaks to the intentionality of those invested in the breed and their proactive approach to refining the Holsteiner lines. Quidam de Revel, who won team bronze and was fourth individually at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 under Herve Godignon, is by Jalisco B, who has sired multiple Olympic and World Championship medalists. For several years, Quidam de Revel was the world’s most expensive stallion.
Jalisco B won the Grand Prix of Paris in 1983 and was on the selection list for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Before he had the chance to compete at the Games, he was injured on the Spanish circuit and later competed for Portugal at the Seoul Olympics in 1988. He was large, moved with great elasticity, had a very long stride and was naturally quite powerful. He had four half brothers but was considered to be the best of the five of his generation.
Landgraf I, one of the “founding fathers” of the Holsteiner breed, was not initially widely accepted as a stallion in Germany, as he was a son of a Thoroughbred — Ladykiller XX. At that time, sons of Thoroughbreds were still regarded with suspicion, but after he demonstrated his ability to clear 6’6” with ease, international riders started to buy his offspring.
Cor de la Bryere is often noted as one of the most influential sires in modern warmblood breeding, second only to Landgraf I. Cor de la Bryere was also a Selle Francais. The Holsteiner Verband had noticed the success that French blood had in the Oldenburg breed to upgrade their stock and wished to introduce it into their own horses. An inspection committee travelled to France to evaluate a different horse and happened to find Cor de la Bryere while they were there. The Verband purchased and imported the 3 year old to Schleswig Holstein, Germany, in 1971. That same year, he was the champion of his 100 Day Test.
Making Connections
After learning about the stallions that made up the lineage of my friend’s horse, I was officially on a roll. I had a starting point, and I was absorbing gobs of information as fast as I could get my hands on it. My next thought was to do the same thing with the horses I rode this summer. I quickly texted the owner and got their information, and I was off again, down the information rabbit hole (I’m getting excited again just thinking about it!).
The more experienced horse, Corland, is by Corrado I and out of Hillary XVI, who is by Landgraf I. Corland’s sire, Corrado I, is by Cor de la Bryere. Cor de la Bryere is also the great-grandfather of my friend’s horse by Quality, who has since been named Corbin, and Landgraf I is Corbin’s grandfather as well. By some incredible stroke of luck, the first two horses I decided to research shared several common ancestors, which made it that much easier to commit their pedigrees and characteristics to memory.
The new younger gelding, Lars, is by Lord Pezi and out of Lanett, who is by Landcapitol. Lord Pezi is by Lacros, who is by Landgraf I, the great-grandfather of my friend’s new horse, Corbin, as well as Corland’s grandfather. Lars’s father, Landcapitol, is by Lanadel, who is also by Landgraf I. Yet again, there were several connections between the first three horses I researched, all of whom were important to me.
These sires seem to, right off the bat, have a distinct knack for siring offspring that perform well in the jumper ring. But, upon further research, I found that all three of the horses also share common ancestors with Chippieh, Kenki Sato’s mount that scored a 42 on the flat at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Chippieh is by Carnaby, who is by Caribo, by Calypso II, by Cor de la Bryere. Chippieh’s dam, Copenhagen, is by Caretino, by Caletto II, by Cor de la Bryere and is out of Nabella, who was by Landgraf I.
I have to say, the ability to look up pedigrees for horses I know and love and recognize the names of was extremely rewarding. However, the unbelievable, exciting, addicting part was seeing the same names across several pedigrees. In a weird way, it made me feel like my continuous string of seemingly unrelated leases, catch rides and horses I’ve simply met along the way were all connected to each other.
Somehow, connecting all of them made me feel that I wasn’t simply bouncing around between situations like a leaf in the wind, but that I was moving forward on my journey as a rider and a horse person. In my mind, I felt that if the horses were connected, and they were all teaching me things, then I’m still making some sort of progress. Even though the progress isn’t measurable — like moving up a level or scoring a personal best in the dressage ring — I’m still learning. I’m taking each lesson with me as I move forward, and I will be able to apply them when I someday begin my journey with my own horse.
When Dreams Become Realities
I don’t profess to know everything about breeding, or sport horses or anything in general for that matter, but I am trying very hard to learn. I’m a firm believer that we’re all given different experiences for a reason, and those experiences lead to dreams, and with some hard work, those dreams can lead to realities. It can be intimidating to dream such a big dream, but the bigger the dream, the bigger the reality.
So, in an attempt to do my dream justice, I’m going to do everything in my power to put together the funds to import my own horse in the next year or two, but more importantly, I am vowing to do my due diligence to know as much as I can so I can make the best possible decision when the time comes to actually pick out the horse. I have no idea what size, color or type he or she will be, but the most important thing is that the horse will be all mine, and I can’t wait to give it a pat and a carrot and welcome it home to the States.
