The Breeders and Bloodlines of A Coruña 2025
A total of 89 horses, representing 23 nations, contested the first qualifying competition of the Longines FEI Jumping European Championship 2025, taking place in Casas Novas Equestrian Center in A Coruña, Spain.
Well done to each and every breeder who has a home-bred competing at this year’s European Championships, and to all those who have played a part in positively shaping these horse’s careers.
Having studied the pedigrees of all horses in the opening competition, here are my breeding insights.
Leading Breeders
Two breeders are represented by more than one home-bred, and interestingly, it is the exact same two individuals as at the European Championships in 2023.
With a whopping 9 home-breds competing in A Coruña, Paul Schockemöhle of Gestüt Lewitz in Germany, is the most represented breeder. This means that 10% of the horses contesting the 2025 European Championships are bred by one breeder. These are Carbon Girl Z (Vince Jarmy), Chad Blue PS (Alexa Stais), Charino PS (Zascha Nygaard Lill), Chatolinue PS (Riccardo Pisani), Eddy Blue (Darragh Kenny), Mezohegyes Chabala (Gábor Szabó Jr.), Mila (Nadja Peter Steiner), Quandro Blue PS (Ferenc Szentirmai) and Viva Cent (Tamás Mraz).
As a rider, Paul Schockemöhle is the last person to have won back-to-back European Championships, and the only rider to have won three in a row; Munich 1981, Hickstead 1983 & Dinard 1985, all aboard the great Deister (Diskant x Adlerschild xx), bred by Hermann Hahl.
The second breeder with more than one home bred at this year’s championships is Belgium’s Werner Dierckx, of Stal de Toxandria, who is represented by Medoc de Toxandria (Matthew Sampson) and Nasa de Toxandria (Teresa Blazquez-Abascal). Both horses are descendants of the mare Kadine du Boulanger (Landwind x Karabaca), with whom Werner began his breeding programme over 25 years ago.
At least three riders are partnered by home bred horses; Belgium’s Pieter Devos with Casual DV Z (Cornet Obolensky x Cicero Z van Paemel), bred at Stal Devos, France’s Julien Epaillard with Donatello D'auge (Jarnac x Hello Pierville), bred by his wife Susana Epaillard Garcia Cereceda, and Sweden’s Erika Lickhammer-Van Helmond with I. Comme Tessa VHL (Comme il Faut x Casall ASK), bred by herself.
Keeping it in the family, Ireland’s Seamus Hughes-Kennedy partners Irish-bred ESI Rocky (Stakkato Gold x For Pleasure), bred by his cousin Andrew Hughes of Ennisnag Stud.
Dams & Damlines
In addition to Medoc de Toxandria and Nasa de Toxandria, there are several other interesting family ties.
The most remarkable can be found in Team Hungary. Mezohegyes Chabala (Chacco-Blue x Balou du Rouet), the mount of Gábor Szabó Jr., is the dam of Quandro Blue PS (by Qualdandro), ridden by teammate Ferenc Szentirmai. Both horses were bred by Paul Schockemöhle, who in fact is the breeder of four of the five Hungarian rider’s horses at the championships.
Sweden’s Angelie von Essen rides Voila DK Z (Vagrant Z x Andiamo Z), bred by Stal de Krochten. The eleven-year-old stallion is a half brother to the individual European and Olympic Champion, H&M All In, ridden by fellow Swedish competitor Peder Fredricson.
Although somewhat distant, Marcus Ehning’s Coolio 42 (Casalito x Quidam de Revel), bred by Martina Wirtz, and Michael Greeve’s Denver (Diarado x Quantum), bred by Pamela Peters, both share a damline - Holstein mareline 2067.
Similarly, Michal Kazmierczak’s Kalahari Rock (Harley VDL x Little Rock), bred by Waldman Horses and Therese Søhol Henriksen’s Santos Z (Spartacus TN x Cassini I), bred by Johanna Aarnink, both descend from Holstein mareline 7126.
Sea Coast Monalisa Van't Paradijs (Bamako de Muze x Emerald), currently seen competing internationally under the saddle of Belgium’s Gudrun Patteet, is the youngest mare with an offspring competing A Coruña. Born in 2012, the breeding product of Johan Rooms-Vandenbranden is the dam of Willem Greve’s Pretty Woman van't Paradijs (by Vigo d'Arsouilles). Pretty Woman was born in 2015, the year Monalisa turned three.
In total, 21% of horses at the 2025 European Championships are out of mares who have competed to 1m45 level or higher, with almost half of those performance dams reaching 1m60 level throughout their own careers. 16% of the horses competing in Spain this week have a granddam who competed to 1m40 level or higher.
Breeding Stallions
At least 12 of the 14 stallions competing at this year’s European Championships have been Approved or Licensed for breeding with one or more studbooks around the world. These include breeding stallions such as Dexter De Kerglenn (Jeanne Sadran), bred by Alain Richard, Ermitage Kalone (Gilles Thomas), bred by Magali Dessalles, Impress-K van't Kattenheye Z (Thibeau Spits), bred by Tony Raman & Mieke Strobbe, United Touch S (Richard Vogel), bred by Julius-Peter Sinnack, and Vistogrand (Denis Lynch), bred by Carron Nicol.
Standout Sires
A total of 71 stallions have at least one offspring at this year’s European Championships. With four offspring competing this week, the late Chacco-Blue, owned by Paul Schockemöhle, is the most represented sire.
Carrera VDL, Comme Il Faut, Cornet Obolensky, Harley VDL and VDL Cardento are each represented by three offspring at this year’s championships. Casalito, Cassini Gold, Diarado, Emerald and Toulon have two-a-piece.
Born in 2011, Casalido (Casall ASK x Calido I) is the youngest stallion with an offspring competing in A Coruña. His nine-year-old daughter Casaspezi, bred by Rolf Moormann, is the mount of Spanish rider Hugo Alvarez Amaro.
At the other end of the scale, Zandor Z, born in 1989, is the oldest stallion to have an offspring competing at this year’s championship. He is represented by Nelson van’t Roosakker, bred by Marc Kluskens and ridden by Norway’s Marit Haarr Skollerud Cox.
Dam Sires
Nabab de Reve is the most represented damsire, with four of his daughters each producing one of this year’s competitors. While no dam sire is represented three times, several stallions appear twice as dam sires. These include Andiamo Z, Casall ASK, Chacco-Blue, Contender, Corrado I, Diamant de Semilly, For Pleasure, Indoctro, Lux Z and Vagabond de la Pomme.
BIG TALK FOR BREEDERS
If you’d like to learn more about the insights and experiences of internationally successful sport horse breeders around the world, then check out my podcast series, Big Talk For Breeders. The series includes interviews with a number of breeders represented by home bred horses at the Longines FEI Jumping European Championship 2025. These include:
Episode 5 - Alan Waldman (Waldman Horses)
Episode 7 - Jan Greve (Watermolen Equine)
