Day one of the FEI Jumping European Championship 2023 in Milan, Italy, is now complete. While I enjoyed watching as many rounds as farm life would allow, as a breeder, I found myself disappointed that, once again, the FEI is letting another Championship go by where they have failed to acknowledge the breeders. While the commentators did reference one or two that they were personally aware of, it didn’t do much in the way of improving the situation. This information is readily available in the large majority of cases, should the commentators and organisers care enough to look and relay it. See bottom of article for where you can find this information)
Having gone through the pedigrees of all 85 horses competing at the FEI Jumping European Championship 2023, here are my breeding insights.
The Breeders
Firsty, let’s start with the breeders. Well done to each and every one of these breeders who have a home-bred competing at this year’s European Championships. It’s a wonderful achievement.
Two breeders are represented by more than one home-bred. With a whopping 9 home-breds competing in Milan, Paul Schockemöhle of Gestüt Lewitz in Germany, is the most represented breeder. These are Casquo Blue (Harry Charles), Chacco's Girlstar (Péter Szuhai), Crack Balou (Emanuele Gaudiano), Dialou Blue PS (Kevin Staut), E-Up (András Kövy Jr.), Mezohegyes Chabala (Gábor Szabó Jr.), Mila (Eoin McMahon), Stawita PS (Robin Muhr) & Tabalou PS (Rikke Belinda Barker).
The second breeder is Belgium’s Werner Dierckx, represented by Medoc de Toxandria (Tim Gredley) and L'Artiste de Toxandria (Ioli Mytilineou), co-bred with Karel Sebrechts.
Dams & Damlines
While none of the 85 horses share a dam, some do share a damline. The dams of Philipp Weishaupt’s Zineday (Zinedine x Polydor), bred by Franz-Georg Ottmann, and Elian Baumann’s Little Lumpi E (Lordanos x Polydor), bred by Anton Elkmann, are full-sisters. A side-note to this is that Zineday’s dam, L.B. Paola, is a former mount of Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann.
Niels Bruynseels’ Delux van T & L (Toulon x Landetto), bred by Luc Van De Vijver, and Edouard Schmitz’ Gamin van't Naastveldhof (Tannenhof's Chacco Chacco x Toulon), bred by Patrick Trienpont, share a great grand dam - Ugana, by Lugano van la Roche.
Holstein Mareline 1020 is represented in Milan by Jens Fredricson’s Markan Cosmopolit (Cohiba VDL x Calido I), bred by Sweden’s Sören Savgren, and Maksymilian Wechta’s Chepettano (AB 19 Chepetto x Calido I), bred by German’s Christiane Tropschug. Although they are from distant branches, it’s interesting that both horses also share the same damsire, Calido I.
Approved Stallions
At least 14 of the stallions competing at the European Championships have been Approved or Licensed during their life, with one of the studbooks around the world. These include Bøgegården Gladiola (Lars N Pedersen), Chepettano (Maksymilian Wechta), Cordial (Megane Moissonnier), Crack Balou (Emanuele Gaudiano), Equitron Naxcel V (Gerfried Puck), Franco 79 (Mathias Nørheden Johansen), Highway M TN (Willem Greve), Kasanova de la Pomme (Koen Vereecke), Moneymaker van 't Meulenhof (Oleksander Prodan), Mumbai (Christian Kukuk), Oak Grove's Laith (Samuel Hutton), O' Bailey vh Brouwershof (Maikel van der Vleuten), Uricas vd Kattevennen (Harrie Smolders) & Zuccero (Rolf-Göran Bengtsson).
The Sires
Twelve stallions are represented by two or more offspring at this year’s championships. Toulon leads the charge with four; the aforementioned L'Artiste de Toxandria (Ioli Mytilineou), Delux van T & L (Niels Bruynseels), IQ van het Steentje (Wilm Vermeir), & Tornado VS (Armando Trapote).
Olivier Perreau partners GL Events Dorai d'Aiguilly (Kannan x Toulon) - the half sister to breeding stallion Eldorado van de Zeshoek, himself represented by three offspring this week. Chacco-Blue, Diamant de Semilly, Diarado and Kannan also have three each. Baltic VDL, Berlin, Cancara Z, Casall ASK, Ci Ci Senor Ask & Darco each have two offspring competing.
The youngest stallions to have sired offspring at this year’s championship are the Fourteen Year Old stallions Cascadello I, Denzel van 't Meulenhof, Dibadu L, Jamal VD Heffinck, Tailormade Diarado's Boy. With representatives born in 2013, Cascadello I, Dibadu L & Tailormade Diarado's Boy produced these championship horses from their first coverings as Three Year Olds.
Dam Sires
Kannan is the most represented dam sire, with three of his daughters each producing one of this year’s competitors. Fifteen others stallions appear twice as dam sires; Andiamo Z, Balou Du Rouet, Calido I, Calvaro Z, Caretino, Carthago Z, Cassini I, Chacco-Blue, Concorde, Cornet Obolensky, Darco, Diamant de Semilly, Landetto, Polydor & Toulon.
To view the full list of breeders and pedigrees for the horses competing at the FEI Jumping European Championship 2023, I recommend visiting Hippomundo. Those wishing to become a member of Hippomundo for the first time can avail of a 20% discount by using the code BIG20.
