Neumünster Approvals 2003

It was that time of year again, late October in windy North Germany, when literally thousands of Trakehner enthusiasts from around the world met in Neumünster for the annual highlight: the Trakehner Verband stallion approvals and elite auction of mares, foals and riding horses.

Starting out on a sunny thursday afternoon, the hard surface part of the approval was the first chance to take a look at the candidates of 2003. A total of 53 colts had been selected during the 2003 summer and while 3 colts had to be withdrawn during the show due to injury and sickness, the rest gave a nice current view on where the breed stands. The hard surface performance is important to see especially flaws in the foundation and it was evident this year that a higher percentage than usual had rotations in the front limbs resulting in several colts winging to quite an extend. The size of the colts was pretty good and not a single cannon bone was measured under 20cm. It was also apparent that strict selection for colts with a good supple walk that comes with a freee swining back seems to be essential.

The free jumping on friday morning was a world better than the performance last year. The majority of the colts had excellent manners and paid close attention to the task at hand. From our side noteworthy was the very good jumping style and technique showed by all Kasparow colts, even though most of them came from strict dressage dam lines. Also a positive development was the jumping of the Latimer colts, even though with their sires recent success in the dressage ring, the matches in their pedigrees were mostly focusing on dressage. It seems that the Neuquen xx stallion line does offer a lot for the show jumpers as well.

The at liberty phase on saturday morning showed that the style, mechanics and quality of the trot has reached a maximum in the breed. Balance, rhythm and especially a supple back was visible in almost all colts. While the trot has constantly improved over the years, both walk and canter are not in the focus as much although they are so much harder to "develop" under saddle. Only a handful of the colts showed a nice uphill canter with the inner hind leg reaching far under the body, giving the body balance and also scope for the basic quality of the gait. Often, the backs are not supple enough, resulting in hectic and stiff movement. Here clearly, work has to be done!

While the number of Anglo Trakehner colts had improved over last year and we even saw part Arab colts this year, the total number is still too low. With the spring approvals installed now, we hope to see more, slower maturing colts in the spring in Kerken, but that doesn't change the fact that positive impulses for our breed can only come from "outside" and the number of high quality TB and Arab blood available to our breed has to improve.

The champion was In Flagranti (by Buddenbrock out of ES Insterfee by Kennedey), and impressed with outstanding movement in all three paces, a very supple way of going with maximum impulsion and suspension. Good over jumps, he stood in a very modern frame with a short and strong back and clearly with an uphill tendency. A bit thick in his throatlatch and very masculine in his type. In Flagranti sold at auction for 85.000 Euro to the State Stud of Bavaria in Schwaiganger. He was purchased in partnership with Guenter Bertelmann, Canada. In Flagranti was bred by the approval commission president Hans-Joachim Scharfetter, and represented the famous Ita-family through the O15A Italia branch, which also produced the legendary Impuls, the full brother In Petto and the ATA approved Ichi-Ban, among others. The Reserve Champion Couracius (by EH Sixtus out of Couracia by EH Caprimond) showed classical Trakehner type and harmony in his body, excellent ground manners, this stallion displayed the Trakehner refiner at its best. Outstanding in his walk, his loin connection and saddle position are a bit long and weak. Good jumper, but clearly focused on dressage in his future life. Couracius sold for 60.000 Euro to the Bavarian Gestüt Hörstein. Couracius comes from the family of T14L2 Corry, a line which traces back to the main stud Trakehnen (Corrida) and also produced the stallions EH Consul, Cornus, Checkpoint, Chardonnay or Almox Prints. This particular branch via the elite mare Couleur by Kassiber also produced the approved show jumpers Caanitz and Couleur-Fürst. The most interesting of all Anglo Trakehner colts this year was Armano (ex April First, by Buddenbrock out of Antara xx by Lagunas xx). He was a text book mover with exceptional shoulder freedom and hock action, a willing jumper and outstanding model of a refinement stallion. Not very correct in the foundation with a clearly rotated and winging front end. Masculine in his type, he showed excellent general athleticism and sold for the best price at 130.000 Euro to the Danish Blue Hors Stud. Armano's family is E22 Belgrade Turc xx, and produced a number of exceptional TB brood mares and race horses. Interestingly, the elite mare Arcticonius xx, dam of EH Arogno and many others, is also a member of this line.

The crowd's favorite was clearly Lowelas (by Hockey out of Lugowen by Inster Graditz). This shining chestnut had it all: type for a 10, excellent self carriage in his powerful gaits, one of the best canters of the crowd and good free jumping. A very limited walk probably prevented a higher placing. Lowelas was not offered for sale and will stand at the Rhineland stud Ferienhof Stücker and will be ridden by former European Pony Dressage Champion Jana Freund. This particular mare family traces back to the Polish Trakehner Stud Liski and this offers true "outcross" blood for the breed. Another premium was Oliver Twist (by Monteverdi out of SPS+PS Olga III by EH Sixtus). A very sympathetic stallion with great type and body lines, excellent frame on four very correct legs. Maximum suspension and suppleness in his gaits, Oliver Twist also showed talent over jumps and was sold at auction to the Heinen-Bönninghart Farm in Issum for 60.000 Euro, just weeks before Mr. Heinen's sudden and tragic death in January 2004. Oliver Twist comes from the mare family O69A Oka, which also produced Onassis and the recently approved CCI** eventer Octavio. Ovaro (by EH Hohenstein out of Odessa by Kostolany) was a typical son of his sire. This black stallion had great Trakehner type in combination with a wonderful top line and nice neck set. Not very correct in his foundation, he had high quality gaits and seemed to be of an excellent calm temper. Ovaro sold at auction for 20.000 Euro to Hof Heitholm in Holstein. Ovaro represents a rather small and rare line, that of O279 Barbara. From the same line came the 2002 elite auction mare Orchidee, a full sister to Ovaro.

The last premium was Shavalou (by Freudenfest out of Schwalbenspiel by Exclusiv). This beautiful bay had endless suspenion and an excellent feel for balance and rhythm in his gaits. Particularily strong trot. If there is anyting to critisize than maybe the rather long and soft connection and saddle position. Shavalou was bought back by his breeder Beate Langels at auction for 25.000 Euro to stand at her Hämelschenburg Stud Farm in Lower Saxony. Another approved Anglo Trakehner colt was Carel Deak (by Markus Deak xx out of Calliope by EH Arogno). He showed great type of a classical Trakehner refinement sire for the warmblood breeds, and is the first son of the Hanverian State Stud stallion Markus Deak xx in the breed. Carel Deak jumped with style and scope and was a very supple mover. He was aquired by the Saxonia-Anhalt State Stud in Radegast-Prussendorf for 28.000 Euro. Herzfunke (by EH Angard out of Herzflocke by EH Tivano) was a substantial stallion of nice type and greatest frame on four even legs. Excellent temperament, supple mover with great suspension, maybe a bit slow in the thrust from his hindquaters. Herzfunke sold for 20.000 Euro to Wilhem Auhagen.

Dexter (by Bardolino out of Donja by Cataract) is the first approved son of the former Show jumper champion Bardolino with an interesting East German mare line. Dexter still had to fill out his big frame, but was a powerful mover, who could have been more supple in his canter at times. Alert and careful jumper. He was bought back by his owners, the Ganschow stud in East Germany, for 17.000 Euro. Probably the best mover of the entire crop was Godot (by Freudenfest out of Goldchen by Camelot). This chestnut still had to go through a lot of growth and development. Fair Trakehner type, big frame and body, good foundation. The movement was marked by a maximum of suspension and impulsion, always uphill, in all gaits. Godot was bought back at auction for 16.000 Euro. Ostpreusse (by Freudenfest out of Odessa by Sonnenstrahl) was the third approved of five selected Freudenfest colts. He was great in type and body harmony on an excellent foundation. Supple mover, decent jumper, very nice overall. He was spotted as what he is: a top notch dressage prospect, and sold for 16.000 Euro to a dressage rider in Hessia.

Bred for jumping, Titulus (by Kasparow out of Tiffany by Timber) won the best jumper prize after approval with a flat 10 for his free jumping performance that was marked by scope, nerve and willingness at a maximum. Titulus also offered good movement with noteworthy knee action. He sold at auction for 25.000 Euro to ATA members Patricia Mallet and Serge Barsalou from Quebec, Canada. He remains in Germany for his performance tests. With Illux (by Latimer out of SPS+PS Ilinka by Giorgio Armani), a stallion displaying greatest Trakehner type in a package with a highly correct conformation and supple, well balanced gaits, was approved. He had a surprisingly nice performance in free jumping, and an excellent uphill canter with a very active inner hind leg. Illux was "discovered" over the telephone through TI's Auction Service and sold at auction for 25.000 Euro to Christine Williams of Luxe Sporthorses in Victoria, Canada. He remains in Germany at the Hörstein Stud for his performance test in 2004. Another positive surprise in the department of Trakehner refinement sires was Gondoliero (ex Golden Fiction by Prae Vento out of Goldanna by Saros xx). The dark bay stallion was of excellent type, correct in his conformation, yet refined and offering old, proven lines that had been "forgotten" for a while. He sold at auction to the East German State Stud Moritzburg for 21.000 Euro.

The omnipresent stallion line of 2002 had been the Flaneur-EH Arogno line, with more than 70% of the approved colts tracing back to that originally Arabian line. In 2003, the picture had shifted, although again, it was an Arabian (Anglo Arabian that is) line that took the highest percentage: Burnus AAH-Habicht, exclusively through the elite stallion Sixtus and his sons Buddenbrock and Kasparow.

New TB blood came up in the bay Carel Deak, the Neuquen xx line was present again and also the Arabian line of Pomeranets ox via Hockey. Needless to say, the development is still not enough to guarantee that the genetic variance in the breed is increasing. But at least, a hint towards diversity was also given by the fact that new mare lines that so far, did not appear too much, surfaced. That is also true for the three colts out of Eastern mare lines.

The stallion lines split up as follows:

In Flagranti, Couracius, Armano and Titulus are Burnus AAH-Habicht descendants
Shavalou, Godot, Ostpreusse and Kancun belong to the Pasteur xx-Mahagoni line
Oliver Twist and Ovaro are from the Flaneur-EH Arogno line, with Oliver Twist carrying Habicht through his dam sire too
Dexter and Gondoliero represent the old Perfectionist xx line through Humboldt- Heros via EH Tenor
Herzfunke was the only member of the Halali-EH Marduc line this year
Illux stands for the proven Neuquen xx-Saint Cloud line
Carel Deak brings in the new line of Markus Deak xx, who carries the blood of Northern Dancer xx through his son Nijinsky II xx
Lowelas represents a successful performance line of Russian origin, Pomeranets ox-Hockey

As always, a great number of the most outstanding premium mares of the year had gathered in Neumünster for the selection of the National Champion Trakehner Mare. In the end the mare judged best was the grey premium Bandera by EH Friedensfürst out of the elite mare Ballerina by Diamant. That makes Bandera a maternal half sister to Buddenbrock. The mare has a great type, although maybe not as female as one would wish. She is standing in a clear rectangular frame and moved well over her back, with thrust and suspension. She had been competed under saddle in materiale classes this one season as a three year old, and to our complete surprise, it was announced in NMS that she would "retire from competition after her outstanding performance career" (she placed 4th in the Bundeschampionat). We would have liked to see her move on and really show off, and while we understand the owner's wish to have her as a broodmare, we were quite disappointed that a "career" at material class level qualifies her as a great performer. However, we wish this mare all the best for her future brood mare career. It will be most interesting what the next generation of female "Ballerinas" can do!

Second place went to the spectacular bay Kosima by Ivernel out of the former National Champion mare Karissima by Charly Chaplin. She was a very attractive "motherly" model with great lines and wonderful supple movement, on a very correct foundation. She is owned by the Tasdorf Stud and is heading towards a brood mare career as well.

Third place was Herzlicht by Münchhausen out of Herzblatt by EH Sixtus. She was just breathtakingly beautiful, in black coat and with a very harmonius body. Unfortunately, her front feet were shaped oddly and in two different sizes, so that a higher placing was probably prevented by this. Herzlicht was a clear crowd favorite and ended up as the highest priced auction mare this year, selling for 50.000 Euro to a dressage barn in North Germany and heading towards a prime competition career under saddle.

Everybody met saturday night for the Gala, a show of over 3 hours with the highlights the Trakehner has to offer. This is your chance to see famous stallions, mares, competition horses or also non horse-related shows that guarantee a fun evening. Several awards are given away during the show, the most important ons being the "Trakehner stallion of the year" and the "Trakehner of the year", honoring the horse with the biggest success in performance. The German bred and Danish owned Schwadroneur (by EH Arogno) was the stallion of the year and came into the arena with his breeder, Otto Langels, leading him on long reins. It brought back fond memories, because about 12 years ago, a similar show was put on by Otto and his grand stallion Ibikus on long reins.

A highlight of the evening was the proclamation of the "Trakehner of the year 2003". It was no suprise to see who was picked: the bay approved Solero by EH Hyllos-Polargeist had debuted at Grand Prix that season and took home an overwhelming amount of international wins and placings all over Europe. The stallion and his sympathetic rider Anja Plönzke of the South German stud Tannenhof had left quite an impression with the German National trainer and it is certainly not out of this world if we prognose that this pair could make the German Team in the future. Be sure to stop by our competition news over this season to see their progress! The best dressage horse of the year, to no surprise, was again Solero and the Fritz-Schilke Medal was given to his breeder, Roswitha Schwecht. The best Trakehner show jumper of the 2003 season was the chestnut stallion Waitaki and the prize was given to his rider and owner Holger hetzel, on behalf of the Ukrainian stud Dnepropetrowskij.

Best eventer of the season was also a newcomer at the scene, the black premium mare Biosthetik's Bunbury by Parforce. Still owned by her breeder, Joerg Freiherr von Imhoff, this rare talent had won a considerable amount of money and *** events during her very first international season. She is ridden by Michael Jung, the current European Champion (Young Riders). A very bad injury at the Dutch CCI*** Boekelo ended her career very untimely and she will now be retired at stud. From an early breeding during her life, she is already dam of a celebrated event horse in South Germany, Begelley by Kanudos xx.

The best driving horse of the year was the bay mare Graziela by Seclusive xx was bred by the late Hans-Peter Heinen and is owned and sponsored by Hilmer and Insa Ruprecht. The mare is one of Germany's most successful driving horses for several years now, superbly driven and trained by Ulla Guenther. She is a big hope for the upcoming World Championships.

Three new elite stallions were proclaimed in 2003: EH Gribaldi, EH Friedensfürst and EH Michelangelo. All three of them influenced the breed to quite an extend. EH Gribaldi is one of the most popular stallions in the Dutch warmblood breed and produced 3 approved sons for the German Trakehner breed as well as two for the ATA. His daughters are valuable broodmares and his first get are entering the show rings now. Friedensfürst was an acclaimed Grand Prix dressage competitor and well utilized breeding stallion before his untimely death a few years ago. So far, two of his sons have been approved, but the use of frozen semen might hold more in stocks for this line. And finally EH Michelangelo. Like EH Gribaldi, his career as a breeding stallion began in the Netherlands, and his first foal crop surfaced with a big bang: the champion Kennedy and the premium Guy Laroche came out of it and since then, Michelangelo has influenced the breed with exceptional sons and daughters like not so many others. Upon his arrival in Germany as an older stallion, he was placed under saddle and competed for the first time in dressage, winning advanced level at the high age of 17.

Spectacular showcases were aligned one after another, this included performances of Buddenbrock and his sons Connery, King Arthur and Epernay, as well as EH Gribaldi with his sons Hofrat and the Dutch approved Painted Black, the current reserve World Champion in the 5 year old divisions with his trainer and new constant rider, Olympic gold medalist Anky van Grunsven.

The auctions of mares, foals, riding horses and stallions went well, even though such a high number of colts was approved. The German press unilaterally later wrote that the 2003 stallion crop was one of the best ever seen in Neumünster, and there is little we can add to that observation. The list of exciting events from this year's show could go on and on, and we strongly encourage anybody, who wants to witness the sparkle and shine of that particular Trakehner event to get on a plane for 2004!!!

Editor's note: Dornfelder was later approved in Mecklenburg-Pomeria and passed his 30 day test. He was sold to Olympic rider Darren Chiacchia in 2005 and is currently (August 2006) the leading US Training level event horse. Donaufels and Karolinger were both approved at later timepoints. Konstantin and Durin have become very successful young performance horses (Konstantin in Canada, FEI Young Dressage Horse Tour; Durin in eventing in Germany).

Editor's note: Donauprimel was the champion mare of her inspection the year later; Santa Fee ended up with a premium title and is on her way to become a state premium mare after 2 foals have been born, the mare is also a good dressage horse; Zaubermaus placed high in her inspection and is now a premium mare.