Neumünster Approvals 2004

Another Trakehner year is coming to an end and as always, the highlight sets off in late October in the North German city of Neumünster. 55 colts had been selected during August, 50 finally showed up for the final approvals and auctions of approved and non approved colts. In addition, a high quality band of mares, foals and riding horses was offered as well. For the first time ever, the auction was split in two, with the mares and foals sold on saturday afternoon. It was a great idea, because the attention was better, the auction on sunday did not go on forever and the buyers were in a good mood. The sales went very well and a total of appr. 13% of higher income was achieved compared to last year, although less horses were sold. Hopefully that is a good sign for the future.

This year, the hard surface performance did not immediately yield the champion, it was harder to see the "wow" effect, but in general, the quality of the colts was very good. It was interesting to see that the size of the horses seems to be getting bigger all the time. Several colts were clear 16.3h candidates and one wonders where that will lead in a barely 2.5 year old. A development that does raise some concern.

The at liberty phase on saturday morning showed that slowly, the canter quality seems to be improving. However, more than in recent years, we had the impression that a lot of colts were missing a connected way of trotting, showing great action, but clearly moving out behind. That should be kept in mind! Also, not all toplines were really satisfactory, especially the formation of the saddle position is still not optimal in many horses.

The new champion stallion, Le Rouge (by Pret a Porter x Lantana by Tycoon) is a colt with outstanding mechanics in his powerful way of moving. Excellent canter and a beautiful type sum up the picture of a highly interesting sport horse stallion. The stallion was more of Trakehner type and refinement than the previous champions, probably since K2 in 2001, and was celebrated by the crowd. Le Rouge was sold at auction for 160.000 Euro to Klosterhof Medingen. C'est bon (by Distelzar x Coonya vom Klosterhof by Tycoon) became reserve champion and was a substantial colt with a pleasing frame and the best canter of the days in Neumünster, which added to his high quality as a future dressage stallion. C'est bon sold at auction for 110,000 Euro to Gestüt Sommerlade. Blitz und Donner (by EH Lehndorff's x Batida by EH Sixtus) was a highly sympathetic chestnut stallion of great quality with a good frame, correct limbs and a very supple way of going. Good over jumps, he lost a bit of his spark during the days, obviously tiring a bit, but still a colt of high quality overall. He won the best jumper award of the approved colts, but we should mention that the truly best jumper of the days in Neumünster was the preliminarily not approved Mayong (by Linne), who ended up approved later in 2005 during the Spring Approvals in Wickrath. Blitz und Donner, however, sold at auction for 50,000 Euro to David Beattie of Watertown, WI, USA and will make a great addition to the ATA stallion line-up in 2007.

Pricolino (by Schwadroneur x Pepelniza by EH Sokrates was a typical son of his sire Schwadroneur with a lot of type and elegant lines in his body. A bit too long and with a lack of a distinct saddle position, the colt won 2nd reserve champion and sold at auction for 65,000 Euro to Gestüt Domselshof and their stallion line-up of top Trakehner and Westfalian stallions. United Kingdom (by Gipsy King x Unterhaltung xx by Fierant xx) was an outstanding example of a Anglo trakehner colt with excellent harmonious body, beautiful type and exceptional movement. Also a talent over jumps, this bay beauty sold at auction for 65,000 Euros to Gestüt Heinen-Bönninghart in Issum. Kasimir (by Ivernel x SPS+PS Karissima by EH Charly Chaplin was the last of the premium stallions and was still very imature and green, but very elegant and solid built bay stallion with great lines and a very supple way of moving. The colt sold at auction for 27,000 Euro to Gestüt Elmarshausen and will be trained and promoted by Katja Camp.

Ippon (by Buddenbrock x SPS+PS Inkaperle by Siegbert) showed a classic Trakehner type with a very harmonius built and a very supple and elastic way of going. This colt was not very correct in his front legs, but displayed such an outstanding sport type that the approval was well received. He sold at auction for 30,000 Euro to the Netherlands. Ippon is a member of the famous mare line of O305A Inka, which also produced the stallions Irland, Imposant, Idol, the international eventer and accomplished sire Inster Graditz, the former National Riding horse Champion Induc as well as the 2002 premium stallion Interconti and the ATA approved Inamorato. Aquarius (by Connery out of Aviata by Mahagoni) resembled his maternal grand father Mahagoni in many ways. This attractive bay stallion was an outstanding mover with a high degree of balance and rythm and a great natural talent for collections. He also jumped very well and sold at auction for 40,000 Euros to Hamburg. He will be trained by German Grand prix rider Kathrin Bettenworth in the future. Aquarius is a representative of the O60A Abendglocke family, a line that has also produced the stallions Abendregen and Achtermann (GB). The FEI dressage horse Allenstein comes from the same branch. Donauzar (by Distelzar x PS Donaumärchen by EH Caprimond), was - like C'est Bon - from the first crop of the bay Distelzar. He impressed with his wonderful Trakehner type and was a well mannered stallion with good movement. He sold at auction for 25,000 Euro to the Sommerlade Stud. Donauzar is out of the A3A3 Donaufürstin family, a branch of the famous Donna family tracing back to the main stud Trakehnen. Dam PS Donaumärchen vom Klosterhof was a member of the 1994 National Champion Mare Family (all breeds) in Germany. From the close maternal line comes the stallion Donaukaiser as well as the recently approved Donaufels. The international show jumpers and approved stallions Donaumonarch and Donauprints as well as the young premium Donaufischer and the Hanoverian approved Donautänzer also come from this branch.

Rheinklang (by EH Gribaldi x Rhein by EH Partout) is a tall chestnut son of the international Grand Prix competitor EH Gribaldi and still has to mature quite a bit. He is a very supple mover and certainly looks like an impressive dressage prospect. He was sold at auction for 17,000 Euro and was bought back by the owners. Immenhof (by Latimer x I by EH Hohenstein) was a classic black Latimer son with good breed and gender type and good movement especially in his canter. He sold at auction for 85,000 Euro to the Sommerlade Stud. Immenhof comes from the highly successful family of O451 Ilonka. This line also produced the stallions Insterburg TSF, I-Punkt and Illux and the line has furthermore generated a high number of excellent and successful sporthorses, both in show jumping as well as in dressage. Karolinger II (by Latimer x Kadenz by EH Hohenstein) is already the 4th approved stallion of the Latimer x Hohenstein combination, and this one is the most substantial and tallest. Not as pleasing in his type as the others, he was a powerful mover with a very strong and good top line. He sold at auction for 110,000 Euro to the Sommerlade Stud. Karolinger II is a full brother to the recently approved Karolinger I and represents the branch of O23A Kordel out of the big Dohna'sche K-family. His third dam Korscha produced the approved stallions Korvo (ATA) and Koritt (AUS).

Cosmopolit (by Peron Junior x C by Le Duc) is the first ever pinto Trakehner in Neumünster and displayed good type and has very modern knee movement in his trot. He sold at auction for 26,000 Euro to Tylord Farm in Vermont, USA. Cosmopolit represents the EA13A Cresta Star xx family. The dam Carisma is a full sister to the approved Camaro, an upper level eventer who qualified twice for the National Championships in Warendorf. Marcato (by Sapros x PS Marchesa by Kosmonaut ox) was approved with one of the most exciting pedigrees in the auction this year, with the top Russian show jumper Sapros and the outstanding Arabian stallion Kosmonaut ox up close. Marcato has a lot of substance and power in his built and movement and should be a great addition for the ATA. He sold at auction for 17,000 Euro to the David Beattie/USA. Marcato comes from the mare line of O115A1 Mata Hari, which also produced the major sire Matador. The bigger family behind this branch is Gottfried Hoogen's famous Marke family that left a tremendous mark on the breed with such sires as Marlon, EH Mackensen or Mahagoni. San Krotenbach (ex San Lorenzo; by EH Sixtus x Schwarze Schwalbe II by EH Arogno) was a great sport horse type with excellent dressage movement, but a bit of a disappointment in jumping. The stallion sold at auction for 22,000 Euro and will be stationed at Krotenbach Stud. Sanlorenzo is a member of the big O35A1a Schwarze Schwalbe family, that also produced the full brothers Schwalbenflug, Schwalbenfreund and Schwalbenzug, as well as the foundation mare Schwalbenlied at the Langels's farm, where such important stallions like Schwadroneur or Stradivari were bred from this line.

Krönungswalzer (by Titelheld x Krönung by EH Tuareg) is a very attractive black dressage stallion with excellent impulsion and power from his hind quarters. Medium-sized and correct with a good top line, he was not for sale and will remain stationed at the Sommerlade Stud. Krönungswalzer represents the outstanding Kassette family from the main stud Trakehnen, here via the branch of T7A1 Kassandra. Other famous stallions from this branch include Kassius, Kastilio, Kassiber, Kaspareit and Kostolany. The lastest approved stallion from this branch (full sister to the dam SPS+PS Krönung) is Kancun (see Neumünster 2003). Impetus (by Vivus x Inessa by Feingeist) is the first approved son of the older Habicht son Vivus and showed a lot of talent as a future sport horse, especially if focusing on eventing. A modern type with a neck a bit to short, but very nice elastic gaits, he sold at auction for 22,000 to Westfalia. Impetus also represents the outstanding O451 Ilonka family, like the approved Immenhof. Grand dam is the elite mare Ilvica, who produced 4 advanced level show jumpers. The third dam SPS Interessante produced the two FEI dressage horses Ismael and Immensee.

Only 4 different stallion lines are the origin of the great majority of the stallion approved in 2004, a development that is rather unfortunate for the breed and the much needed expansion of the already narrow gene pool. It is even more interesting to see that the 4 most represented lines were exclusively founded by stallions of either Arab or TB origin, something that should tell us all that it is more than time to come up with new, outside blood sources for the breed. The pedigree of Marcato is an interesting step into the right direction, with a perfect match of old, proven Russian performance blood that has its origins in Trakehnen with the outside blood coming from the Arabian stallion Kosmonaut ox, all of that on the foundation of a very good Trakehner family. Another noteworthy influence comes from the younger Tycoon, a Donaumonarch-Sir Shostakovich xx son who only briefly stood in Germany and is now at home in Great Britain. The stallion left a tremendous mark on the breed through several outstanding daughters, in 2004, both the champion as well as the reserve champion came out of Tycoon daughters.

The stallion lines split up as follows:

Ippon, Aquarius, Cosmopolit, Sanlorenzo and Impetus are Burnus AAH-Habicht descendants
Le Rouge, Pricolino, Kasimir and Krönungswalzer belong to the Flaneur-EH Arogno line
C'est bon, Donauzar and Rheinklang are from the Pasteur xx-Mahagoni line, all of them from the Kostolany branch
Immenhof and Karolinger II represent the TB line of Neuquen xx through Latimer
United Kingdom is the only member of the long forgotten Abglanz line, one that was tremendsouly important in Hannover
Blitz und Donner stands for the proven Halali-EH Marduc line
Marcato brings in the important refreshment through the Pythagoras-Pilgrim line, where the original Trakehnen foundation stallion Pythagoras actually still shows up in 4th generation!

Since in 2004, the Trakehner Verband hosted the National Mare Show in Neustadt/Dosse that is only staged every 7 years, there was no mare championships in NMS this fall. However, some of the Nation's finest mares showed up and left a great impression and a good sign for the future. Evita by Schwadroneur was one example of a NMS success story. Bred in Denmark, sold at the elite auction in NMS to the Netherlands, she is currently the State Champion mare of the Rhineland.

We couldn't help it but feel a bit like the Gala had lost some of its spark and excitement from the past. The almost 3 hours were filled with several show elements, but since the Trakehner Gala shows tradiationally had always been something very special, it did feel a bit boring this year. An interesting showcase was the first one, showing off several show jumpers from younger age classes to highly proven horses at higher levels, introducing yet another Russian bred exceptional talent: Heops.

One of the most important parts of the Trakehner year, the award ceremony for the Fritz Schilke medals in silver for the most successful national dressage horse, show jumper and driving horse was a true highlight this time, since it took 8 years for the Gold medal to be awarded again. The last recipient was the bay stallion Peron's breeder Mr. Wezel from Bavaria, whose horse had represented the Trakehner colors at the 1996 Olympic Games and returned with a team bronze medal. In 2004, this spot was of course, Mr. Lembke's, breeder of the eventing superstar Windfall by Habicht. It was especially nice this year, since his breeder, his raiser (the Hörstein stud), his owner (Timothy Holekamp) and his rider (Darren Chiacchia) all ended up standing in the Holstenhallen. Windfall was also awarded the title "Trakehner of the Year 2004". The best dressage horse of the year, to no surprise, was again Solero by EH Hyllos 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 Kairos by EH Leonardo and the prize was given to his breeder Arthur Rüggeberg. The best driving horse of the year was the bay mare Graziela by Seclusive xx, 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 Günther.

Only one new elite stallion was proclaimed in 2004: EH Charly Chaplin by EH Mackensen-Neuquen xx, who performed a wonderful Grand prix Pas de Deux with his stunning approved son and FEI competitor Polarzauber G. Despite his old age of 19, Charly Chaplin looked amazingly fresh and the many years of tough competition and also rather rough style of riding seemed to have not affected this noble horse.

Another spectacular showcase was the eventing part, where the most recent young stars were shown. Ingrid Klimke rode her stunning gelding Seacookie by Helikon xx, despite her bad fall at Punchestown where she broke her shoulder. She had bought this great talent from his breeder about a year ago as an unbroken, green youngster and had won the 5 year old Nationals on him. What an amazing accomlishment!! She was accompanied by a number of excellent youngsters like the reserve National champion Skambrack by Buddenbrock or the mare TSF Amazing Grace by Tycoon (ring a bell?), who just returned with a ribbon from the World Championships of the Young Event Horse in Lion d'Angers, France. And the shooting star of the season came too: Birkenhof's Grafenstolz TSF by Polarion, first horse in the history of the Bundeschampionships to qualify for all three disciplines, then he won the 6 year old eventing section with a final score of 97% only to come back from Lion d'Angers as the new WORLD CHAMPION. What a stallion!!! Congratulations to him and his rider, Michael Jung, as well as the breeders, the Heinen stud and his owners, the Birkhof stud in South Germany.

With all the excitement in the eventing field, it was one stallion that definitely stood out in dressage at the Nationals this year: Kaiserkult by EH Van Deyk, a not yet approved Trakehner stallion who won the Bundeschampionships 6 year old dressage horse divisions with an unbelievable 92% in the finals under his outstanding rider Dorothee Schneider. The pair put in a wonderful performance in NMS and the stallion clearly showed that 4th level is not going to be the end of the ladder for him. Kaiserkult was a highlight in NMS this year and is certainly one of the most exciting Trakehner dressage talents we have at this time.

Finally, the 2004 "Stallion of the Year" was the chestnut elite stallion Herzruf by Königspark xx-Ginster. Bred by Veronika von Schoening, he won his 100 day test in Warendorf with over 140 points overall, winning both the dressage and jumping sections (all breeds). He continued to become an FEI competitor, but more importantly, left a number of outstanding sport horses for the breed, both at the upper levels of dressage and show jumping. His approved son m-real St. Payano is the current National Dressage Champion in Finland with his owner Terghi Stegars. Both of them have excellent chances to make the Finnish team for the WEG in Aachen in 2006.

For the first time ever, the auction was split into two significant parts and held on two different days. the new idea was a great one and left both the audiences and the auctioneer with a much more refreshed feeling. All mares and foals were sold during the saturday afternoon brake before the final anouncement of the approval verdicts and seldomly was a mare auction that thrilling.

The most expensive mare ended up being the bay State and Verband premium mare Scarlett by Biotop- Koenigspark xx-Marsuk ox, a mare that in an ideal way demonstrated the high hot blood influence the breed can cope with and still produce outstanding horses. This exceptional daughter of Dr. Klimke's last Grand Prix mount, the Russian Trakehner Biotop comes from one of the most successful mare families of the breed, the O35A1b Scherezad family, a branch of the greater Schwalbe line. Her dam Shira II produced a number of excellent horses, e.g. the FEI dressage gelding Savoy as well as Scarlett's full sister Shakira, the National Champion mare of the breed in 2002. Scarlett sold for the best price of 30,000 Euro to Newspring Farm, the Holekamp family, as a future partner for the stud's star stallion, Windfall. The mare was in foal to the 2003 corwd's favorite and premium stallion Lowelas, meaning that the resulting foal will be an inbred to the all time great Hockey. Second most expensive mare, and the crowd's favorite, was the black SPS and PS Alisha by EH Friedensfürst-EH Michelangelo-Ginster. She came from the Heinen-Bönninghardt stud farm that already bred outstanding horses like EH Michelangelo, Monteverdi, Grafenstolz or Kennedy. The mare family here is the famous T9C Ann line, which also produced the best Habicht daughter ever, the black Arwetta, who is Alisha's third dam. Stallions from this line include EH Argument, Argonaut, Aron and the exceptional dressage stallion Arsenal, foundation sire of the younger Camelot-Gipsy King line that this year, produced the premium stallion United Kingdom. Alisha sold for 28,000 Euro to Luxesporthorses in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Third most expensive mare was the bay PS Ribannah by Poker E-EH Partout-EH Consul. Her mare family of O270 Reni has produced some of the breed's most important sires. Her second dam Rockefellina is a full sister to the late elite stallion and produced of international competitors Rockefeller, a maternal half brother to the Grand Prix stallion EH Ravel. Ribannah had passed her mare performance test with excellent results. Among others, she scored a 9.17 for her character. She had already proven herself in competitions under saddle and found a new home in Holstein. Fourth most expensive mare was the bay SPS+PS Thabana by Buddenbrock-Humanus-Timber. Her mare family of O156A Trude has produced excellent show jumpers and her dam and grand dam were competition horses prior to their brood mare careers. The line suddenly came back into the spot light in 2003 when Thabana's close relative Titulus won the best jumper prize in Neumünster and was approved. Like Titulus, Thabana ended up sold to North America and again, New Spring Farm in Columbia, MO, was the lucky bidder.

The foal auction was a bit on the slow side this year and also suffered from the fact that some of the best foals had to be withdrawn due to health reasons. Highest priced foal at 8,500 Euro was Dorkas, a dark bay filly by the outstanding King Arthur out of Dana von der Heide by Finely M-EH Vatout-Fabian. This filly had qualified for the All Breeds German Foal Championships in 2004 and was reserve champion of the big Hörstein foal inspections in July. She was sold to the Netherlands.

The auction of all non-approved colts was very interesting this year, especially because a number of first time buyers came to the Holstenhallen. Top selling colt was the bay stallion Mayong by Linne-Antares-Patron, who was "preliminarily not approved" and invited back by the approval commission after he finished his performance test. The stallion did win the best jumper prize this year and was of very high quality in terms of movement and overall built, just needed more time to mature. His owners bought him back at auction for 21,000 Euro. The other colt that was invited back after his performance test was Inter I by Hertug-EH Angard-Helianthus, bred and owned by Jagdschloss Zwiefalten in South Germany. He was not for sale. For the first time so far, an Olympic team medallist ended up buying a few excellent riding horse prospects from the crop of non approved stallion, highlighting what we usually tell clients anyway: this is the BEST place to pick up inexpensive horses that are handselected and belong to the top 50 of one entire year. Windfall's rider Darren Chiacchia sat in the crowd and returned home with three of the non approved colts that he selected for his purposes: Hohenlohe by Connery-Elan xx-EH Rockefeller, Dumbledore by EH Friedensfürst-Holunder-Habicht and Katmandu by Latimer-EH Tenor-Schwarzwälder. Other stallions sold to successful sport riders include the full brother to Connery, Cordoniu, the EH Louidor son Ulandus to Switzerland, Dimanche by Preussenprinz to the Netherlands and Peter der Grosse by Solero to the Tschec Republic. The impressive Süntelstern by Summertime was bought by a consortium made up of the stud farms Webelsgrund and Hämelschenburg to present him under saddle and keep him intact for a possible re-presentation to the Verband after a performance career. 2004 marked a highlight for the Trakehner auction simply due to the fact that so many of the really interesting colts ended up with homes that will give them the best promotion under saddle. This is an important development for the breed and needless to say, the only acceptable way into the future.

The most expensive of the elite riding horses was the bay stallion Crescendo by Tambour, who sold for 35,000 Euro to a rider in Hamburg. Unfortunately, the loss of three of the best riding horses prior to the auction was a big blow and left the organizers with a bit of a problem. All in all, the riding horse auction still needs to make itself a good name and the biggest problem still remains a good presentation under saddle for these young horses.

One final note on our behalf: Trakehners International is proud to say that the mare sales of Scarlett, Alish and Thabana, as well as the non approved colts Hohenlohe, Dumbledore, Katmandu and Ulandus were all based on our auction service in Germany. Don't hesitate to get in touch with us if you want serious, non-biased and behind.the.scenes info weeks ahead of the auction frenzy!