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The train trip from Prague to Salzburg is pretty but
seems to take forever. It is hard to understand why
a trip takes 4 hours going north and 6 & ½ hours
going south! I think the Czech railway system has
yet to be imbued with the Austro-Germanic efficiency
of its neighbours.
Prague is a beautiful city that should be visited by
everyone. However, it is no place to be looking for
horses. That part of our trip began 2 weeks ago
when we landed in Hamburg and headed straight to the
Hengststation Meyer in Dorum, about 1 & ½ hours
north. Here we were graciously entertained by
Suzanne and Jens despite their very busy
breeding-season schedule. Semen collections start
at 7 am every morning with all stallions being
brought, in turn, to visit the “phantom”. For the
stallions it is then time for breakfast while the
stud staff gets busy with the semen handling,
packing, and dispatch. Every day chilled semen from
the 6 stallions is sent all over Germany and to
Denmark, Sweden, France, Holland, and England.
Foal inspections with Jens are always the highlight
of a visit to Dorum. Jens, ever the raconteur, is
most at home talking to the breeder farmers about
their new foals and their breeding plans for the
coming season. Jens and Hanke Ostermann (remember
Hanke who worked for us in 2006) personally inspect
as many foals by their stallions as is possible
before the breeding season ends. This gives them a
chance to assess the quality of foals from their
stallions and to promote their newest stallions to
the breeders. Sometimes there is also the
occasional beer or schnapps involved to seal a deal
or simply to ward off the cold.
 We spent 3 days with the Meyers and this gave us
ample opportunity to evaluate the progress of all
their stallions. After breakfast the work schedule
for the stallions begins. All the senior stallions
are ridden daily by Stephan while the youngsters are
ridden only 2 to 3 times a week. Stephan is the
rider we all wanted to be – long legs, a beautiful
seat, and a firm but patient approach to each
horse’s education. They seem putty in his hands for
someone so young.
 It is always exciting to see what is new and will be
available for the next breeding season. Lord Laurie
(Lord Loxley x Lauries Crusader) is a majestic black
stallion with white points who has matured
enormously since his licensing last year. He is now
170 cm tall, very tractable, and moves beautifully
in all 3 paces. He has a super temperament and is a
lovely refined type from his Thoroughbred background
and will definitely be on our list of horses to
use. He was bred by Lord Loxley’s breeder and we
enjoyed visiting Hanke and Mathilde Wrede again to
see Lord Laurie’s mother.
 Ponies are not the central focus of the Meyer’s
activities but in the past their lovely pony
stallion Mandingo has produced some exquisite
foals. They are now standing a stunning new
palomino pony stallion, Gold of Capri, for their
friend Helen Langenhahnenberg. This stylish little
package is 142 cm and will be ideal for breeding
ponies in Australia with mares up to full height
(145 cm). He has beautiful conformation, the colour
is arresting, and he will be campaigned by Helen to
best advantage. Look for him at Warendorf next
year.
 Hampton, Herzensdieb, and Damsey are all continuing
to improve. Damsey is now performing well at
M-level in dressage and still has a walk “to die
for”. Herzensdieb is trying to catch up on lost
time. His preparation has been interrupted by
illness a couple of times but he is now back on
track and working very well. Hampton continues to
display his rideability inherited from the R-line
and is very handsome. The stable favourite, Cashman,
is now 20 years old and doesn’t look a day over 12.
He is as fit as a trout and participates
enthusiastically in his daily activities.
The last day of our visit was spent helping with
Falsterbo as he competed at Wildeshausen. He is a
tremendously athletic stallion for his 12 years –
refined and compact with moderate bone. He cleaned
up in the M-level and came a close 4th in
the S-level in stiff competition. Boy, can he trot!
 While in Dorum we also took the opportunity to
inspect our fillies for correctness and progress.
You may remember we purchased 4 fillies in Germany
who, courtesy of EI, became stranded. Of the 3 at
the Meyers the Herzensdieb x Rotspon continues to
stand out with spectacular movement. She will go to
the mare show in July to see how she stacks up. The
Hotline x Donnerhall is developing into a very
correct filly that moves very well – not stunning
but way better than average and definitely a
keeper. The Hotline x Hohenstein started out as the
stand-out but her development has been
disappointing. Her leg conformation has gone awry
and so we will need to move her on.
Next stop after the Meyers was a visit to see Axel
Windeler’s stallions, Benetton Dream and the
3-year-old Royal Classic. Benetton is still the
stunning, tall (173 cm), refined stallion we
remembered from last year. He is now being ridden
by Holger Finken and this change should allow him to
be shown to best advantage. We have high hopes for
the 2 mares we have at home in foal to this
stallion. The few foals we saw by BD in Germany
were all very typey and elegant. We were blown away
by the beauty of the
 stunning black, Royal Classic
(Royal
Highness/Florestan).
We last saw this colt as a 2-year-old in his stable
last year. He has now been licensed and has
blossomed into an elegant, lithe young stallion with
quality paces and a beautiful topline. We were
tempted to keep this one to ourselves but I think
everyone deserves to have a chance to use him.
The next day we headed into unknown territory to
visit Hubertus Poll in Trakehner heaven. This
lovely stud is set on 100 hectares tucked away in
the middle of the forest south of Verdun???
Hubertus is the owner of Imperio, the vice-champion
at the 2008 worlds and Champion at Warendorf 2008 in
the 5-year-old classes. Imperio has the classical
Trakehner refinement and fantastic paces, scoring
9’s and 10’s for his trot and canter.
 Connery, the father of Imperio, was bred by Mr.
Poll. He is a different type to his son but is also
classically elegant, light, and moderate in type. A
lovely head is offset by an excellent topline and
very straight, clean legs. The father of Connery,
Buddenbrock, was also shown to us. This powerful
black stallion has all the Trakehner attributes seen
in his progeny.
The next day we took the opportunity to visit the
stable of Sportpferde Schmidt, the home of
Bellissimo M and some of his sons. This stallion is
currently flavour of the month in Germany and will
cover 800 mares this year at €1,500/mare. We have
secured some of the highly fertile semen from this
horse for use in Australia. BM is another excellent
stallion to use as a refining influence over heavier
mares. He is moderate in height and bone with
excellent lines. He has a good temperament and is
consistently producing winners in material classes
and dressage classes.
Another diversion presented itself with Jens as we
popped in to Verdun to see a Hanoverian ridden
licensing. Thirty-odd stallions of various types
were presented for licensing, ranging in age from 3
to 15 years. Only 5 stallions were licensed
including the Licoto xx son, Licotus, owned by Josef
Kathmann. This stallion is now performing well at
the top of S-level and was one of the licensing
stand-outs.
 Following the obligatory visits to Rasta’s parents
(the Groendahls of Altehemmoor) and Queenie’s
parents (the Tantzens of Butjadingen) we headed
south to meet up with Clemens von Merveldt at Toni
Böckmann’s in Hamstrup. Clemens was to ride his
magnificent chestnut stallion Floriscount (Florencio
x Donnerhall) who completed the ridden Oldenburg
licensing and went on to win the 70-day-test in
Schliekau with a dressage score of 147.5 and a
rideability of 10.0. We tried to buy this colt when
he was 1 week old but Clemens had already fallen in
love with him and has resisted all offers since
then. This year he will cover over 300 mares in his
first season. He is now also a Celle stallion with
Hanoverian licensing. We have watched this leggy
young horse grow, keeping touch with him on our
annual visits. Both his father and his mother,
Arkona, are moderate horses. Arkona is a proven
producer of 3 licensed stallions. Floriscount semen
will be available for the first time this year. If
you are looking to put balance, trainability, and
scope into your mares then you should definitely
consider him.
The next day we visited Clemens’ farm at Gut Füchtel to
view a few foals and to see our 4th
filly, the Fidertanz. She has many of her father’s
attributes and is compact and correct. However, she
will need more time to grow a little and show her
full potential.
As always our trip has been a bit exhausting but well
worthwhile. We would like to thank our children and
our staff at the vet clinic for their indulgence.
Many opinions were reinforced on our visit and 5 or
6 fantastic new stallions added to the roster of
choices for both ours and our client’s mares. We
are already looking forward to the foals we may get
from them in 2010. Please do not hesitate to
contact us if you want more information on a
particular stallion because, as always, we have
millions of photos and have personally inspected and
examined every stallion whose semen we will import. |
Exciting
news just in from Germany – our beautiful 2yo
Herzensdieb/Rotspon/Matcho filly was placed 3rd
at the regional Hanoverian mare show in Elmlohe,
North Germany. There were 37 two year old
fillies in the class and Herzensdieb progeny
dominated the field taking 1st, 3rd
and 6th places from his first crop
for foals. The highest placed Dancier filly,
from his first crop, was in 4th
position. Our filly would have been invited to
the main Hanoverian Mare Show in July but there
will not be a 2yo filly class this year, due to
a program change, so our filly will now be
turned out for the summer. Early next year she
will be broken in and prepared for her mare
performance test. (Attached photos at 3 weeks
(March 2007) the day we purchased her and in May
2009 as a 2yo)