I think he’s beautiful. Love his substance.
As far as front end correctness goes his paddling/incorrectness is very mild and does not bother me. It was way more pronounced when he was younger hence some of the babies might display a bit more of it but luckily this is nothing that has ever prevented a great athlete from a performance career. I’d probably not chose him for a mare that needs help with her front feet to begin with but as always, no stallion on Earth is perfect and it’s the dam and the blending them together aspect that creates the best babies at the end of the day 
1500 per dose is certainly a lot for a stallion who is yet ‘unproven’ in the breeding department and only 6yo. I consider myself priveleged that he’s here on the continent. Must nose into frozen prices on this end but with quarantine and shipping adding so much I don’t think there’ll be much difference in the price per dose per se.
Meant to post this previously… Ran across it while searching for new videos of Belissimo and offspring this weekend
What I love about this video is what a pleasure Benicio seems to be on the ground. Looks like he has a wonderful temperament from the little bit of pre- and post-ride footage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36Sd_Ji70Q8
(I apologize if this was already posted in the OP… 2 of the 3 links didn’t work for me so I’m not sure what videos they led to)
[QUOTE=clint;6165954]
Top Kat, will you see him on your next trip? I must say, he is a very appealing stallion.[/QUOTE]
I hope to stop by Famos to see him if he’s there, I don’t know if he’s in training there or elsewhere, but I’ll keep you posted. I really like everything about him, including the chrome. They gave us a copy of his score sheet from his 30 day test, the numbers were off the chart, many 10’s. He was older than the other stallions, but you don’t see these kind of numbers very often. He is impressing some of those who know what a dressage horse should look like. He does paddle, so does Don Schufro and others to a lesser degree. They may get deductions on the collective marks for gaits, but that doesn’t keep them from scoring high.
I have to agree. Funny enough I am not the biggest fan of “modern” dressage but I really like this horse. He looks like he has been brought along slowley and correctly, he is a lovely mover, and looks like a joy to be around. The only thing I don’t like is all the white, but that’s a personal preference.
I am a little confused about a comment that he in any way is the example of what is wrong with dressage?
Is his semen available (frozen) in NA?
Check Post #4 - TopKat mentioned that they may be bringing in a few doses at $1500 a dose for a friend
I can bring Benico with our shipment at the end of March. Message me privately, I can give you the details. One of my friends really wants to breed to him, but she doesn’t yet know that he is $1500 a dose, she’s been at a horse show for the past two weeks.
I am really debating bringing in a dose for a young homebred filly I have here that I would consider breeding next year …
Hmmm …
At least I have a few more weeks to make my mind up!
I checked into this earlier this year. I was told by Gestut Famos that South Lane Farm http://www.southlanefarm.com/ would be the exclusive provider for Callaho’s Benicio’s frozen semen in North America. I did contact South Lane Farms and they confirmed this and have the same timeframe for receiving the semen from Germany as Top Kat does. Top Kat are you sure that Famos will sell you Benicio frozen semen for the US? I can’t use him because of the paddling but I sure am very impressed with him. :)
[QUOTE=bluemoonfarms;6169251]
I checked into this earlier this year. I was told by Gestut Famos that South Lane Farm http://www.southlanefarm.com/ would be the exclusive provider for Callaho’s Benicio’s frozen semen in North America. I did contact South Lane Farms and they confirmed this and have the same timeframe for receiving the semen from Germany as Top Kat does. Top Kat are you sure that Famos will sell you Benicio frozen semen for the US? I can’t use him because of the paddling but I sure am very impressed with him. :):)[/QUOTE]
Joe Palmer of South Lane farm has been and still is their NA agent, they would like us to work with him. Famos has said that we can also sell their semen, not just Benicio. I called South Land a couple of days ago, haven’t heard back from them. I don’t know at what price he will be selling Benicio. The base price for us 1000 Euros, they may sell it to them for less. Our arrangement wit Famos was made in the last few weeks, we deal with Helmut and the office secretary who can verify this. We will not be keeping Benicio in stock, I can deal with his paddling, it’s not that bad:)
http://www.southlanefarm.com/2012%20semen%20contracts/2012%20Semen%20Contracts.html
There’s the infos on SLF about Callaho’s Benicio semen’s price per dose (on the contract) for the Canadian folks interested.
Holy moly. $2200+ per dose.
I reckon he’s gorgeous, but I’ll breed to Belissimo before him … have to out of patriotism now anyway 
Belissimo is being beautifully campaigned by Hayley Beresford and has now started his grand prix career.
[QUOTE=RedMare01;6228938]
Holy moly. $2200+ per dose.[/QUOTE]
:eek: faint
$2200 Us per dose is a lot for any stallion who has little record as a sire, no LFG, no indication if frozen will work… Too stiff for me, I’m afraid. I had expected about $1000 per dose - more in line with European pricing,
Belissimo, his sire, - who will likely represent Australia at the coming Olympics, is proven to pass “it” on (including Benicio), and his frozen, at $1250 to $1350, is proven to work.
I’ve bred 2 Belissimos (1 dose each try) and enjoy them very much.
I 100% agree with Sunnydays. 
Interesting indeed …
Have they priced themselves out of consideration for a lot of breeders that WOULD have perhaps given him a try and put as lot of foals on the ground so that in future years they would have data to show what he could and is producing?
I proudly own Callaho’s Benicio’s half sister:
http://www.rollingstonefarm.com/listman/listings/l0066.shtml
and at that price for his frozen, I too would use Belissimo M before trying Benicio. BTW, I have seen two offspring from Benicio in the round pen at Benicio’s breeder’s farm in Germany. One was outstanding and the word I recently got is that they are now really super under saddle.
[QUOTE=MoSwanson;6229503]
I proudly own Callaho’s Benicio’s half sister:
http://www.rollingstonefarm.com/listman/listings/l0066.shtml
and at that price for his frozen, I too would use Belissimo M before trying Benicio. BTW, I have seen two offspring from Benicio in the round pen at Benicio’s breeder’s farm in Germany. One was outstanding and the word I recently got is that they are now really super under saddle.[/QUOTE]
Interesting to get some feedback on offspring of Benicio. Nice mare, Mo. I think Velten Third is a very decent damsire.
Truecolours - You may be right.
