De Niro vs Gribaldi for Ferro Mare

[wb101]

I am putting my all-time favourite mare in foal this season, and am still deciding between stallions. The mare has an outstanding temperament, lovely paces and conformation. She has done very well in young horse classes. I would be thrilled if I could just reproduce her. She is a maiden, turning 8yrs in December. Planning on using frozen semen.

She’s by Ferro, from a Bolero line mare. Her pedigree/photos are here http://www.sporthorse-data.com/d?i=10741981&z=JMkoxQ

Looking at things to improve, although all her paces are very good, the canter could be a bit more uphill. She has uneven heels in front (one high, one low), and could do with another inch or so in height. She also tends to swing her feet in a little at the trot (opposite of paddling). Looking at the conformation photos, her shoulder is a bit straight. These are super-critical comments on an otherwise outstanding mare imho.

I’ve owned her mother and grandmother. This damline is quite compact, all attractive types (black with chrome and nice heads) and very good temperaments.

I was set on using De Niro, because of the strength of the Donnerhall line in dressage and his record for GP progeny. However, Gribaldi also ranks highly for GP progeny, and this cross would be closely related to Anky’s Painted Black. I think Gribaldi’s semen is not so good though???

Another stallion who would be interesting is Rotspon, mostly because he looks such a similar type to my mare.

Also, would it be worth linebreeding to Bolero?

I would be interested to hear comments from this forum, or suggestions for other stallions. My aim is to produce a foal with GP potential for myself, &/or a top quality broodmare.

Thanks!

[stolensilver]

Both those stallions sound a good choice, but very different from one another. It really does depend on what sort of horse you hope to produce. Gribaldi could produce one that was quicker off the leg but more challenging. De Niro could produce one that was very rideable but harder to get supple.

Another possibility could be Jazz. His frozen is excellent and he’s proven beyond any doubt.

Or if you like the Kostolany line there is Kostolany himself or Silvermoon (I was told by the stud that his frozen is good but haven’t used it myself)

Or you could use Sixtus. An international show jumper by an international eventer and sire of international dressage horses and 1m60 show jumpers.

Possibly the stallion with the highest hit rate for successful offspring is Come Back II. He is a GP dressage horse, Holstein bred and has sired literally dozens of 1m60 jumpers and GP dressage horses. I don’t know what his frozen is like but he may be worth looking at. Ferro sires jumpers too so you could end up with a dual talented offspring.

[sixpoundfarm]

Based solely on semen quality for a maiden mare, I’d go with the more proven choice. I have not heard of many Gribaldi pregnancies with frozen semen.

[Forte]

If you like the idea of line breeding to Bolero, why not Belissimo M? He just placed 4th in the Grand Prix at Ankum with a 68% and his oldest offspring are now doing very well in the small tour classes. He will probably help your mare with the correctness of the front legs and the uphill canter. He may not add height though. His frozen semen is very good.
I love Gribaldi, but I haven’t heard of any pregnancies with frozen.