I’ve always been fascinated by Donnerhall.
Anyone here ride a D bloodline offspring? What are they like? Do they make good amateur mounts?
My coach has one. He is splendid. Not certain about ammy friendly - he is athletic, and any spooks are pretty impressive - but he has a great brain and work ethic.
My gelding is out of a mare by Dauphin, who is direct to Donnerhall.
he is the best horse ever. Smart, focused, talented, amateur friendly. Would have 6 more of him if I could.
my mare is by Don Schufro. I am an elderly AA and we are working towards Prix St.George right now. (I started her and trained her by myself. She is 9)
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At this point I don’t think you can swing a cat without hitting a Donnerhall-lined horse… He is at least a grandfather in most modern WB pedigrees.
You’d get a more accurate answer if you asked for specific sons by Donnerhall, or horses specifically by Donnerhall himself.
I’ve ridden so many and they were all different. So it’s hard to say. Many were not amateur friendly and many were. I have a Donnerhall lined filly who is very fancy but I don’t see her being truly amateur friendly.
I rode a Donnerhall son in college that was the antithesis to amateur friendly… but then I rode a Donarweiss gelding that was the sweetest, very amateur friendly, very sporty. I liked him a lot.
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you are not elderly !!!
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My guy is a direct son of Donnerhall. He is 23/24 years old and is worth his weight in gold. I love everything about him but wish I could change a small handful of things. We don’t hack because the sound of leaves in the wind or rocks moving freaks him out, he doesn’t like quick, unexpected noises. Although, his spooks have never truly frightened me. Sometimes he just stop and looks or takes a few quick steps to the side to get away from the scary thing. He has only cantered away because of kids jumping in a corner at a horse show, but after watching the video he wasn’t going anywhere fast lol. But, tractors and fireworks are no problem at all. He also tends to stress about big changes more than most horses. We are 2 months into a new barn and he still can’t do all day turnout without wanting to come into his stall.
But he will give lessons to beginners all day long, go out and show 4th level with a profession, and then hop along at 1st level with an AA all in the same season without batting an eye. He is everything you could ever want in a fancy moving schoolmaster, minus the two issues above ha.
95% of the time he is great a timid person to handle. But those days where he acts like he is 5 years old who has never had turnout, he can be a bit of handful. I’ve had days where he needed a chain to just walk to his stall or field. Or days where I decided to just lunge him because he felt like a firecracker undersaddle. They occured often enough that I am used to it, but rare enough where it is not his normal personality. Within one hour, I needed someone to handwalk us from the trailer to the warm-up ring at a show because he was freaked out but walked back to the trailer after our test on the buckle.
Would I want a direct Donnerhall at 4-6 year-old? Meh, probably not. But I’ll take a senior Donnerhall baby any day. I LOVE this horse’s personality, his quirks, how “vocal” he is about what he feels, and he is definitely a great mover but still easy enough for an ammy to ride.
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I am 55 I think thats elderly…
At this point, as someone above mentioned, asking about the D line at large is almost too big to be helpful - Donnerhall was so impactful and prolific that there’s a really vast quantity of them out there. Agree that looking for a specific sire in the group (Donnerhall, vs say, De Niro or Davignon or Damon Hill) might be more helpful.
Looking at the line at large, it’s a bit of a mixed bag for amateur friendliness. A mare I rode with regularity several years ago (by that point a senior herself - she was 19-22 when I was with her) was a Donnerhall daughter. She was a lovely type to ride and work with, but she had a spook in her that in her younger days, was apparently athletic enough to cause consternation (and the spook was not always super predictable other than “it will likely happen at least once a ride”). By comparison, I knew a Diamond Hit daughter (Donnerhall grandson through sire, Don Schufro) who was basically born broke. Super sweet, very eager to please, very brave.
I’ve followed the Dante Weltino offspring as they’ve really hit prime riding age (a Donnerhall great grandson through sire, Danone I, who was by De Niro) and the reputation they’re acquiring is really quite lovely, both in terms of temperament and movement - though the movement might not necessarily be considered amateur friendly. :lol: It isn’t stopping me from hoping he comes back on the market for breeding now that the WEG competition year is done, because I’d love to breed my mare to him in the future.
I have a friend who comes from a horse breeding family - they used Donnerhall extensively.
My horse is of German extraction but has none of that blood in her, although she is trained to PstG. Would be a cool idea to add some D blood.
I’ve only regularly worked with one I knew was a Donnerhall descendant. She was a total sweetheart, and a beautiful mover. She was an eventer, and basically was in first after dressage every time. What I didn’t like about her despite her high amounts of TB blood was lack of sensitivity toward/awareness of humans. You know how when you ride your girl she is always aware of what you are doing? She just didn’t have that. She trekked along well, whether you were sitting correctly or not, and just wasn’t as easily adjusted as I like. She was basically born through, and if you pushed she maintained her tempo and lengthened strides, so naturally did respond well, but there just wasn’t that communication I like. It made her so she was super amateur friendly and she was leased out several times because of that - great horse to safely learn on!
She had her own amateur friendly version of the spook mentioned. She’d go a few inches, and you’d feel the tension as if she were going to do more, she just never did.
His prepotency has proven itself time after time in his descendants. I understand the lack of TB sensitivity - but for most people that is a plus.
I specifically looked for this bloodline when I bought my colt. They are personable and usually love their human contact. They are also very athletic with a good mind. I’ve found my guy is. 
I have a Sir Donnerhall gelding. I would absolutely do a repeat breeding to Sir D, he gives them the movement and the looks. But he has been slow to mature physically which is what I’ve heard about a lot of Sir D offspring. For his temperament, my gelding is 100% AA. Amazing work ethic and sane, and personable. I think his temperament is 100% from his mother.
My recommendation is to work with your breeder to find what works for you. Temperament, movement, etc
I have a Don Schufro x Rosenkavalier gelding who is worth his weight in gold. He is incredibly personable and very intelligent. He picks up training pretty quickly and takes so much pride in himself when he does well. If you intelligently show him what he is “looky” at, he is pretty brave. But sometimes he determines we need to go now, he takes over and we are gone!
I do not find him difficult to ride or train at all, but I can see how he would not tolerate riders who are not fair in their ask. He is incredibly athletic and I think he matches better with riders who are tactful.
He is a good mover, but I’d like a little more hind end action. He does tend to be on the lazy side. I think I’d like him a touch more “spicy”, but only because he is otherwise so sane I don’t think it would be problem. One clinician I ride with specifically isn’t fond of Donnerhall babies for this reason. She likes 'em hot for GP.
He loves his human interaction and is a overall love bug. I only wish I could have a younger brother of his, or clone him! I really really love the Donnerhall X R line cross.
Well geez, then I am way older than elderly. What is that called?
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R x D really is a proven nick… some very nice horses from that line. Personally, I am a huge fan of the R line in general. Some of my favorite horses have come from Rubenstein I. I saw an absolutely incredible prospect a few months back that was Sir Donnerhall x Rosenkavalier. He looked like the total package: all the elasticity, modern/leggy type and stunning gaits of Sir D with the typical R-line rideability and personality.
I rode a Donnerhall son that was an approved stallion for a while. He had a great mind (but would have made a much better gelding IMO). If I am going to go lines at large, I much prefer the W line Hannoverians for temperament and ammy-friendly traits.
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DO NOT TEMPT ME! :lol:
I haven’t seen many Sir D babies where I am but they do seem well loved. Other newer R lines you like? I’m just used to seeing the older ones.
Sir Donnerhall is by Sandro Hit, damsire Donnerhall. Sandro Hit is while considered a flashy mover is a bit diametrically opposed to the Donnerhall temperament.
Sandro Hit is more professional than AA friendly as I’ve heard/seen. Wouldn’t want him closer than great-grandsire.
