I look forward to seeing the Finest offpspring next year. Perhaps I’ll be able to make a decision then. Best wishes to all of you breeding to Furstenball or his sons. Can’t wait to see photos and videos of your results! Happy New Year!
Do you have any video links to Fantastic? (I’m being too lazy to search.) He looks lovely too, and I like his dam’s lines.
I got to see Finest this past summer at his home farm. He was quite nice, nice temperament in hand, good hind leg. He was very pretty…lovely head and neck. He was however smaller and quite compact. Not a tall leggy type. Not sure what he will pass on. I think I have pics of him on my website. We also saw a 3-ish month filly by him in the field on the dam. She was quite nice, longer legged, very personable and had that nice head/ neck combo (at least at 3 months:)). He is on my absolute watch list along with Franzikus.
I however am leaning towards trying to use stallions that have proven themselves through their sport and offspring. Hence, I know I sound like a broken record but right now floriscount is my favorite F-line. I actually also really like Furst Nymphenburg but the mare must have perfect legs and pass them on to use him IMHO.
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Never mind. I found some. He’s lovely too! Now let’s see what these guys can produce. 
I agree with you, Blume Farm. If I had a big herd of mares, I might be more inclined to “take a chance” on a young, unproved stallion. That’s why I like to see some offspring on the ground and preferably in the show ring. Some just cannot reproduce themselves much at all, so while breeding is always a gamble, I like to try to stack the deck in my favor somewhat. And since I’m usually breeding for myself, I don’t need to go with a quick “flavor of the month” for a quicker sale.
I just got done visiting Furstenball, Furstenlook, and Follow Me live.
With Furstenball, I was really surprised with just how refined he was.
Furstenlook, to me, completely fixes the back pastern conformation issues of Furstenball.
Regarding Follow Me, the comment was that he needs a mare that is naturally forward. I really liked a couple of the other stallions at this stud farm but that is another thread.
Dan
Thanks Dan. Eyes on the ground is always hugely beneficial to us breeders, especially those of us who are unlikely to meet these stallions in person any time soon.
Re Furstenball - did the rear pasterns strike you as horrendous/mild/?
[QUOTE=Kerole;8056014]
Thanks Dan. Eyes on the ground is always hugely beneficial to us breeders, especially those of us who are unlikely to meet these stallions in person any time soon.
Re Furstenball - did the rear pasterns strike you as horrendous/mild/?[/QUOTE]
Kerole,
Furstenball had his back legs wrapped. Not a good sign in my book.
From a breeding standpoint he was very busy last year and will be just as busy this year. When he gets this busy, the stud farm makes the breeder bring the mare to the stallion for fresh.
Dan
Hmm, yes I agree. Wrapped legs are possibly not a great sign. Still love this stallion though, just gotta use a mare with great hind legs and a pedigree that supports this too.
Thanks Dan.
Agree that the wrapped back legs could be cause for concern - although I have seen this on other stallions that were doing heavy breeding (and that did not have the soft pastern issue).
His legs we not wrapped when I saw him in December at PS. I personally do not know what all the fuss is about with his pasterns. I heard so much about it I thought I was going to see something horrific??? Maybe long but they looked strong to me. He is their top stallion for a reason.
No question with the correct mares, Furstenball has produced a huge number of very nice horses.
Dan
Furstenball’s hind pasterns are noticeably soft. I don’t think they are particularly long. Is it horrendous? No. Is it something to be aware of ? Yes. They definitely are not “strong”. He is my favourite stallion but I would only ever use him on a mare with perfect hind legs who comes from a family of horses with good hind legs.
Many horses in Germany are kept wrapped because they stand in a box most of the day. It’s fairly common practice.
I know this thread is almost a year old, but I’m wondering if anyone has any more thoughts of Follow Me? Did anyone use his frozen successfully in 2015?
There are four reports of Follow Me on Carol’s database and looks like all four resulted in no pregnancy :o(
Yeah, I don’t think his semen is rocket fuel. 
We had a Follow me filly born last year out of our Locksley II - Mont du Cantal mare. Took 3 tries for the mare to get pregnant (whereas she took first go on Foal Heat to Royal Blend for what that’s worth).
The filly is really nicely built, looks very much like her father. Movement hasn’t blown me away yet though, will just have to wait to see if it develops as she matures. She has a very easy going personality though, so even if she isn’t a superstar in the dressage arena I think she’ll make a really nice allrounder for an amateur.
https://dressurstallfritsch.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/img_0381-2.jpg?w=1250&h=&crop=1
https://dressurstallfritsch.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/img_0430-2.jpg?w=1250&h=&crop=1
I see you are in Germany. Was the mare in Germany as well, so you had a problem with conception with his chilled?
A friend of mine who has many German connections was commenting on the conspicuous lack of foals from Follow Me even in Germany. Considering his approval status, we figured there would be scads of FM foals, but are having trouble finding videos/pics or even reports.
Wondering if it’s a fertility issue or something else.
We tried the first time with fresh, then the 2nd cycle with frozen because no fresh was available. The mare was at the clinic, inseminated within an hour of ovulation but still no luck. Finally took on the 3rd cycle with fresh (several hours old).
My vet looked at both the fresh and frozen under the microscope and said that it wasn’t too bad - however the frozen was right on the bottom end of the motility score (31% I think).
I still like him very much, perhaps he wasn’t the best match for my mare or perhaps my filly is a late bloomer…
There are a few of his foals for sale here:
http://dressurleistungszentrum.de/de/zuechterangebote/fohlen/liste.html
Any update on this handsome gentleman?
