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Help choosing a stallion

Are there a lot of TB stallions currently competitive in the top ranks of eventing?

I did not say anything against H-Ekwador’s own performance. I say his offspring have done zero to nada and I believe you shouldn’t offer an elite predicate to a stallion whose offspring yet need to prove themselves.

In breeding there’s rarely - if ever - anything like “one size fits all” in regards to stallions. So breeding just anything just because it represents a certain bloodline - in this case Heraldik - most likely won’t bring the breeding forward but instead backwards.

Herald 3 i.e. is both overbuild and come with quite a thick and low set neck. Two traits that makes a horse front heavy. Exterior flaws like the ones mentioned above is something that is quite often seen in the offspring of Heraldik including H-Ekwador who just like Herald 3 also is overbuilt with a thick and low set neck.

And what people seem to forget with Heraldik himself is that his world class eventing offspring like Butt’s Abraxxas (Ingrid Klimke), Butt’s Avedon/Butts Leon (Andreas Dibowski) and Happy Times (Sam Griffihs & Shane Rose) have one thing in common - world class riders. These kind of riders are more likely to take almost any horse to the highest level of the sport than the rest of us. There are other offspring that made it to the current 5* events but with quite average results.

It is a good bloodline but if you want to breed it you better know your mare so you won’t end up with a “lady’s bike” looking kind of horse like the one in the link attached

https://eventingnation.com/photo-gal…belafonte-ned/

I feel like I can only appologise for such ludicrous suggestions in that case :wink: We havent seen a photo or a description of your mare… So advice wouldnt be based on anything solid to be honest with you, only maintaining a high % of tb blood.
Breeding a guranteed 5* eventer is pretty damn hard…
Good luck finding a stallion that suits :slight_smile:

Check the TK stallion list - I believe they have 2 TB stallions who have competed in Advanced or ** eventing sucessfully and in dressage. You also could look at Hirtentanz, TK.

I don’t follow the Lady’s Bike comment - are you referring to the horse being really lean and that snapshot of a photo not being exactly flattering?
Here’s a few videos of him:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q8CCwEEJ7A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhyeZJmr7wk

“Overbuilt” - I haven’t heard this used to describe a horse before so bear with me - does that mean you think his body is too heavy for his legs…?

I am not a fan of the “cart horse neck” that’s become a trend in some WB registries. I’ve yet to see a swan neck rad completely clean and I am the type that thinks morphological extremes bring lots of issues, so I’ll never be the person breeding for extremes here. Keep in mind the brunt of my experience is with TBs and TBs for sport – I’ve seen lots of thick, coarse necks in TBs and I don’t think his is one of them. I do think he needs a specific type of mare, and would breed to him in a heartbeat if I had the right mare… but I don’t :encouragement:

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I think what she mean’s about a “lady’s bike” comment is that the horse has a very long hind leg and a short front leg. Which contributes to the “overbuilt” comment which I think she/ he means is that the horse is built very down hill. I could be wrong though!

The problem in this country is that we rarely actually get to see any of theses stallions in the flesh and not enough offspring to get an idea of what the stallion is contributing to the mix. N=1 or 2 isn’t that meaningful!

I would say a cart horse neck does describe the holsteiner and I am not sure all of them have neck problems. However if you need speed and endurance a lower set neck is a lot more functional just as long as the horse can gallop fairly uphill.

I know the horse I referred to very well and the photo is not an unflattering snapshot, it pretty much shows exactly how he is built including some serious exterior flaws and he is not the only Heraldik offspring with this treat. It doesn’t make them all bad horses but I know few people who would breed a mare looking like this and would never take the chances in breeding a mare with a stallion like this.

Here another photo.

https://www.alamy.com/tryon-north-carolina-usa-13th-sep-2018-alice-naber-lozeman-acsi-harry-belafonte-ned-eventing-dressage-day-3-world-equestrian-games-weg-2018-tryon-north-carolina-usa-13092018-credit-sport-in-picturesalamy-live-news-image218560743.html

And, the mare had nothing to do with this?

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Some interesting stallions to look into in North America for eventing are Valentino currently number 8 in eventing in the world though you wouldn’t want a mare with too much bone as he tends to add to it so wouldn’t be recommend to lighten a mare. If you look up the German rider Nadine marzahl she has quite a few nice Valentino offspring eventing, he is located in British Columbia, Canada. hirtentanz is another a really interesting young trakehner stallion in North America, he’s the first trakehner stallion in a long time to become approved with holsteiner and hes also approved Oldenburg. He has a few nice eventing offspring on the ground, the most well know is bentleys best ridden by Jessica Phoenix. He is located in Florida

Not 100% sure that you’ll get an eventer, but since the poster above suggested Hirentanz, I’ll also suggest his son Ehrentanz. I know him personally and he is the cuddliest and best mannered stallion I think I’ve ever been around. He’s gorgeous and very talented in the upper-level jumpers in the Midwest. I know that he has done a good amount of dressage and he did enough eventing with success to get his “Pg” designation.

https://kdsporthorses.com/

He’s also had quite a few good looking babies. Sylvia is a fantastic person and will be great to work with for you and/or your vet. It also looks like he ships live, since you have a maiden and might need it.

Good luck, have fun!

Be sure to check out Escher DFEN --he is lovely young stallion with fabulous temperament and carries 70% TB. He also appears to be stamping his offspring with both good looks and super temperaments.

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So first it was just a bad angle and now it is the mare… Let’s agree to disagree!

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Ehrentanz is a very nice stallion - but he got his Pg (performance gold) award in Jumpers not eventing :slight_smile: You can get the performance designations in each of the disciplines Pg in jumpers is still significant as he had to win $25,000 :slight_smile: I think he got to FEI in Dressage too but I am not positive on that.

Apologies, I’m not familiar with Trakehner grading. Thanks very much for correcting me!

Yes, he would have gotten his Pg in showjumping then. I know he’s quite good in dressage. Not sure if he got into FEI, but it wouldn’t surprise me. He looks to be built for it and Sylvia has some stunning photos.

Sylvia did tell me that she did cross country with him and I’ve seen photos. She said something along the lines that she did at least the minimum to get him passed through some type of grading or certification with the Trakehner association. I would not question him jumping around fine. I wouldn’t say he is bold (meaning overly forward at fences), but he’s never spooky, even at some pretty ugly fences, so I have no trouble believing he’d go around nicely.

Anyway, probably a good price too. Worth thinking about.

No problem Puffergirl - it isn’t a “grading” thing though the performance awards are just that and even geldings and mares earn the status if they meet the qualifications. It isn’t easy to achieve any of the performance awards in any of the disciplines so it is truly a good thing to have :).

Ehreentanz is a good stallion, I have liked him since his approval and Slyvia is wonderful. She does a great job with her horses (and yes she got him around his requirements for his approvals).

Other than watching the horse from afar I am really not familiar with him other than knowing he is clearly an athlete. I’m just curious about your comments of the horse being overbuilt and a lady’s bike and asked for clarification but received none. I’d like to point out this came from curiosity, not me challenging your opinion. You did link an unflattering photo that is just a snapshot in time and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to see a picture like that and say wow, wonder if that’s just a bad angle. I could give you an equally unflattering picture of Valegro or Totilas.

I have heard certain things about Heraldik and Herald 3, but overbuilt conformation hasn’t been one of them – so I asked for clarification on what you meant by overbuilt.

The amazing thing about eventers is, there is really no true and one type of conformation that dominates the field; it just goes to show you that conformation is but a fraction of the total puzzle, and a horse can be at the top of the sport in spite of what we might believe are visual flaws. We have Winsome Adantes, we have Harry Belafontes, and we have FischerRocanas – all very differently built horses competing at the top of the game.

I wonder then, who would you suggest that has enough blood for OP’s criteria…?

lies! Lies and slander!

:lol::lol::lol:

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I have seen some lovely horses by Power Blade, full TB sports horse. Look him up www.stallionai.com

Also Big Star, 2 x Olympic gold medal and the temperament of a pussy cat but I can’t recall how much blood. Same website

If you consider full TB, I’d look at Coconut Grove. I have a horse who has the same breeding (DWB/ISH) as your mare on his damside who is by CG. No eventing for us because I am a baby, but that was his originally intended purpose in life!

Maybe too obvious but Mighty Magic has a great personality and is 75% TB with Heraldik on the dam side. Many proven eventing offspring too and approved stallion sons. https://www.haras-du-feuillard.com/e…ark-bay,9.html