From a relatively small damline I count fourteen (14) 1.40 - 1.60 / international showjumpers from Hickstead’s damline. (Approximately 5-6% of the total number of horses in Hickstead’s damline contained in the horsetelex database are 1.40 - 1.60 m. / international jumpers, according to my estimate. This is credible, and there are many stallions being used where the percentage is much lower, including zero percent.)
One jumper, Hickstead himself, was ranked #1. One, Admara, was ranked #51 in 2014. (Admara is out of a half-sister of Hickstead.)
Hickstead’s sire, Hamlet, made a lot of 1.40 - 1.60 horses, especially during the first half of his career. His daughters and grand-daughters produced a lot of international jumpers. And Hamlet’s damline made a lot of international jumpers.
The damsire, Ekstein, produced many good showjumpers from fewer than 600 foals. (See http://www.morningside-stud.com/pdf/Ekstein2008studcard.pdf for a 2008 studcard with information about Ekstein. He sired at least four more international jumpers after this stud card was produced.) When I bought Ekstein he was ranked about 990 as a sire; two years later he was ranked 38th (WBFSH sire rankings). And Ekstein comes from the very good Niki damline.
Conclusion: to say this is a “weak” pedigree is incorrect, in my opinion.
(Note: I am not saying anything about the offer of semen.)
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