Was Diamond Hit selected for the Olympics or was that a different Diamond Hit?
Haven’t found too much bad stuff. Mostly, people rave about Bolero. I believe he has FAR more good points than bad points.
"Bolero by Black Sky xx was the founding sire of a new B-Line in the 1990’s. He was a three-quarter Thoroughbred stallion whose breeding career was short lived at his early death of twelve years of age. He had a profound impact in the Hanoverian breeding area in the 1980’s.
His success as a sire of sires is renowned and his sons have been exported to numerous countries around the world. His offspring out of Grande, Argus and Duellant mares in particular were consistently horses with good shoulders and withers, modern top lines and elastic action. His daughters consistently won at major shows and were awarded States Premium.
His offspring were known as the “Bolero Boom”. From his first group of five sons to attend the Verden licensing, four were selected and his sons continued to excel throughout the 1980’s. In 1986, the German Riding Horse National Championship was won by Boruschkin, later sold at the Verden auction for 110,000 DM. This success continued with further record auction prices. In 1986, the DLG Championship was won by the three-year-old Bolero daughter, Batumi .
Bolero has become known as a symbol for the modern riding horse and is a classic example of the refining influence the Thoroughbred has had on the modern Hanoverian. Although three-quarter Thoroughbred himself, he retained the quality and movement of his Hanoverian ancestors. His sire, Black Sky xx was known for producing highly ride able dressage horses. His dam, Baroness was a daughter of the famous Bleep xx, who was unusually large framed for a Thoroughbred.
Bolero stood at stud for only nine years yet has to his credit 51 approved stallions, 73 States Premium mares and numerous top dressage horses. He continues to influence the international dressage rings through his offspring who include champion dressage horses such as Baryshnikov, Beauvalais, Bini Bo, Bismark, Boccaccio and Brentano I as well as the champion stallions Brentano II, 2003 Hanoverian Stallion of the Year, and Buenos Aires.
Bolero’s line continues to produce performers in upper level dressage with three horses currently in the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WDFSH) top 25 including the full brother of Brentina, Barclay II and the 4th placing Olympic champion Beauvalais. Others on the list include Breitling W, Bonaparte 67, Burlington W and on the dam side of Don Bolero.
Bolero has been called a guarantee for…”Easy to ride horses of elegant type and with a special aptitude for dressage.”
His line consistently produces horses with good shoulders and withers, modern top lines and elastic action. Although Bolero died early, he ranked third (1990) in national dressage ranking of his age group. "
Another excerpt:
"Another successful Bolero-bred sire is Bismarck, who is out of a Duellent-bred mare. Bismarck, like Brentano II, was trained to Grand Prix. He again shows what good results are produced when B-line Hanoverians stallions are crossed with D- and G-line Hanoverian mares. The Bismarck son Breitling W is ranked 24th on the FEI (Fédération Equestre Internationale) World Ranking List and in the WBFSH top 10 list of competing stallions. His dam, Maja, not only produced Breitling W, but also Meggle’s Biagiotti W, another top international dressage horse. Maja’s full sister was also bred to Bismarck and produced the Grand Prix horses Barnsby W and Burlington W.
Breitling W’s owner, rider and trainer, Wolfram Wittig, remembers Bismarck well. “Bismarck was such a brilliant character and his good nature is passed on through Breitling W. I saw how Bismarck passed on these characteristics to both Breitling W, and another of Bismarck’s graded sons–Burlington W–and, to me, this was proof of success.”
A number of Breitling W’s sons and daughters also compete at the international level, carrying on the amazing success of this line. For example, his offspring Balalaika W and Borgward W reached the finals at the German Bundeschampionate (the German National Young Horse Championships) and Meggle’s Anton, a stunning horse with his father’s easy, rideable attitude, competed at Grand Prix. Breitling W’s son Barilla won his first Intermediaire I in 2004. Others include the stallions Berkley W, Bigacu W and their younger brother, Brunello W. Another Breitling W’s offspring, the 6-year-old brown mare Baldesserini W, represented Germany in the 2005 World Young Horse Dressage Championships.
It would seem that since his bloodlines made their initial impact on the dressage world, Bolero has been represented by his sons, grandsons and their progeny on an annual basis. In fact, no less than 20 of the 52 dressage horses that competed in the 2004 Olympics were Hanoverians, and some of the main medal contenders were descended from Bolero. It is an impressive record and one that breeders ignore at their own peril."
Full Credit and Compliments given to HW FARM.
More information:
http://www.hwfarm.com/Stallions/urls/Bolero.htm
You know… the Brentano II son, Bonheur, now stands in Canada. As if you didn’t have enough choices to wade through . . .
Ferro
[QUOTE=rodawn;6384556]
Absatz is Trakehner. I was taking direct information from the breeder of
De Niro. Some of his mareline is hanoverian, but not all as there is also TB.[/QUOTE]
Absatz was branded Hanoverian. His father Abglanz was Trak, dam was Hanoverian.
DeNiro is 1/16th Trakehner. 4/16th TB
i have a belissimo M rising 3 yo filly ready to breed this season too and have been pondering the same
She is out of a jazz /TB mare
she has alot of anglulation to her hock, almost too much, and i thought this must have come from belissimo as her dam is almost too straight in the hock
My filly is very refined with the most beautiful head and neck connection i have ever seen.i really think belissimo gives you the beautiful head and neck connection
She also has a super hind quarter and a good hindleg due to the Jazz dam. You will get a quick hindleg with Jazz, thats one of the things you do get
Jazz is nothign to be afraid of, i have 2 Jazz mares, but you hav e to be careful who you put them with
they go very well with F line who do tend to have a slower hind leg
If your filly has the slow hindleg, you are also compounding that with the F line on the damside\
I wouldnt hesitate to add weltmeyer in there again for this, it is not too close at all and thats what its there for
Plus the W line gives a good croup and a toughness and soundness that is so important
Diamond Hits can be huge, this worries me about him
Yes de niro himself is a bit clunky but there are some incredibly refined De Niros around
People have gone a little crazy with inbreeding to Donnerhall, i am seeing so many mares by Don Shufro and De Niro being put to Furstenball, which gives 3 very close crosses of Donnerhall
Surely at some stage this has to start backfiring
Dont know much about Johnson, but he looks absolutely huge as well
I am finding it difficult to come up with matches for my own Belissimo filly
i was thinking of Don Frederic but again he is a total newbie but i did like the strength of his dam line and incredible elasticity
i have to be careful with temperament here as my filly is quite sensitive, so will probably be heading somewhere with the F or R lines i think
Paulamc
For the OP - what about an R-line stallion? There are some smaller ones out there. Ridley & Rolling Stone come to mind. (Both are FEI level)
[QUOTE=retrofit;6387260]
For the OP - what about an R-line stallion? There are some smaller ones out there. Ridley & Rolling Stone come to mind. (Both are FEI level)[/QUOTE]
Both of those stallions are in the US, which makes it very difficult for me to get the semen due to CEM restrictions.
Although I do love R-line horses, generally I find that line to have a slower hind leg, so may not be the best cross for this particular mare.
Have you considered Harvard? He stands in Canada so no problems importing semen. He’s by Hohenstein, proven GP ability, soundness and super temperament. I’m in the UK so haven’t seen a lot of Harvard offspring but those I have seen I have liked. A lot. 
I had a wish list similar to you and went with Wynton for my Fabriano x Donnerhall mare.
This is the resulting foal - Hugo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GA0YKW_Kko
I was really pleased with the cross, he has definitely done everything i hoped, we wanted more knee action, bending of joints, good engine! Hugo has already demonstrated a great ability to ‘sit’ and is super balanced and uphill, oh and has a great temperament ( bold/friendly/easy to do). I chose Wynton as I read (KWPN stats) and heard from breeders in Holland who have used him that he would take away some height. The dam’s Sir Donnerhall 4 year old is 17.1 so this was also an important factor. Hugo is definitely smaller but will still reach 16.2 quite easily i believe.
Another reason i went with him is his great semen quality (Frozen and chilled). Oh and he has just made his GP debut at 9 years old.
Anyway i liked the cross that much i put the mare straight back to him. Good luck with your decision.
