Curious to hear your thoughts and to celebrate successes!
DG Bar has Valeska DG, by Krack C. She was grand champion at Dressage at Devon breed show as young mare (or filly?) a few years ago, then progressed into the young horse dressage divisions, qualified for the world young horse championships in Verden, and is now a top broodmare for DG Bar. Her offspring have been very successful at the US young horse championships.
And she’s US bred. 
I saw her at Devon when DG Bar made the trip back there with their young horses. Her quality was outstanding, and the grand championship very deserved.
My mares dam “Way of Life” produced several successful dressage horses. These are all half siblings to my Rubi (Rubinstein x Way of Life)
There’s a daughter (Donnerschlag x Way of Life) who was going I2 here in the US last time I checked.
“Luigi” (Light and Easy x Way of Life) who qualified for the Bunde last year and ended up middle of the field in his class. (6 year old I think)
According to Luigi’s website http://www.kempke-hof.de/others-horse-training-luigi.html there’s another half brother Rawen (Riccione x Way of Life) who did well.
A half sister (Dream of Glory x Way of Life) produced “Anares 2” by A Jungle Prince who went to I2. http://en.rimondo.com/horse-details/287625/Anares-2
Rubi, my mare produced a filly by Deniro in 2003 who was last being shown I1 with her amateur owner here in the US. She was also shown at the nationals in Kentucky in 2013. Not sure if she placed.
Rubi’s son by Weltmeyer was the 2014 Region 1 reserve champion adult amateur training level and will be going to the nationals in Kentucky in November '14.
Pretty good that two out of seven foals qualified for the nationals and one foal has yet to be broken in.
This is the Hanoverian dam line of Königsaue who also produced Frustra I and II. And a few other stallions.
Rubi placed 5th in her class at the Ratje-Niebuhr Mare show in 2000 before she was imported. 8.22 MPT
Scot Tolman has Orchis (Jazz X Roemer) I believe she had the highest Dressage Index for any KWPN mare outside of Holland
She is out of the fantastic producing mare Charites , dam to superstar Nadine and approved stallion KroonJuweel.
“Charites topped the index list of the KWPN mares for a long time. She is the dam to, amongst others, the Grand Prix mare Exquis Nadine (Hans Peter Minderhoud). International dressage horses are from the lineage of Charites, but she also brought the KWPN stallion Kroonjuweel and the mare-line of KWPN-stallion Dorado also goes back to Charites.”
Source: Horses International
We have several.
http://www.horsetelex.com/horses/family/521786
Here’s one. Check out the mare line of Shakespeare RSF. There are 3 licensed stallions from this line. “Horsetelex” only shows 2 (Shakespeare and Deklan), but there was another one by Contucci who, sadly, died young. EM Acapella is still in the US (but no longer at Rolling Stone Farm). Papagena is/was owned by Marefield Meadows in VA.
[QUOTE=DennisM;7751046]
http://www.horsetelex.com/horses/family/521786
Here’s one. Check out the mare line of Shakespeare RSF. There are 3 licensed stallions from this line. “Horsetelex” only shows 2 (Shakespeare and Deklan), but there was another one by Contucci who, sadly, died young. EM Acapella is still in the US (but no longer at Rolling Stone Farm). Papagena is/was owned by Marefield Meadows in VA.[/QUOTE]
A second licensed stallion by Shakespeare RSF was named yesterday by the GOV, bringing the total of licensed stallions in this mare line to 5. His name is Shavane (Shakespeare RSF/EM Rheporter-Royal Prince). Shotgun (Shakespeare RSF/EM Fhrance-Fabriano) was licensed 2 years ago. Both bred and owned by me.
I can also add another super mare line to this list:
Fhlora (Fuerst Heinrich/St. Pr. Valencia-Velton Third). She received the highest score ever given by the GOV outside of Europe- 8.4- on her inspection. She is a breed show Grand Champion twice. She is half sister to Bundeschampionate winner and approved stallion Callaho’s Benicio, a licensed stallion by Sunlight xx and also half sister to the winner of the German Foal Championship in 2007. Fhlora’s dam, St. Pr. Valencia, was second in her class at the 2002 Ratje Niebuhr Mare Show in Germany. She was chosen by the HN Verband to represent the HN breed at the 2002 European Mare Championships. Fhlora has now produced two Special Premium Mares as well as all Premium foals. This year a colt by Sir James was named Premium, Foal of Distinction and a stallion prospect.
Wow, Mo - that is awesome! Big congrats on both super mare lines!
I would also mention Judy Yancey’s wonderful mare line descending from her foundation Trakehner mare Helena E. Helena produced a slew of Trakehner foals, many of whom went on to compete in hunters, dressage, and/or eventing. Included were two licensed stallion sons, Hadrian and Harper (Harper also became a top “A” circuit hunter).
Helena also had a fabulous Oldenburg daughter named Reina H, who produced foals by Granulit, Dream of Glory, Don Schufro, Fuerst Heinrich, Sir Donnerhall, and Quaterback (and there may be others I am forgetting). The Sir Donnerhall colt became an approved Oldenburg stallion, and the fillies by Fuerst Heinrich (Finale) and Dream of Glory (Dream Rubina) were both named premium mares at their Oldenburg (OHBS/GOV) mare inspections, and they are now Judy’s cornerstone mares, producing one excellent foal after another. Among the Dream Rubina foals are two stallion sons - Qredit (by Quaterback) and W. Ellington (by Wynton) - so the damline has produced not only many very good riding horses, but also 5 stallions so far.
Judy Yancey certainly has some excellent mares, but I think she’s slowing down on breeding.
OP, have you looked at Seigi Belz-Fry’s mares at Stall Europa? They are on par with anything you’ll find in Europe.
Then there’s the mares of the Big breeders (Hilltop, Iron Spring, DG Bar, etc.), many of whom were also mentioned here. They don’t buy/keep mares who don’t produce quality.
This is probably obvious, but I’ll say it anyway since stallions have been mentioned. We have to remember that a stallion will not continue a mare line. So while I think it’s very good to use stallions out of a strong dam line, it’s not the same as using a mare with a strong dam line. I for one believe strong mare lines continue through daughters due to the mitrochrondrial DNA that is only passed along the direct mother line. A stallion can’t pass this along.
[QUOTE=back in the saddle;7755768]
This is probably obvious, but I’ll say it anyway since stallions have been mentioned. We have to remember that a stallion will not continue a mare line. So while I think it’s very good to use stallions out of a strong dam line, it’s not the same as using a mare with a strong dam line. I for one believe strong mare lines continue through daughters due to the mitrochrondrial DNA that is only passed along the direct mother line. A stallion can’t pass this along.[/QUOTE]
Yes but what does the MtDna really contribute?
I could see in racing and endurance, and overall health. But I would use an Arab for those qualities. And of course you are right about using a good dam line, but I do not think a good dam line is really closely tied to superior mtDNA. Would like to hear otherwise if I am missing something.
In a way, every stallion choice used, contributes to the mare line. A mare, genetically is 50% her sire and only probably less than 12.5% her great grand dam. But it would could be closer to 25% or more for the dam of the stallion.
I believe the stallion choices reinforce the quality of the dam line. Line breeding works well for that.
We have several:
Torette R Elite (Silvano x Flemming) is the mother of the super dressage mare Carette MG and many others and a high dressage index of 133 in NL without any of the information of her great offspring here in America.
Miloma Elite (Goodtimes x Dreamstreet) The LOMA lines is one of the most famous in NL. This mare is amazing and produced some super offspring. Not far off from her preferent status. She also produced the #1 Elite mare that we also have Uloma MG (Farrington)
Valanta (Goodtimes x Houston), another top motherline from NL, same as Grand Prix mare VDL Oranta and many others. She also produced the #1 mare in America Dalanta MG.
Ok, I’ll brag a little…
I have two mares with Preferent status (in addition to Ster and Keur predicates), something they achieved by producing at least three Ster quality offspring. I think there are around 25 Preferent mares in all of North America, so yes, I’m pretty proud of my girls!
[QUOTE=J-Lu;7755646]
Judy Yancey certainly has some excellent mares, but I think she’s slowing down on breeding.[/QUOTE]
Yes, she is winding down her breeding program, but the mareline is still impressive. Folks who are buying the daughters or filly embryos from Reina and Finale are getting something precious.
Kathy (Magestic Gaits) and Siegi - that is really impressive. Congrats!
I’ll throw my brag into the mix:)
My foundation mare, EM Dorfblume (Davignon-Matcho-Garibaldi) descends from a very prolific dam line in Germany. Her dam, SPS Marschfee, was the winner of the prestigious Louis Wegel Show. The full sister to SPS Marschfee is the dam to Bundeschapionat winner stallion Del Piero. EM Dorfblume’s full sister SPS Dorfee has produced multiple stallions including (now deceased) Rubiano, who was owned by Bridlewood Farm. The dam line also produced the stallion Duke Ellington who stood at Celle and has a son being presented for licensing this year.
My other breeding mare is also my riding horse. She is the daughter of EM Dorfblume by Rotspon, making her a 3/4 sister to the stallion Rubiano mentioned above. She has taken me, an untalented AA rider :), successfully through Third Level and have our eyes set on PSG. Sadly, she has me for a rider!
My mareline does not go back as far as the imported mares from Europe. Still, my foundation mare, Wanroij x Milkie XX, who I bought as a 2 year-old filly was keur preferent by the time she was nine, with her first three consecutive foals all Ster quality at their studbook inspections. They were also “Top Ten” in North America. She has produced a total of 5 Ster offspring, including an Elite mare, as well as having an Elite grandaughter. At 19 years old, she is still producing fabulous foals. Her last three offspring have not yet been inspected - two were sold as foals. I have her two daughters (v. Ferro, elite, and v. Idocus, ster), who are producing very consistently as well. My biggest problem is getting some of these offspring to keurings. I cannot always take foals because there is no keuring at a reasonable distance. Then they are sold, and the owners don’t bother with the keurings. My entire breeding program stems from this one foundation mare.
[QUOTE=stoicfish;7756075]
Yes but what does the MtDna really contribute?
I could see in racing and endurance, and overall health. But I would use an Arab for those qualities. And of course you are right about using a good dam line, but I do not think a good dam line is really closely tied to superior mtDNA. Would like to hear otherwise if I am missing something.
In a way, every stallion choice used, contributes to the mare line. A mare, genetically is 50% her sire and only probably less than 12.5% her great grand dam. But it would could be closer to 25% or more for the dam of the stallion.
I believe the stallion choices reinforce the quality of the dam line. Line breeding works well for that.[/QUOTE]
If you have membership to the Hanoverian dam line database, you’ll see the importance of a good dam line. Some dam lines have produced 10x’s the amount of stallions than the average dam line even though the genetic relation to one another may be 5x’s or more removed from the original mare.
I’ve taken enough pictures of mares with foals by their sides at inspections to see a trend where the foals movement typically matches the mare’s movement. It’s rare to take a picture and think the foal took more from the stallion. Look at these two still pictures I took. They show the foals with their dams trotting side by side. The foal’s movement very closely resembles the mare’s.
When the mare’s foal(S) all move nearly identical to their dam time and time again, is when it appears more than a genetic coincidence; that IMO is the dam line speaking. So you better like your mare’s movement because the foal has a high probability of moving like her. I do think the stallion has some influence, but IMO, the dam is a much larger part of the equation so you better be using one with movement you wouldn’t mind getting again.
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m245/backinthesaddle_2006/rubiandfoal_zps1e415ad7.jpg
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m245/backinthesaddle_2006/mareandfoal_zps5399f692.jpg
