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What do we know about the stallion Heisman?

Sport Horse Breeding
#1

I did a search on here and have found several threads with complementary things to say about Heisman. I have googled and found out that Heisman is a son of Furioso II, & that he finished fourth at the Barcelona Olympic in show jumping, was Horse of the Year in the United States. Is this Heisman the Selle Francais?

Is he still standing at stud? If not, since when? What was his stud fee? Are his foals desirable? As jumpers or dressage horses? Would the dissolution of the North American Selle Francais Assoc affect salability of one of his foals? Or do I have the wrong Association?

Many thanks,

Jessi

#2

I think Heisman is deceased. I believe he does have a young son Omnipotent in Virginia that is approved selle francais. They might be able to give you more information.

http://www.wildestexpectationsfarm.com/

#3

Heisman did not place 4th in Barcelona - Quidam de Revel did. Heisman did, however, have an impressive show jumping record and did qualify as #1 for the US team. Only Norman and Irish medaled that year.

Heisman was never “Horse of the Year” in the US. It was stated by his owner that he was 5-year-old European Horse of the Year. His registered name was Friesengeist.

Heisman was registered Oldenburg, but was 3/4 French (Furioso II as the sire and Inschallah as dam’s sire) and was approved by the Selle Francais for breeding. Think he also was approved Oldenburg (the ISR one), and his owner was a big supporter of the PHR and thus many of his offspring held that registration.

He died in 2004.

#4

Thank you for the replies.

Lavender, the info I got was from the Wikipedia site, so it very well could be inaccurate since anyone can edit Wikipedia from my understanding. Thank you for the clarification and explanation about the Selle Francais registry. That makes it easier to understand, for sure.

There is a 9 yo son of Heisman for sale near me, and I am trying to find out what I can on Heisman.

I would love to hear if anyone has any personal experience with Heisman foals. Many thanks. :slight_smile:

#5

I was a fan…Heisman ranked as exceptional in technique and talent as Starman. Both stallions were stellar stylists as top flight jumpers in their glory days.

Unfortunately Heisman may have received injury and his career in performance may not have left us with as much as he was capable of. Sadly this is part of the sport. Not all are destined for longevity. There was no question of his capability in his prime however.

I know there is a Heisman son Omnipotent (Selle Francais approved) and has both an exceptional temperament (teddy bear type) and more than average talent. He is still quite young. Cother co-owned I believe.

I don’t think either stallion has the reputation of having out produced themselves, but there is time yet to prove me wrong on that theory.

I would think a son of his would be worth looking at. Good luck with him.

Got to tell you…I was a big fan… there were two stallions in North America that I thought were “the cat’s meow”. One was Heisman. Starman the other. I was quite young then. It is like the William Steinkraus gold medal story. When you see classic great jumping style both in horse and rider succeed at the highest levels, it just doesn’t get much better.

OK… I have ravelled on enough here.

#6

Michael and Heisman made a Grand Prix round look like a hunter round.

#7

He was a handsome stallion - I saw him in person several times - and almost a carbon copy of Furioso II - right down to the belly spot. He was not very prepotent and we aren’t the only breeder who wasted alot of time and 3 breedings seasons trying to get a foal. A friend of mine finally had a filly after 2 years of trying. A neighbor also had no luck ever getting a foal.

Of the ones I’ve seen - no two are alike and none look like him.

Michael Matz made just about anything he rode look easy. If I remember correctly - Heisman didn’t pull any rails in Barcelona in any round.

#8

Thanks again for the comments guys. I have 4 horses that I am looking at, and right now he is #2 on the list. It just seems like this Heisman horse is too good (and cheap) to be true, and I have found that when my gut feels that way, it’s usually right. I keep looking for “the catch.” Esp. as the previous interested party had him vetted early this week, he passed with flying colors (according to seller), then the buyer disappears.

#9

[QUOTE=ise@ssl;3157154]
He was a handsome stallion - I saw him in person several times - and almost a carbon copy of Furioso II - right down to the belly spot. He was not very prepotent and we aren’t the only breeder who wasted alot of time and 3 breedings seasons trying to get a foal. A friend of mine finally had a filly after 2 years of trying. A neighbor also had no luck ever getting a foal.

Of the ones I’ve seen - no two are alike and none look like him.

Michael Matz made just about anything he rode look easy. If I remember correctly - Heisman didn’t pull any rails in Barcelona in any round.[/QUOTE]

I’m pretty sure they had rails in the triple combination. I’m not 100% certain, but do believe Classic Touch was the only horse without rails. Barcelona had very airy courses and difficult distances-- especially that triple.

Heisman was without rails in the Olympic qualifiers. I believe I’ve heard Michael refer to having made the mistake of having peaked his horse before the big event.

I don’t think any horse could have beaten Classic Touch, though. She was absolutely unreal. I still get chills thinking about her performance.

#10

[QUOTE=Jessi P;3157352]
Thanks again for the comments guys. I have 4 horses that I am looking at, and right now he is #2 on the list. It just seems like this Heisman horse is too good (and cheap) to be true, and I have found that when my gut feels that way, it’s usually right. I keep looking for “the catch.” Esp. as the previous interested party had him vetted early this week, he passed with flying colors (according to seller), then the buyer disappears.[/QUOTE]

Get your own vetting done and if you like him, trust your instinct and go with it. Buyers flake all the time, esp. in this economy. I wouldn’t give that a second thought if my vet passed him and I liked him.
Also, fwiw, I always have blood drawn at the time of vetting and frozen if there is any doubt in my mind about whether the horse may have been medicated.

#11

Thanks again - great advice YL. Looks like I am going to have to bite the bullet & go see the fellow for myself. :cool:

#12

Rest in peace Heisman.

Heisman…an incredible horse, shame he didn’t prove his greater value in breeding with the performance talent he showed.
He is certainly not the first great one that falls into this group. I believe another known Grand Prix stallion who had or still has some breeding issues is Elute. Mac Cone competed with for a few years at International level. I always liked him as well. Nice big scopey horse with a ho hum nature. At any height went like a hunter.

That brings up other thoughts as well. Furioso II was such a highly prepotent stallion who has literally left a dynasty and you would think his sons would follow but such is not always the case. The mysteries of sport horse breeding.

#13

I bred to both…still own the Heisman mare. She carries a half moon marking on her hock…something Heisman had on his fore leg. A heart of GOLD and put together in a great package with scope and talent.

The Starman mare was just what I ordered…one of my fav producers.

#14

My cousin has a Heisman grandson that looks just like Heisman. As did the sire. Both are still intact, neither stands to the public or breeds very many mares. Both are athletic as all get out and will probably never do anything their entire lives…

#15

I do believe statistically - you need to note how few offspring by him are in competition. If the goal is a foal that will end up a performance horse - the production of the stallion in that regard is important. Heisman is so famous - I would think any offspring that were very successful in competition would get some press.

#16

Not to dig up an old thread but… :cool:

I currently have a grandson to Heisman here at Otteridge Farm (dam was by Heisman). This guy is by the stallion Jupiter and I can’t say enough GREAT things about him. To die for gorgeous too!

#17

[QUOTE=omare;3155556]
I think Heisman is deceased. I believe he does have a young son Omnipotent in Virginia that is approved selle francais. They might be able to give you more information.

http://www.wildestexpectationsfarm.com/[/QUOTE]

Sadly, deceased 2008.

#18

How can you say the VAbred and not show pics?

I wonder how many foals Omni had? I really liked him and was crushed when he died. Wonder if any the foals are competing?

#19

Well then here you are! His name is Jive (Jupiter x Clin Malira)

JiveFeb..jpg

#20

wow. this is a really old thread. Omni is deceased now as well. Where did this surface from? Omni was a cribber.

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