I can’t believe this stallion hasn’t been discussed at length here before but the search turned up nothing for me. I have a foal coming in April that has a good deal of Zeus blood on both sides of pedigree and Id love to know more about him. Temperament, movement, jump, etc. What does he like to throw? Have you dealt with many of his offspring or even a generation down the line? Is there any video of him besides that 30 second video of him when he was older? Appreciate your help! Thanks so much.
Are you referring to “thee” Zeus (Selle Francais) ?
http://www.eurodressage.com/equestrian/2001/08/30/zeus-passed-away
Great! Thanks so much. Interesting to note the offspring could be difficult with difficult mouths. And many positives in there too. Love to hear if anyone has any offspring or even a grandsons/daughters.
I have three with Zeus in the pedigree. I love them, but!
One is by a Zeus son, who is out of an Inschallah mare. She has a wonderful temperament, except she doesn’t let you wash her head…she will run you over, and don’t turn on the clippers without a twitch on her. She is lovely to ride and has great manners otherwise. Inschallah helped mellow the temperment in the pedigree, but that Zeus edge is there.
I have two that have Alla Czar (by Zeus) as their grandsire. That is different! They take time to mature, like 4 -5 years. At 2 both were quite hot. At 5 they are much more mellow, but have an edge. Both are extremely lovely horses, but one especially can be quite sharp.
I was warned by a very well respected horseman, who knew Zeus and his offspring in Europe, not to double on him. He could throw super jumpers, but they could be difficult.
I have owned three Jupiter (Zeus) offspring and one Jupiter granddaughter. All were GREAT jumpers, one was a good mover, two were hack winners, one had a lot of knee and ended up as an eventer. Every one of these horses has heart that just won’t quit, and the ones that are getting older (17, 18 and 19, eek I am getting really old) are still sound and jumping around. None of these horses could be described as deadheads, although they all mellowed with age, but as babies they had a lot of brilliance (still do!) and required a tactful (not perfect) ride. I think that the Zeus blood is fiery, but IMO the very best horses have a little fire in their bellies, both hunters and jumpers.
I owned a direct son of Zeus … I vowed to NEVER deal with the bloodline again after him.
He is the only horse that I have ever ridden that could magically reverse mid-takeoff! You would go with the forward motion of the jump but he could slam on the breaks, put his feet back down, roll his shoulder and duck out from underneath you in a split second and he did that whether 3’6 or 4’9… professional and amateur too!! He was quirky in the barn too. He came with the show name Platoon II, so we started calling him Toonie (aka. Looney Tunes) in the barn…
Cute little sucker - would win - be it the hunters, eq’s or jumpers all day long when he would finish the courses 
Here is a link to one I had: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10206148294734147&set=a.1590727615890.2078543.1466855506&type=1&theater¬if_t=like
[QUOTE=mikali;7981105]
I owned a direct son of Zeus … I vowed to NEVER deal with the bloodline again after him.
He is the only horse that I have ever ridden that could magically reverse mid-takeoff! You would go with the forward motion of the jump but he could slam on the breaks, put his feet back down, roll his shoulder and duck out from underneath you in a split second and he did that whether 3’6 or 4’9… professional and amateur too!! He was quirky in the barn too. He came with the show name Platoon II, so we started calling him Toonie (aka. Looney Tunes) in the barn…
Cute little sucker - would win - be it the hunters, eq’s or jumpers all day long when he would finish the courses ;)[/QUOTE]
Interesting, I had a zeus grandson (Beach Boy) who did this exact thing. The stop and shoulder drop that dumped ammies and pros alike. It was impossible to predict or ride. Front legs up to jump, then, nope! Super sound, beautiful mover, great jumper, nice looking, super talented but tricky to ride. You could not make that horse tired, could have been an eventer if it wasn’t so spooky…
I also have a Beach Boy mare, very elastic and pretty and talented and spooky and hard to ride.
I love the Zeus blood for the jump and the movement but like it well back in the pedigree, I think in the 4 gen is best. I bred to checkmate with hesitation as he is double Zeus but hoped it would be be far enough back in my foal to give some brilliance with more rideability from the mare.
My foal will have Zeus in the third generation both on the sire and dam’s side. Haha. I’m sorry some of you have had trouble with yours! I may be in for it but I’m not too worried as the dam (Landwerder x Zeus) is maybe the quietest most laid back mare I’ve ever seen. I’ve started some very crazy ones over the years so hopefully I can pull some things out of my bag of tricks if I need to. One thing is for sure, I will be spending a lot of time with it to help get the best start possible and you all have helped me to see that this will be necessary.
I also own a Checkmate yearling filly out of a Balou du Rouet mare. That one so far is quiet and not spooky but of course not under saddle yet so that could change.
I rode a direct daughter of Zeus few years ago. I rode her when she was 18 untill she died at 23. She was really powerful, could jump up to 4’ from the trot with 0 effort. She was fast but never spooked, refused or bolt. She had a huge heart and would always give her 110%.
She had an ugly face but her body was well put together. Beautiful topline, great bones and has never been lamed in her entire life. She was not the most endearing horse in the world but easy to handle.
i heard she did Grand Prix level with her previous owner.
Just wanted to share a photo of Platoon II and I competing at Spruce Meadows.
http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/r564/MikaliFarms/20150202_201447_zpsstjpzkqs.jpg
