By  Jac Remijnse of Horse Genetics

In this first part, we focus at a stallion from Holstein breeding. The stallion Quantum (Quidam de Revel) is amongst the most promising breeding stallions in this breeding area. As a two-year-old, his breeder Johann Peter Lass introduced Quantum at the Holstein stallion selection. The still youthful appearing Quantum was at that time a striking appearance showing much expression and blood. After his approval, he was described by breeding manager Dr. Thomas Nissen as follows: “Quantum possesses a good sports type with all  the potential for the high levels of show-jumping. His conformation is correct and harmonic. During free-jumping Quantum gave the audience goose bumps when he showed his formidable jumping technique with his spectacular opening of his hindquarters. Quantum was designated as reserve champion after which the Holstein Connection acquired him.

Performance

After he had been available for stud-duty for one season in 1997, he took part in the performance test at Medingen. Here Quantum finished 29th out of 33 contestants. His riding-horse qualities played tricks on him. Was it opposition, or was it a rider with a high level of sense and patience Quantum required? In 1998, Quantum was sent to Medingen a second time. This time he did gain the required number of points. The Holstein Connection withdrew quantum from stud duty. Nevertheless, Norbert Boley, Stallion Manager of the Holstein Connection, knew how valuable Quantum could be for Holstein Breeding, since he was bred out of the Cor de la Bryère-daughter Ulla V, a full sister to the stallion Constant from lineage 18b1. To reply to the disappointing performance test Boley went searching for sons of Quantum out of his first and only breeding season. At the annual stallion approvals in 2000 two Quantum-sons were presented, by far the best jumpers of this approval. His son Quintero was approved for stud-duty. The daughters of Quantum scored well too in the mares tests. After these convincing results, Quantum was put at disposal for breeding. In 2002, 32 out of 60 registered Quantum foals prevailed. Norbert Boley described Quantum as “A stallion who, within his age group, strikes in a positive way with talented offspring that posses  prime jumping-capacities.” Especially his son Quintero who he describes as an outstanding jumping-horse.

Yet, the question can be asked why the Holstein Connection retained Quantum after his first performance test and next, why all the effort had been made to present Quantum sons at the Stallion approval. The answer is simple: in Holstein, they recognize the great value of dam’s lines. They also know the qualities of the families and they are aware of the progress you can make by this in breeding. Naturally, the influence of Quidam de Revel is essential for the progeny of Quantum. Without hallmark stallions, a dam’s line can hardly guarantee its qualities. To look at it another way, a hallmark stallion can hardly maintain itself without good mare material. Analyzing the jumping talent within Holstein, we can state that Quantum’s dam line, lineage 18b1, has a tremendous impact on this almost closed breeding. This family does not excel by a long sequence of international jumpers. It is evident however, that lineage 18b1 possesses the quality to produce breeding stallions, which have put their stamp on Holstein breeding.

Sire lines

To form a good notion of the impact lineage 18b1 had on Holstein breeding we need to go back to the beginning of last century. Drawing up an inventory of the progenitors within Holstein breeding about 1900 there are, broadly outlined, six sire lines that play a significant role; the Achill-, Adjudant-, Amurath-, Cicero-, Ethelbert-, and the Füsilier line. Within the present Holstein breeding only the sire line of Achill is still alive. Remarkable is the fact that all of the hallmark stallions that descend from these six sire lines carry the blood of lineage 18b1. The revival of lineage 18b1 starts about 1890 with ancestress Hertha (Young Elthelbert). This mare delivered directly, among others, the licensed sons Kürassier (Cicero) and Jurist (Cicero). Beside that, Hertha is reputed as the the grandmother of the stallions Schiller (Falb x full sister of Kürassier), Vollmacht (Landgraf x full sister of Kürassier) and Zeus (Amurath I). In Holstein, the jumping talent is primarily credited to the Achill-, and the Cicero line. The progenitor Kürassier is by far the most influential son of his famous sire Cicero (Julius), who has a large impact in The Netherlands through his descendant Domburg (Cicero III – Cicero II – Cicero). After Kürassier the Cicero line died out in Holstein pretty rapidly. Still, Kürassier is one of the best progenitors of its time. Like all stallions of lineage 18b1, Kürassier did have a large influence through his daughters. The biggest influence Kürassier had as dam’s sire to the jumping provider Tobias (Achill). Beside that, we find Kürassier at the basis of a number of Holstein lines. Highly reputed dam’s lines including lineage 185 (Gabriel and Raymond), lineage 275 (Landgraf I, Concept and Cash), lineage 429 (Aldato, Lorenz, Dutch Capitol and Numero Uno) and lineage 1895 (Colibri, Landadel and Calvaro V), all go back on the dam’s side, directly to a Kürassier daughter.  The stallion Jurist did not have the same impact on Holstein breeding as his full brother Kürassier; still Jurist plays an essential role. The Stallion Heintze (Weidmann-side out of the Ethelbert line) is held responsible for the pugnacity and temperamental characters within Holstein breeding. Heintze goes back on the dam’s side to a daughter of Kürassier and carries via his sire Heinz (Weidmann), the blood of Jurist. Due to the combination of Kürassier and Jurist, we can see in the descent of Heintze, inbreeding on the mare Hertha from lineage 18b1. The qualities of Heintze we find in Dutch breeding especially through the offspring of Sinaeda and Porter, both of them carry Heintze’s blood.

The earlier mentioned stallions Schiller (Falb), Vollmacht (Landgraf) and Zeus (Amurath) all are grandsons of ancestress Hertha. Schiller has an effect on the masculine line by his son Meisterschuß. Beside that, we find Schiller and Vollmacht mainly in dam’s lines as well. The stallion Zeus has nestled himself in breeding as the sire of Erbherr, a stallion which we also find in dam’s lines. As well as Heintze, the influential hallmark stallion Loretto (Lorbeer – Elegant) is bred in on lineage 18b1. Lorreto was described as a fine stallion with a nice character, very good gaits and a modern conformation that looked very similar to the stallions of the Elegant offspring, the less strong side of the Ethelbert family. Mostly less elastic horses with not always sufficient toughness. The Elegant side of the Ethelbert line was very popular in the 40’s and 50’s. After the attendance of jumping-horse breeding this line became extinct very quickly. Still, Loretto delivered more than 30 approved sons and we see him back frequently in the dam’s line of several international sport horses and licensed stallions. The progenetic qualities of Loretto can be attributed to the accumulation of stallions from lineage 18b1. In third generation of Loretto’s descent, we find four stallions of which three are Schiller, Vollmacht and Zeus, the three grandsons of Hertha from lineage 18b1. Another reason for the success of Loretto is probably the fact that he was a good replenishment to the, notably, tough jumping blood of the stallions First (Tobias) and Mirza (Favorit – Tobias).

Dorette

After the first generation of progenitors from line 18b1 made its exit, it remained silent for a long period. This was about to change in 1945 with the birth of the mare Dorette, a striking marked black daughter of the stallion Monarch (Mahdi I), that goes back to the seventh generation on the mothers side to progenetrix Hertha. In 2003, Dorette belongs to the most influential Holstein mares in history and can, in the capacity of progeniture, perhaps be compared with her ancestress Hertha. Meanwhile, from Dorette’s offspring there are more than 20 stallions approved for stud-duty in the various European studbooks. The influential progenitors Farn (Fax I) and Roman (Ramzes x) are both direct sons of Dorette. In the early sixties, in connection with a re-adjusted breeding program, all sons of Fax I (Fanatiker) in Holstein were sold to the Netherlands, retrospectively seen, a great fortune for the Dutch sports horses breeding. Farn has a tremendous impact in the Netherlands through the widespread sire line of his son Nimmerdor. We can also find Farn back countless times in dam’s lines of international sports horses and licensed stallions. World-famous show jumping-horses like Pierrot, Mr. Ecke, Just Malone, Renville, Queen of Diamonds, Renata la Silla, Maybe Forever and Fighting Alpha are all bred out of a Farn mother. Dorette’s second son Roman was condemned as a stud horse based on the products out of his first production. Like Quantum, Roman was described as a stallion with rideability problems. Especially the direct Roman sons needed strong and sensitive riders. In Holland, this was often said about direct Farn descendants. Perhaps this quality stood in Quantum’s way to gain a good result from the performance test. After his condemnement, his owner Johannes Blohm trained Roman for the show jumping-sport. Very soon, however, Blohm entrusted Roman out of his hands to Reimer Hass, a national rider with a lot of feeling for training young horses. Then, Roman, within a few seasons, made a very successful career in show jumping, reaching S-level. After his offspring also turned out to have great jumping qualities, Roman was rehabilitated and approved a second time for breeding. Like Farn, Roman too cannot be eliminated within the present sports horses breeding. Roman is registered as dam’s sire of the hallmark stallions Cantus, Carolus I, Calvin Z, Lagano and Tin Rocco. We find Roman again in the dam’s line in a series of international show jumping-horses including Classic Touch, Indorado, Little Rock, Capriol, Lux Z and Carolus II. Besides Farn and Roman, Dorette also produced two influential daughters: Adrette (Heilbutt) and Ella (Colt). Adrette we know, among others, as the dam of Ronald (Ramiro Z) and as grandam of Lagos (Ladykiller xx x Moltke I). Two stallions who, following Farn, served stud-duty in both Holstein and the Netherlands. Dorette’s daughter Ella is registered as dam of the stallions Constant (Cor de la Bryère) and Tarento (Tumbled xx). Tarento was sold immediately after his approval to Hungary where he served breeding under the name Toborzo I. In the “Breeding guide” Toborzo I is noted with four descendants, which perform at Grand-Prix–level in show jumping. The stallion Constant, who himself jumped at S-level under Hans Günter Winkler and Michael Rüping, had the ability of excellent jumping-capacities with an exceptional foreleg technique. Because of his chestnut colour Constant was not popular among the Holstein breeders, which resulted in a limited amount of services.

Out of the small number of products, Constant delivered several state of the art jumping-horses, including Deichgräfin (Carsten Otto Nagel) and Chin Chin (Jaime Azcarraga). The latter stallion was fetched back to Europe in 2002, aged twenty-four, by Wiepke van de Lageweg. Chin Chin finished sixth at the Olympics in Seoul and participated in the World Cup finals three times. In breeding too, Chin Chin seems to pass on his qualities Out of the small group off Chin Chin-descendants, among others Phin Phin, Qeurly Chin and Chac-Mool, compete at Grand-Prix-level in show jumping. Constant also exerts his influences through his daughters. The well-known international jumping-horses Cöster, Carlos, Caracas K, Cascavello along with the Grand-Prix dressage-stallion Coriander all carry the prestigious blood of Constant. Besides Constant, dam Ella also produced, in combination with Cor de la Bryère; the mares Palisa and Ulla V. Palisa jumped at S-level and produced in breeding the mare Queen Liesa (Quidam de Revel), who is trained in the jumping-sport by Felix Haßmann. The second full sister of Constant, Ulla V, is registered as Quantum’s dam.

A combination of several stallions from lineage 18b1 in a single pedigree has resulted in the past, among others, in the earlier mentioned hallmark stallions Heintze and Loretto. Even at today, we can see that a combination of stallions from lineage 18b1 can lead to top matches in sports and breeding. The best-known example in Dutch breeding is the combination Libero H x Nimmerdor. At dam’s side, Libero H carries the blood of Dorette through grandson Ronald, while Nimmerdor is a Farn son. We know as much as four international jumping-horses that carry the combination Libero H x Nimmerdor in their pedigree, namely; Ikoon, Iowa, Liberty and Coonawara. The Grand-Prix jumping-horse Iris (Libero H) goes back on dam’s side trough Le Val Blanc on a Farn daughter. In Swedish breeding, Cortez I (Cor de la Bryère) is among the best progenitors of jumping-horses. On the dam’s side, he carries Dorette’s blood twice through successively Ronald and Roman. The international jumping-horses Loxly (Lagos x Constant), Cascavello (Carolus I (Capitol I x Roman) x Constant), Cristoball (Cantus (Caletto I x Roman) x Ronald) en Cordial (Coriander (Coriolan x Constant) x Lagos) all carry the blood of the dam Dorette from lineage 18b1 in their pedigree. In the future, many Dutch successes could occur out of a combination of Chin Chin-blood (Constant) with blood of Nimmerdor (Farn) and Libero H (Landgraf I x Ronald).

The influence of 18b1

The above-mentioned story shows how widely lineage 18b1 is woven within Holstein breeding and how great the influence is of this dam’s line when joined together several times. Influential breeding mares like Warthburg (Landgraf I en Cash), Oktave (Libero H), Novella (Landadel), Larese (Chin Chin) and Perra (Carthago, Lord Calando en Leonce) all have a pedigree in which we see an accumulation of lineage 18b1. For instance, when we look at the pedigree of Libero H, we find lineage 18b1, within the first four generations, only once via the stallion. Looking back at the pedigree of Libero H over more generations, we find more than eighty line-breedings on progenetrix Hertha (Young Ethelbert) from lineage 18b1. Drawing up an inventory of the pedigree of Quantum, we find progenetrix Hertha twenty-three times. Like earlier mentioned, we have to bear the influence of the stallions Quidam de Revel, Cor de la Bryère and Colt in mind. These stallions certainly provided a great contribution to the jumping-qualities of Quantum. Especially the stallion Colt, a son of Cromwell (Cottage Son xx) from the highly reputed lineage 242, played a significant role in modernizing the sports horse within Holstein breeding. Out of his only serving season in Holstein, Colt delivered, from the E-volume, 16 registered studbook-mares, almost all guaranteed to pass on jumping-talent. Cor de la Bryère, on his turn, found blood connection at Cottage Son xx. This successful combination we also come across in the pedigree of Calando I-V, Caletto I-III, Cinzano, Coriall and Corrado I-II. The French top-progenitor Quidam de Revel, who generally connects to Holstein breeding very well, adds the blood of thoroughbred Furioso xx once again. Still, in this article we tried to render the great value lineage 18b1 had on breeding. Besides that, you can conclude that the stallion Quantum got much of the inner and outward qualities of his influential dam’s line. This, in combination with his own jumping-capacities, make Quantum a very interesting breeding stallion for the Holstein sports-horses breeding future.