By Agata Grosicka
Photography: Anna Przybyl

The winner of the Intercarpathia Top Horses Championship – free jumping and free movement competition for young horses representing all WBFSH studbooks – turned into a spectacular event at the Salio Equestrian Centre in central Poland.

It was won by the Westfalian stallion Toulon IDES (Toulon x Heartbreaker x Nimmerdor x Lancer III x Landgraf I). Born in 2019, he was the only showjumper out of almost 70 horses evaluated by the international judging commission during the first week of December who was awarded notes of 9.0 points.
His ancestors include famous stallions, while his maternal line includes, among others, the mare Ramira (Ramiro Z) – who produced six 1m60 jumpers – as his second dam. It’s a common truth, however, that it’s not the pedigree that jumps, which was proven by Toulon IDES, as the scores awarded by the jury included well-known experts Heinz Meier, Peter Strijbosch of KWPN, Bernard Demets connected with both the Selle Français and AES studbooks, as well as Andrzej Matlawski – an acknowledged Polish professional.
During the prize-giving ceremony, having all confirmed the horse’s talents with such high scores, Heinz Meier underlined that “such a high flyer has great chances to be licensed next year in more than one studbook, including Zangersheide and perhaps Westfalian. The other horses were not far behind, and here I should congratulate our breeders who brought their horses from all parts of Poland to be evaluated by an international jury.”
Describing the winner, Meier said; “At first we appreciated the impression of his conformation, he looks very good, good connections and the topline, good position of the front legs. When he starts moving he shows enough suppleness with good balance in the canter. When he started jumping we could see that he had a good overview. When he needs it he leans forwards, but can also jump with his back. The perfect technique and great scope, we were really impressed with this horse. Total of 9.0 points.”
Marta Kwiatkowska, the owner of the show champion, was very happy with her horse’s performance: “I was lucky to find this colt by Toulon when he was only three months old. I bought him directly from the breeder, Sandra Hobitz in Germany. He was the last colt out of his dam Lena (Lancer III). When he was a one-year-old he didn’t look so special, then when he was a year and a half we took him free jumping and he showed us what he’s here for. He’s a world class horse when it comes to his jumping technique. At home he’s really polite yet he is able to show his character. And you can see that he’s also very smart. We would like to get him licensed next year; this year it was too early for him. At the age of two he was not mature enough.
“Intercarpathia was a great opportunity for us to check how he behaves outside his home and in public. After such a debut I’m not afraid to take him anywhere because I know that he will behave in a good way. He’s the spitting image of his sire Toulon. I breed horses myself and when I want to buy a foal, I have to check his dam. His dam Lena gave birth to three horses apart from Toulon IDES and they all jump over 1m50. His second dam Ramira produced six jumpers over 1m60.”.. To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber

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