By Jenneke Smit / KWPN
Photography: Jacob Melisson and Dirk Caremans – Courtesy KWPN
The breeding successes of Roelof Bril are sensational. By continuously selecting a well-jumping mare out of a strong lineage as a starting point, he has been able to breed top showjumpers. In addition, he largely supplies his own sports stable of first-class talent. Last year, his success culminated with the Breeder of the Year title, and the expectation is that this international rider will remain on top of his game in the coming years.
In August 2021, and much to his own surprise, Roelof Bril was declared Jumper Breeder of the Year, receiving this prestigious award not during the KWPN Championships, as mare inspections are not his cup of tea. No, the ceremony was held during the Blom Cup in Valkenswaard, as sport competitions are his natural habitat. “Fantastic that the KWPN could land this location for the Blom Cup, this is the perfect advertisement.” Through outliers such as the extremely successful Darry Lou (Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve), recognised by KWPN; the KWPN-approved Grand Prix stallion F-One USA (Toulon); and other Grand Prix horses such as Dizzy Lizzy (Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve), Zenzero (Kashmir van Schuttershof), and Duke (Phin Phin), Bril met his own goal: breeding very good jumpers.
“The sport keeps you sharp: if you enter a Grand Prix on Sunday, you know exactly what you need.”
A growing number of foals
Over the years, breeding has claimed a growing portion of Roelof Bril’s stable since over half of his string of sport horses is now home-bred. “It has become increasingly difficult to scout good horses, so luckily we started building up our own breeding program over time. We mostly use mares that we know from sport ourselves, and thereby know their precisely their pluses and flaws. You must be willing to see those, so you can base your stallion choice on it. Our best three-year-old mares are used for breeding, sometimes via embryo transplantation, while the others are being started under saddle. Normally, we breed around six foals a year, however last year we had a few more. The entire coronavirus break prompted me to flush three embryos out of a Crunch mare of Kim’s.”
Out of Cantate 47 (damsire Colandro), with whom daughter Kim Bril jumps internationally at 1m40 level, Roelof Bil bred foals by the Olympic stallion Mumbai and the home-bred stallion Invictus. Out of the dam of his home-bred stallion My Choice (Invictus), he bred a foal of A La Carte NRS. Furthermore, he welcomed two foals of his own KWPN-appointed stallion Four Seasons (For Pleasure) out of mares by Kashmir van Schuttershof (Nabab de Reve x Tenor Manciais) and Casall (Caretino x Lavall I). And finally, foals were born by Lazzaro (Homerun x Numero Uno), Mattias (Comme il faut [Westf] x Catoki), and Chaclot (Chacco-Blue x Fly High I) last season... To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO BREEDING NEWS
SUBSCRIBERS CAN READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE BY LOGGING IN AND RETURNING TO THIS PAGE
