By Adriana van Tilburg
Photography: © FEI/Thomas Reiner; personal archive

A young son of Dominator 2000 Z is the the five-year-old Zangersheide-registered stallion Daryus van het Poeleind (out of Oksana van het Poeleind x Nabab de Reve, breeder: Guus Swinnen het Poeleind). This intriguingly bred stallion has a dam line with a rich history.

Originating from Dithmarschen – an area on the west coast of Germany’s Jutland peninsula, and a district of Schleswig-Holstein – the first mare from the dam line of Daryus van het Poeleind, Stamm 162, was registered in 1838. Gret A 220 (Kroni) was registered/bred by Peter Behrens from Großenrade. Gret A 220 and the farm where she was born were subsequently taken over by Peter Behrens' son-in-law, Jasper Eggers.
The next generation, Ahne 5111 (Godophin), was born in 1848 and marked the beginning of this Stamm within the Eggers family from Karolinenkoog. For over 100 years, this line was upheld by the Eggers family, earning it the moniker of the Eggers line. Hans Peter Eggers, the father of Christian Eggers, relocated to Lower Saxony, the primary breeding area for Hanoverian horses, where they established a Hanoverian line.
Christian Eggers reminisces about the history; “This line has always been in our family as we continued breeding with the mares. In my living room, I have a photo on the wall dating back to 1921, featuring three horses. Two of them are by Tizian (Amurath) and were grey mares. Before World War II, they were working horses on the farm, then they became riding horses. It’s difficult to say something about their character because they were all different.”

A sporting line begins

With the mare Katrin (Meistergrad - Mahdi I, breeder: Otto Eggers), a successful sport branch began. She became the dam of the approved Holsteiner stallion Stanley (1970: Sable Skinflint xx). Her daughter Fivitas Dei is also the great-grandmother of the 2003 European champion Cöster (Calato) ridden by Chrstian Ahlmann in Donaueschingen. Her daughter Leila (Wahnfried - Katrin x Meistergrad, breeder: Lothar Völz), born in 1974, produced offspring for three breeders: Lothar Völz, Jens Rombelsheim, and Uwe Krohn. Her first three foals were notably by the stallion Lord (Ladykiller xx), who became champion of his year. He became a top stallion, both in sport in breeding, whose blood is still highly valued.
Of these three foals, only one was a filly, Losandra, born in 1979, bred by Lothar Völz. A remarkable mare from Caletto I’s first breeding period, during which he covered few mares, was Cleo D, out of Leila, bred by Lothar Völz and registered in Zweibrücken. She won several classes at 1m50 and earned €30,193.00 during her career under the saddle of Siegfried Nied.

Losandra (Lord - Leila)

Returning to Losandra (Lord - Leila x Wahnfried, breeder: Lothar Völz), she was born during a period when Maas J. Hell purchased many foals in Holstein for clients in Belgium and the Netherlands. One of those clients was Jos Suls, who frequented Schleswig-Holstein and bought two foals from Maas J. Hell, one of which was Losandra. Johan van Oost often accompanied Jos Suls to Holstein for stallion inspections, and had a strong affinity for Holsteiner horses. With some personal savings he purchased Losandra from Jos Suls.
Johan van Oost reflects on this time: “As a young man, a student of veterinary medicine, I was captivated by showjumping horse breeding and faithfully attended stallion inspections in Holstein for years, often accompanied by visits to the well-known breeders in Schleswig-Holstein. These trips were always led by the Suls family. At that time, I was also a friend of [the later renowned] equine veterinarian Marc Suls... To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber
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