By Sally Reid
Photography: © NZWA
New Zealand Warmblood Association’s inspection tour of 2024 was held earlier this year, with German assessor Matthias Werner. The tour covers both main islands, distances considerable, and inspections take place at a variety of properties (some rather remote) in just eight busy days.
According to NZWA President Jody Hartstone; “There were 98 foals presented across all four horse registers and the pony register, plus mares and stallion. Matthias was very complimentary about the quality of the foals put forward, and a huge number gained Merit or Excellence awards.
“New Zealand breeders were delighted to have him back here to assess our horses, and this year he brought his lovely partner Mareike Winkler-Harth with him to sample our hospitality, our scenery and our horses. “Mareike is an accomplished horsewoman and was a great hand on the tour, playing part-time secretary and also helping to keep horses moving around the arena in fine form.”
Warmblood Foals (NZWA Register 1)
These foals must be at least 25% Warmblood, and no more than 7% non-Warmblood, Thoroughbred, or Arab. They must be sired by an NZWA Studbook stallion or one licensed for breeding by a member studbook of the WBFSH that meets NZWA pedigree criteria. The dam must be in the NZWA Mare Stud Book or Pre-Stud Book.
Champion Foal: The very impressive colt, Seven Figures (Million Dollar BWP - Waitangi Surf x Cassiano), bred and owned by Oliver Croucher was the tour’s overall winner, with a terrific Excellence score of 84%. This colt’s dam, Waitangi Surf (Cassiano - Whisper x Back Chat xx), was the Champion Mare of the tour. She was bred by Jocelyn Bayly of Waitangi Sport Horses and is owned by Oliver Croucher, who jumped her at the top levels with great success.
Her sire Cassiano (Cassini - Zivia x Calypso II), an imported licensed Holsteiner from Stamm 6691, was bred by Carsten Lauck and stood at Xtreme Sport Horses. Waitangi Surf’s dam Whisper is out of an unrecorded mare, but her sire Back Chat xx was a son of the famous eventing/jumping sire Aberlou xx. Waitangi Surf won the Norwood Gold Cup at HOY in 2019 and has Elite status in the NZWA Mare Studbook with an inspection score of 82.50%. Seven Figures is her first foal.
Seven Figures really was bred to jump, and his sire Million Dollar (from the famous BWP Prestatiestam 34) has a pedigree that includes Plot Blue (his own sire), Mr Blue (his grandsire), Vigo d’Arsouilles (his dam’s sire), Daytona de Muze (his maternal granddam), and the wonderful Nabab de Reve, who is also on his maternal side.
Reserve Champion: Wallingford Conetta (Conthargos -Wallingford Dorado x Diarado) was one of the first foals inspected on the tour. The lovely bay filly was the highest scorer of her gender, with a total mark of 83.5, and was described by Matthias Werner as "super-sportive, always uphill, and with a strong, active hindquarter". She was an ISCI foal, bred by Gareth Dunkley of Wallingford Equine, and, as well as a super sire, has marvellous maternal connections. Her dam has Excellence status with the NZWA, and is a full-sister of the NZ World Cup representative mare Cassina Dior (currently in Europe).
Their own dam, the imported Prinzess VI/aka Cassina van de Helle (Cassini I - Borana x Lord) was bred in Germany by Dörte Thiedemann; she is from Holst Stamm 2543. Her offspring include the BWP stallion Emir van de Helle who is jumping at 1m50 in the USA, and the Bezirksprämie mare Alexa III, whose own daughter Saratoga (Chin Champ) is also jumping in World Cup competitions in the USA. Prinzess herself is the full sister of Loreana II, who won international Grands Prix and World qualifiers... To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber
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