GERMANY (by Adriana van Tilburg) Sometimes you meet special horses in your life that keep appearing. The Hanoverian approved stallion King Kolibri (Kolibri - Athletica x Libero H) is one of mine. Before I saw him for the first time he had already been approved in Hannover. They described him as a “High, noble, elastic stallion with great possibilities for the jumping sport”.
King Kolibri caught the eye of Jan Greve of the Stud-farm De Watermolen and he bought him together with Herman Seiger. I saw him for the first time only a few years later at a show and he was a real eye catcher. I don’t remember his jump- ing style, but I do remember his type and character. A dear friend of mine worked at that time for Jan Greve, Judith Spekschate-Davidse, and I asked if it would be possible to see King Kolibri at home. That was no problem so I went to visit him at De Watermolen.
I was working for Jos Lansink as a groom a few years later, in 2009, and was sitting outside with another groom, when a beautiful grey head popped out. Amazed, I asked, ‘is that horse King Kolibri?’ Yes it was. So I had to call my friend Judith to tell her that King Kolibri and I were at the same place. Ironic! We had a very good laugh.
I know first-hand about his amazing character. I remember that Jos Lansink said when his finished riding King Kolibri: “This is going to be my new Libero H.” That was a huge compliment, because Lansink won the World Cup final in Den Bosch in 1994 with Libero H ( Landgraf I - Oktave x Ronald). King Kolibri was never appreciated so much by Dutch breeders until Lansink started to ride him, but in 2011 he was sold to Lauren Tisbo from the USA...
