Home News A personal memoir of the noble King Kolibri

A personal memoir of the noble King Kolibri

1956

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.

King Kolibri
King Kolibri (Kolibri - Athletica x Libero H) demonstrating his scope with Lauren Tisbo (USA)

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...

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