By Jo de Roo
Photography: Peter Llewellyn; FEI/Richard Juilliart; Jo de Roo
We believe that they are really of very high quality. I dare say that this is not seen at all stallion inspections. It makes our SBS inspection 2025 an inspection with a lot of quality”, said Daniël Maillart, who judged alongside Tim Van Tricht and Marc Van Dijck.
The candidate stallions were assessed on conformation and gaits and sports aptitude (being showjumping or dressage aptitude, depending on the option for which a stallion was registered). In the conformation and gaits section there are four selection criteria, with a maximum of 10 points per criterion: general impression, conformation, legs, and gaits.
For showjumping aptitude, points are given for canter, punch, technique, scope, use of the back and character/ blood/reactivity. For dressage aptitude, we distinguish the following assessment criteria: walk, trot, canter and character/ blood/reactivity. A stallion must score at least 60% on both conformation and gaits and sports aptitude, with the jury’s points being expressed as a percentage. The percentages are then converted into stars: Three stars (60% to 74%), four stars (75% to 89%), and five stars (more than 90%). One star and two stars also exist, mind you.
There was one stallion who achieved the maximum number of stars: both on conformation and gaits and on showjumping aptitude, namely Babylou D’Fee Sauvenière Z (2021), a son of Balou du Reventon (alias Cornet’s Balou), bred by FDLH from Huy. He scored five stars for both components.
Daniël Maillart: “To get five stars, a stallion must score at least 90%. It is very exceptional that the jury gives a stallion a score of 90% or more. In our opinion, Babylou is the most complete stallion. He is very modern and has an athletic conformation, a lot of stallion charisma, excellent gaits, and a nice height at withers (167 cms). While free jumping he showed a lot of scope, an excellent technique and a lot of punch. We were enthusiastic about this stallion. We have seen a few stallions that jumped very well, but that we could still give some remark or other. That is not the case with Babylou at all.
“He also has a very good pedigree. His sire, Balou du Reventon, jumps at the highest level, but he has a rather limited offspring so far. That is also why it is not obvious that sons of Balou du Reventon are offered for inspection. Babylou’s dam line is also exceptionally good. His dam (Baby Fee des Hazalles), granddam (Reine-Fee des Hazalles) and great-granddam (Valfee des Hazalles) all have the SBS ‘elite obstacle’ label, which is the highest label a sport horse can achieve in the SBS. It also proves that the label is of high quality.
In partnership with Fabienne Daigneux-Lange and Grégory Wathelet, Baby Fee has collected several top 10 places during international 1m50 showjumping classes. Baby Fee is a full sister to Venue D’Fees des Hazalles, with whom Fabienne Daigneux-Lange and Eve Jobs were particularly successful at the highest level. Eve and Venue D’Fees finished second in the five-star Grand Prix in Hamburg, fourth in the five-star GP in Wellington, team third and fourth individually in the Pan-American Games, for example. Reine-Fee, the dam of Venue D’Fees and Baby Fee, excelled at Grand Prix and World Cup level, under the saddle of Fabienne Daigneux-Lange.
Daniël Maillart: “During the SBS stallion inspection, the jury does not appoint a champion stallion because the approved stallions must prove themselves in the sports afterwards and achieve results imposed by the SBS. Babylou is four years old. The presenters could choose to let him jump in freedom or jump under the saddle. They chose free jumping...
CLICK HERE TO READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE IN THE ONLINE EDITION OF BREEDING NEWS
