This coming Valentine's Day, February 14, is the occasion to acquire the most unique gift for someone special, especially if that person also has a passion for showjumping – the sport or breeding. During the Sustainable City International Showjumping event in Dubai, the organizers of the Horseman Elite Auction will be selling embryos that are the result of crossing top progenitors with the best Belgian dam lines. It's confirmed that more than half the embryos' sires are among the top 100 in the most recent WBFSH ranking list, with Chacco-Blue leading the pack and representing two of the 21 available embryos. Other popular showjumping luminaries include Toulon, Qlassic Bois Margot, Zirocco Blue, Heartbreaker, Ogano Sitte, Emerald van't Ruytershof, Bamako de Muze, Conthargos, Tobago Z, and Warrant... among others.
Experts confirm that the dam line is at least as important, if not more so than the sire line, with certain performance families dominating the breeding of top showjumpers and, remarkably, certain foundation dams can be found in the first generation of some of the embryo pedigrees, rather than the sixth or seventh generation. Notably, this auction's collection sees dam lines such as Usha van't Roosakker; Narcotique de Muze II (the Qerly Chin line); Coriana van Klapscheut; Quasibelle du Seigneur and Fa-Belle van ‘t Roosakker (both go back to the famous La Belle van Sombeke); Granie (the grandmother of Cicero van Paemel Z, a supplier of excellent showjumpers); Secret Love Wonderland (the performance family of great showjumpers such as Jade, Estina, Holland and Dulf van den Bisschop); and Nelke van het Waterschoot (the performance family of Upsilon de la Linière, Glasgow de Muze, Costa Rica and Lorelei vh Waterschoot). As a bonus, several dams of the presented embryos performed at the highest level themselves, including Kismet 50 (five-star 1m60 with Candice S. King and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum), Fortuna Forever (1m50, Lorenzo de Luca), and Souvenir van de Heffinck (1m55, Harrie Theeuwes).
If you can't be present in Dubai on February 14, the organizers are offering online bids with advance registration: https://horseman.weauction.nl/register. Telephone bids can also be arranged: www.horseman.auction.
Some of the world's best showjumping breeding and sporting genetics will be available thanks to the Horseman Elite Auction Dubai – offering the opportunity to make this Valentine's Day extremely special for someone in your life. (JdeR)
