BY JEAN LLEWELLYN / PRESS RELEASE
PHOTOGRAPHY: HANOVERIAN ASSOCIATION

The Verband Hannoveraner has named its stallion of the year for 2025 as Benicio. Bred by the late Wilhelm Stadtlander, and as a sire, he passes on type, stability and rideability to his offspring with reliable consistency.

Iris Borchers, the late breeder Wilhelm Stadtlander’s daughter, accepted the award: an oil painting by the artist Manfred Busemann and a generous cheque. Together with R+V/Vereinigte Tierversicherung, the Hanoverian Society has been honouring an important Hanoverian stallion for over 30 years.
Benicio (Belissimo M x Velten Third) was bred and raised by Wilhelm Stadtlander at Veltenhof in Lilienthal. His dam, St.Pr.St. Valencia, was a multiple winning mare at the mare shows in Lilienthal, received an Ib prize at the 2002 Ratje-Niebuhr Show in Verden and represented the colours of the Hanoverian Society in the same year at the last Federal Mare Show in Neustadt/Dosse.
Benicio was licensed in Verden in 2007 and went to Ian Callander-Easby at Callaho Stud in South Africa via the stallion sales. However, he did not leave Germany without first serving a short breeding period at Veltenhof. In 2009, Benicio’s first four offspring were born in Germany.
At the age of six, the ever-eager stallion returned to Germany and impressed with his tournament performances with Anna-Sophie Fiebelkorn in the saddle, culminating in the Bundeschampionat title. At the time, he received a 10 for his trot and walk and a 9.0 for his canter. In terms of heredity, the canter later proved to be his strongest gait...

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