By Adriana van Tilburg
Photography: Janne Bugtrup
Corrado I (Cor de la Bryère - Soleil x Capitol I, Stamm 6879, bred by Eduard Struve) was owned for 31 years by the Holsteiner Verband – one of a quartet of important stallions, including: Caretino (Caletto II - Isidor x Metellus, Stamm 862, bred by Lothar Völz); Cassini I (Capitol I - Wisma x Caletto II, Stamm 3389, bred by J. Hermann Claussen); and Contender (Calypso II - Gofine x Ramiro, Stamm 2472, bred by Niko Detlef).
These four stallions are unmistakably connected to Norbert Boley and Gerard Muffels. What made Corrado I so special?
Soleil: A special dam
The mother of Corrado I, Soleil, was sold as a two year old to Eduard Struve. Jutta Struve explains; “My late husband wanted to have a good broodmare, and first did a lot of research on different bloodlines and learned that this Stamm was very good. Through talking with several people he found out that Soleil was for sale, as she’d suffered a bad injury and so could no longer compete in sport. The deal was that her first foal should be given back to the breeder, .”
Eduard Struve wasn’t so fond of using direct Thoroughbreds, and he liked Cor de la Bryère (Rantzau xx) a lot, discovering that Soleil produced really well with him. Their very first foal was Corrado I. According to Jutta Struve, “Corrado I was at our farm until he was two-and-a-half years old. He had a great character, he was kept outside day and night, and they had a big open stable where they were fed and where they could sleep. The reason why my husband kept him as a stallion was because he was very easy to handle. My husband never expected that he would be approved and that he would have so much success.”
The early days
The beginning of Corrado I’s breeding career was not without some major hurdles. Norbert Boley, now the stallion manager of the Holsteiner Verband, recalls: “Corrado was very tall and long when he was young. Not many people favored his type.” When he was two he was not approved, but one year later was accepted for his incredible jumping ability. Mr. Boley continues: “When he was five he had another development setback, so people were again very negative about him.” (Because of his size, measured as 173 cms, and the fact that was long-bodied, he was still developing physically.) He started first under the saddle of Thies Luther, then he continued with Bo Kristofferen.
Gerard Muffels has been managing the Holsteiner Verband’s stallion barn for more then 30 years, and recalls: “Corrado I came to Elmshorn when he was two. When we started him under saddle I was the first one who climbed on his back – it was what I had to do. I took him with me to the Siethwende stallion station (which no longer exists) where he covered naturally. I also worked with his first sons like Corofino I (out of Valeska IV x Fernando, Stamm 318D2), and Coriano (out of Option x Lord, Stamm 318D2, both bred by Hobe Bernard). I don’t know much about his time with Franke, only that he came from time to time to be collected for frozen semen.”..
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