By Christopher Hector
Once again, the KWPN Stallion licensing was held behind closed doors at a result of the Covid pandemic, so I missed one of my favourite shows for the second year running. However, even from afar, it was impossible to miss the extraordinary feat of Dutch breeder, Willeke Bos.
Of the 39 colts accepted, five were bred by Willeke Box, including three of the four colts awarded the premium title by the KWPN stallion licensing committee, comprising Bert Rutten (chair), Wouter Plaizier and Johan Hamminga.
The three premium colts bred by Willeke Bos include Opoque – with 50% of this colt having already been purchased by Helgstrand Dressage at the pre-selection phase. Opoque is an intriguing mix of old and new bloodlines, by one of Willeke’s two licensed stallions, All at Once, who is by Ampère out of a Gribaldi mare. The mare’s pedigree also features Jazz, Contango, and Ulft. All at Once, a 12-year-old black stallion, competed at last year’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic Game with Dutch-based Moroccan rider, Yessin Rahmouni. His original KWPN name was Flow, but as he was licensed in Germany, before his KWPN approval, he received a new name according to the German practice of using the initial letter of his sire’s name.
Opoque’s dam, Ice Princess Sth, is by Davino VOD, a son of the German stallion, Hotline (Hofrat x De Niro), out of Kilucienne (Michelangelo), then back to a couple of the Dutch foundation sires, Farn and Erdball xx. Ice Princess is out of Belle Vurona Sth, by the German stallion, Fürst Heinrich (Florestan x Donnerhall) out of Vurona, who brings the blood of Negro and Vincent. Wow!
Next, Otazu, by All at Once out of Atalinda (by Negro), the dam of Jameson, one of the most exciting young stallions in the Netherlands. Atalinda is by Negro, out of a Krack C / Contango mare.
One-Two-Three is out of Toliva, by D-Day, by Vivaldi, making him the full brother of the licensed stallions Vitalis and My Vitality. Vitalis is a Nürnberger Burg-Pokal winnner, and one of the most popular stallions in the Paul Schockemöhle barn. Double wow!
Willeke’s Stal 104
Q How long have you been breeding horses
Serious breeding started around 2010.
u Do you come from a ‘horse’ family?
Not a real horse family, but I started riding when I was six and I've been infected with the horse virus since that time.
u Were you always aiming to breed dressage?
Yes, but I tried showjumping in the past, just with one mare because of her pedigree, but she was a bit more a dressage type, and I got better horses from her with dressage stallions.
Q How many mares do you have?
I’ve got a lot of mares, but for breeding I use about eight mares and they are all in their own way precious to me... To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber
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