By Adriana van Tilburg
Photography: Courtesy GFE

There is no doubt that international breeding comes to mind when we look at the pedigree and story of OBOS Quality 004 (Quick Star - Reichsdame x Domino, breeder: Paul Schockemöhle). Born at Gestüt Lewitz in Germany, he is an enticing mix of French and Hanoverian blood.

This very impressive 29-year-old stallion has been for most of his life’s journey based in Ireland, after he was sold as a six-year-old at a PSI auction. Currently, he is in fifth place on the WBFSH Sire Ranking for eventing.

Hanoverian motherline in Belgium

This particular line is registered in Hanover under the name of the mare ‘Ankerauge’, who was born in 1932 at the Tietjen family farm in the breeding region of Stade. In total the Hannoveraner Verband has had 93 active mares through the generations of this line, of whom 10 have been awarded with a State premium predicate. Four horses from this same mareline were active in advanced level dressage, while nine jumped at 1m40 and higher. Today, there are only six mares active from this mareline in breeding in Hanover. One such mare, Abendnebel was sold to Belgium at the age of 14, and this is where we take up the story of OBOS Quality.
Nowadays it is often said that Belgium and the Netherlands have bought the top genetics from Germany which are forming the basis of building their own lines. But it seems that this has already been going on for the past 50 to 60 years, and previously we know that Germany has sold top mares to these countries.
In the case of OBOS Quality 004 we have to go back to a mare called Abendnebel (Absatz - Fibula x Fernruf, breeder: Alfred Gottschalk). Abendnebel’s sire is one of the foundation stallions of Hanover, Absatz (Abglanz - Landmoor x Landeck, breeder: Wilhelm Brunkhorst). Absatz was the champion stallion at the 1962 stallion approvals in Verden. His sire, the Trakehner stallion Abglanz, was hugely influential in Hanover through his son Absatz, out of the mare Landmoor.
Landmoor’s paternal line traces to the famous English Thoroughbred, Perfectionist xx, and carries on her dam’s side the Shagya stallion Shagy XVII. Absatz was the sire of stallions such as Argentan, Arsenik, Akzent I and II, Admiral I and II, Aktuell, and Aderlaß, although his masterpiece was undoubtedly Abglanz.
Abglanz (Temit - Abendluft x Poseidon, breeder: Hauptgestüt Trakehnen) was a Trakehner stallion. As a yearling colt he was evacuated from East Prussia to the Hunnesrück Stud, which played an incredibly important role in saving many Trakehner bloodlines.
The mare Abendnebel found her way to Belgium, where she became a broodmare with Maurice Verlinden. Boudewijn Schepers is a walking encyclopedia of BWP bloodlines, so I asked him what he knows about this line, which in Belgium is known as BWP prestatiestam 20. He recalls; “Maurice Verlinden was always very active at mare approvals and his mares were very impressive. Just last year we approved a stallion out of this line for BWP – Ruby DC (Kashmir van Schuttershof - Indy x Clinton, breeder: Rudy de Cooman). This line is not so big, but all the success familiar in Belgium can be traced back to Abendnebel.
“The mare Monza (Landadel - C-Weinnebel van Roelansebos x Weingau, breeder: Eric de Clippel) has also built up a very successful branch, and Rudy de Cooman has bred several good horses from this line. I didn’t know that OBOS Quality came from this mareline, but I think he is an interesting stallion and his offspring born in Ireland have so far done a good job in sport.
“Flügel van la Roche was a very good stallion and he has produced a lot of good horses. Toon Hendrix purchased a lot of his offspring, who were very easy to ride, wanted to work, and had a good character. It could very well be possible that OBOS Quality’s granddam went to Paul Schockemöhle thanks to François Mathy Snr.”
The grandmother of OBOS Quality, Reichlichflugel, was by Flügel van la Roche, a stallion who became very important in Belgian breeding. This was, for example, demonstrated during the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal: François Mathy claimed individual showjumping bronze with Gay Luron (Flügel van la Roche), bred in Limburg, Belgium... To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber

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