BY SALLY REID
PHOTOGRAPHY: CORNEGE PHOTOGRAPHY; FEI/SHANNON BRINKMAN
It’s fantastic to announce that, since Sally Reid submitted this article, LT Holst Freda, bred by Ewen Mackintosh of Lake Taupo Holsteiners (LT Holst prefix), won the World Championship individual bronze medal in Aachen under the saddle of Harry Charles (GBR).
The new ESNZ award for the season’s top jumping breeder, as well as the Equibreed ART Embryo Series Award for the most successful ET competitor, have been won by Ewen Mackintosh of Lake Taupo Holsteiners, breeder of LT Holst Freda (Colman x Casall). Freda and her mother, the imported LT Holst Andrea (Casall x Lavaletto), are two driving forces behind Ewen’s LT Holst name achieving international respect.
His former career, although rural, was in no way connected with equines. He was a sheep shearer, who came to horses by buying a mare and two fillies to settle his dead brother’s estate. At that stage, Ewen’s knowledge was zero; he had to ask a visiting vet how to put a rug on a horse. But, against expectations, he developed an interest in breeding, albeit a random one. He choose sires because he liked their names, putting his trust in guesswork and luck.
Things changed with the arrival of a young mare around 13 years ago – and this time luck played a very big part. Ewen had been offered and had turned down the chance to buy a Casall filly from a dealer in Germany. Two months later he changed his mind and phoned the dealer back to find out whether she was still available. She was on the brink of being sold to European buyers, but he manged to secure her for €31,000. It was a supremely valuable purchase: the mare was LT Holst Andrea (Casall - Palaune x Lavaletto) who in a few short years had conquered the New Zealand jumping world in the hands of Brooke Edgecombe.
Her many victories include NZ Horse of the Year and back-to-back NZL FEI World Cup series wins (2022-23, 2023-24). In a very neat twist of fate, Andrea and her daughter Freda finished first and second in a World Cup qualifier at Takapoto in 2023-24. Andrea travelled to the States to compete in the 2024 World Cup Final, but was injured soon after arrival. She has since been retired.
In 2024-25, with her dam overseas, LT Holst Freda won the NZL World Cup series for the first time, and the Olympic Cup for NZ Horse of the Year. She repeated the World Cup win this year; NZ Horse of the Year did not take place so she remains as the title-holder. Freda was bought from Ewen as a three-year-old by Julie Davey, who trained her, groomed her, and rode her in every competition. Incidentally, noteworthy as Julie suffers from multiple sclerosis...
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