Home In the latest issue Royne and Sofia Zetterman’s ‘magical’ hunt for new talent

Royne and Sofia Zetterman’s ‘magical’ hunt for new talent

87
Copernicus had earned a placing with Sofia in the Breeders Trophy as a four-year-old and made the finals at the WBCYH at the age of five

By Elisabet Ernblad / SWB (translated by Hillevi Brasch)
Photography: © Roland Thunholm; Falkensbergsfoto

Magic Park Stables offers a horse-friendly, efficient, and visually stunning environment with an excellent location near numerous competition venues, making it convenient for clients.
Royne Zetterman is a renowned name in showjumping worldwide, boasting an impressive career and a vast global network. For nearly 40 years, he was a fixture of the Swedish national showjumping team, earning countless victories and top national and international placements. His crowning achievements include a team silver medal at the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain, a World Cup victory in ’s-Hertogenbosch in 2007, and a Grand Prix win in Falsterbo the following year. On top of his competitive success, Royne has facilitated the purchase, sale, and brokerage of thousands of horses over the years.
In addition to designing the entire facility, Sofia serves as Magic Park Stables’ top rider. With a string of success in young horse competitions and all the way up to Grand Prix, Sofia is passionate about training and developing young horses. Together with Royne, they have created a well-functioning operation with a clear vision underpinned by their extensive network. “Royne knows everyone,” Sofia says with a smile. “And I mean everyone in the equestrian world.”
Royne nods in agreement, emphasizing the importance of diversification in their business, which spans the entire process—from brood mares and foals to approved stallions, training, and competing with young horses. “We never planned to have our own broodmares,” Royne explains. “But we had a few excellent competition mares who got injured, so putting them into breeding was an obvious choice. I also had an exceptional stallion of my own to breed them to, so the decision was very straightforward,” he continues.

Cosmos Hästak; “Never put a foot wrong in his life.”

The stallion in question was Magic Park, a son of Armitage, whom Royne presented as a performance stallion at the 2013 performance test. Magic Park later competed in international 1m60 classes with Alexander Zetterman. In his first year as a breeding stallion, Magic Park covered three of their own mares, including Gloryanne, a half-sister to Daniel Zetterman’s former competition partner Glory Days, who boasts an impressive record with Swedish Championship gold, Nations’ Cup appearances, and international Grand Prix success. “In the beginning, we only used Magic Park,” Royne explains. “He’s a complete stallion with both scope and rideability, while also moving exceptionally well, making him a match for many types of mares. In fact, his gaits scored so high at the performance test that he could probably have been approved as a dressage stallion too,” he adds.
According to Royne and Sofia, it takes 10 years to truly assess the consistency of a stallion’s offspring, both for mares and stallions. In Magic Park’s case, his progeny had already proven themselves after just six years. In 2019, the Swedish Warmblood Association (SWB) awarded him the ‘A’ breeding value rating. He has also been one of the most used stallions in Sweden for several years, with 450 registered offspring to date... To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO BREEDING NEWS

SUBSCRIBERS CAN READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE BY LOGGING IN AND RETURNING TO THIS PAGE