By Christopher Hector
Photography: FEI/Roland Thunholm
Editor’s note: In our January issue, Christopher Hector presented his analysis of German FN breeding values for young jumping horses, which produced a ‘somewhat eccentric collection of stallions.’ This month’s article spotlights the controversy over the production of three different sets of German FN breeding values for both dressage and jumping.
The first identifies the sires of young horse competitors, the second looks at the sires of horses in open competition, and the third 'highest level achieved' (HEK).
This year saw Sandro Hit crowned number one on the World Breeding Federation for Sporthorses (WBFSH) annual ranking of dressage sires for the first time, yet the black stallion is conspicuously absent from the breeding values of the German Federation...? Sandro Hit is ranked 365th on the FN breeding values for young horses, but is entirely missing from the open competition rankings, and slots into 61st spot on the HEK values with a value of 156 (99%) with some quite reasonable company: Weltmeyer (World Cup I), Hofrat (Gribalti), Donnerball (Donnerhall), Totilas (Gribaldi) and Zonik (Blue Hors Zack). However, you might be forgiven for not recognizing the seventh member of the cohort: Jazz Rubin (Jazzman x Rubinstein).
Topping the list: Bonds
Let’s start by looking at the young horse breeding values. Topping the list is Bonds, an eight-year-old Hanoverian stallion, who competes at Novice level. Bonds is by Benicio who seemingly only appeared at one international show, Hagen in April 2015, where he was first in an Inter I and second in a Prix St Georges, ridden by the prodigiously talented Jessica Lynn Thomas. Bonds was initially trained by Anna Sophie Fiebelkorn, who also showed his sire, Benicio with great success, then after a stint with Helgstrand he was sent in 2017 to Beatrice Buchwald... but I can find no record of her competing the stallion.
Bonds is out of Rioja, by Sir Donnerhall I out of a Rubinstein mare. His first place value of 166 has been achieved on the basis of 21 of his progeny in competition, which results in a low reliability score of 83%.
The second highest value has been achieved by the Jazz son, Don Juan de Hus (out of a Krack C mare). The chestnut stallion died way too soon when he was only nine years old, but he has sired some very impressive young horses. His value of 165 is somewhat more reliable since it is based on 95 progeny and achieves a reliability of 93%.
One of Don Juan’s starry sons was Don Martillo, who won a world five-year-old championship in 2017, went on to be the high-scorer in the 2017 Stallion Sport Test in Verden, another ride for Anna Sophie Fiebelkorn, but since then has been subject to an acrimonious dispute between his owners, with accusations that the stallion suffers from shivers (a chronic neuromuscular syndrome). Seemingly he has not competed since his triumph at the Worlds. His third place value of 165 is even shakier, based as it is on six progeny, hence a 75% reliability... To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber
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