By Jenneke Smit / KWPN
Photography: Jacob Melissen
The Steggink family of Manderveen has put their breeding program on the map with home-bred horses that are successful in both international eventing and showjumping. The lineage that once started with the Rivaal daughter Aswina flourished thanks to their pragmatic selection, following their own ideas, and the horses ending up at the right place.
Brothers André and Martin Steggink have been reaping the rewards for years now. The breeding program was founded by Harry Steggink and continued by son André, assisted by his brother Martin whose primary focus is on the cows. They are traditional breeders, that deploy their farmer’s common sense to breed good sport horses without closely following the international sport themselves. Their breeder’s vision works as is proven by successful sport horses such as Bonzay (Numero Uno), Quick Shine (Numero Uno), Willem Corland (Corland), Hulliebullie (Zacharov TN) and Fernando-Ukato (Ukato), that are all bred out of the same lineage.
Good characters
Harry Steggink bumped into his foundation mare Aswina (Rivaal x Noordpool) at the Zuidlaardermarkt. “Our father was visiting that horse market with my uncle. Aswina was a young mare and appealed to the both of them,” says André Steggink. Born in 1982, the mare developed into a prestatie mare at the farm in Manderveen. She produced the renamed Coconut 27, the Concorde son named Sjonny Boy at birth, that competed up to 1m40 in sport. “The horses were a true hobby for my father and it is the same for me, it’s something I pursue alongside my work. My brother Martin helps where needed and that’s how we try to continue the lineage as best we can. We grew up with ponies and horses on the farm and we are true horse aficionados.”
Five foals were born in the stables of the Steggink family this season, next year they expect four. “During the first years, our father carried out all the daily horse care and decisions by himself, he was a man determined to follow his own instincts. He taught us that too. At the time, he had the first foal of Libero H, and he always used stallions with blood. Numero Uno is a good match with our lineage and my father had no doubts crossing our Heartbreaker mare with Numero Uno. He was never afraid of too much blood and I think it worked out well, also in light of eventing sport. The horses out of this lineage are sufficiently level-headed and we raise them in a consistent manner, that always makes for manageable and willing horses.”.. To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber
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