NOW that the Longines FEI European Championships are over for another two years, which studbooks and sires stood out after the medals were decided in Luhmühlen and Rotterdam? And how does the Irish Sport Horse studbook fare in post-championship international rankings?
Overall, it was an exceptional European championships result for the Westphalian studbook with two individual gold medal winners – Clooney 51 (show jumping) and Bella Rose (dressage). Of the four show jumping horses representing this German studbook in show jumping, three finished in the top-10, including the individual champion, Clooney 51 (Martin Fuchs).
This gold medal winner’s sire Cornet Obolensky enjoyed the best strike rate among the jumping sires with another of his three Rotterdam offspring – Comme Il Faut (Marcus Ehning) – finishing fifth.
Results-wise, it was a greatly improved eventing championships for the Irish Sport Horse as Margaret Kinsella’s home-bred Rioghan Rua broke a 10-year gap since the last Irish-bred individual medal winner, Some Day Soon.
Another Galway breeder, Galway Bay Stud owner Justin Burke salvaged Irish show jumping breeding pride by breeding the sole Irish-bred at the championships, Luibanta BH.
Overall, the Selle Français studbook was the most-represented in the Rotterdam show jumping arena with no less than 13 French-breds in action. Zangersheide (eight) and the KWPN (seven) also featured strongly, while the BWP and OS studbooks had six horses apiece.
The Springferdezuchtverband Oldenburg-International (OS) studbook is perhaps the least-known of this group and was set up just 22 years ago by Paul Schockemöhle. Designed primarily to produce show jumping horses, the German studbook was originally intended as a merger between the Oldenburg and Zangersheide studbooks but instead became a personal project of the ex-international German show jumper and stud farm operator.
Chaclot (19th), unsurprisingly by Chacco-Blue, was the highest-placed horse from the OS studbook and another, the Irish team horse Balou du Reventon (28th), also finished in the top-30.
The Westphalian studbook had an exceptional strike rate at Rotterdam. Of four show jumping horses, three finished in the top six: gold medal star Clooney 51; Comme Il Faut (fifth) and the Montendro mare, Toveks Mary Lou (sixth), which is a phenomenal achievement by a studbook, plus Bella Rose’s individual and team gold medals in the dressage arena.
Aside from the ‘superpower studbooks’, there was a notable breakthrough result at modern-day championships level for the Polish Horse Breeders Association (PZHK). The Calvados Z-sired MJT Nevados S was part of the Belgian gold medal team and placed individual ninth for Gregory Wathelet.
Dicaprio (KWPN), competed by Greek rider Kriton Zafiropoulus, has an Irish link as he is out of the Dutch-bred Cruising mare Timeless.
Luibanta BH, by the Guidam son, Luidam and out of the Dutch mare Mibanta (by the Abgar son Abantos and out of a Voltaire dam), kept the Irish flag flying with British rider Amanda Derbyshire.
Michael Whitaker’s Mon Santa was the previous Irish-bred star at these championships when the pair won individual silver in 1989. Coincidentally, the championships were also hosted in Rotterdam that year. From an individual medal to just one Irish Sport Horse competing at these championships 20 years later is a sobering thought.
Perhaps the tide will have turned for Irish breeding in another 20 years and two equine generations time.