FINDING a new sire for their often fourth-generation customers was a tall order but after persevering for two years, Kieran Kennedy has finally secured Vivant van de Heffinck.
“He was bought for the breeders to make a difference,” stated Kennedy, who also owns the Oldenburg sire O.B.O.S Quality 004, the most popular covering choice amongst Irish breeders in recent years.
“His new purchase will not only complement O.B.O.S Quality broodmare daughters but will be another option too for breeders looking to add refinement and jump to their Irish mares.
“He’s a real blood horse,” Kennedy says about the Belgian-bred horse that has competed at the highest level in recent years, numbering world and European championships amongst his career landmarks.
Vivant van de Heffinck first made his mark in the Belgian three-year-old championships before later being exported to Australia where he competed with Chris Chugg. Having won five World Cup qualifiers, the pair’s move to Europe for the 2010 World Cup final at Geneva really brought them international attention. The Australian pair finished seventh overall in a high-quality field that included Plot Blue, Flexible and Mylord Carthago.
TOP FIVE STALLION
Moving on to the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, the stallion and Chugg were best of the seventh-placed Australian team.
A winner of the Munich indoor championship and amongst the top-five show jumping stallions of that year, Vivant van de Heffinck’s obvious potential was spotted by Ukranian owner-rider Oleksandr Onyshchenko.
Now competing under the Ukranian flag, the 170cms stallion was also competed by Katharina Offel with the new combination on the third-placed team in the Nations Cup final in Barcelona the following year.
OLYMPICS
Offel and Vivant van de Heffinck were selected for the 2012 London Olympics which will make the Coolballyshan Stud addition one of the few Irish-based Olympic stallions available here. A seasoned Nations Cup performer, Vivant van de Heffinck would have been spotted earlier by discerning breeders when the Alme line stallion jumped in the Aga Khan Nations Cup at Dublin in 2013.
He and new rider Cassio Rivetti also placed fifth in the Longines Grand Prix on the closing day at Dublin and the combination were in action again at the Nations Cup final in Barcelona. Further good form in 2014 at Rome, St Gallen and Falsterbo, plus a Nations Cup win at Al Ain, saw the pair selected for the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy. Here they continued to deliver, placing eighth in the final order.
Another major championship beckoned in 2015 when Vivant van de Heffinck at one point was the joint leader, alongside the O.B.O.S Quality 004-sired Castlefield Eclipse, in the FEI European Championships at Aachen. Aachen was always a good hunting ground for the scopey stallion that also had Grand Prix placings at other major venues including Gijon and Doha.
Vivant van de Heffinck has already produced some promising 1.60m individuals from his early stud career in Australia.
He is also the sire of Australian Olympian Shane Rose’s Virgic and only produces bays, even when crossed with chesnut mares.
He is by Dirk Demeersman’s competition stallion Fuego du Prelet and from a Landino damline. Hedjaz, in the third generation, is the damsire of Otterongo and Sapphire.
To buy a horse of his world class calibre is quite a coup for the Kennedy family whose commitment to Irish breeders is steadfast. Their latest acquisition is due to arrive around Christmas and will be on view at their traditional viewing day in February, alongside his already popular team mates in Adare.
If Vivant van de Heffinck delivers as much to Irish breeders as O.B.O.S Quality 004 has done, Kieran Kennedy will have found a worthy successor.
Contact: Coolballyshan House Stud, Adare, Co Limerick.
Email: kkennedystallions@gmail.com
Tel: 086 2518020; 066 7126453; 087 954 5120
kennedyequinecentre.com