THE avant-garde KWPN and BWP are always close market and leading show jumping studbook title rivals. Both recently completed their spring performance tests for stallions, starting with the KWPN.
The Dutch studbook also hosted a star cast for its International Congress of Show jumper Breeders.
This year’s KWPN spring performance test was only open to stallions aged four years old and over and from the group of four and five-year-old jumping stallions that gained their KWPN breeding license was the five-year-old Patapsco.
“I believe this is the first time we’ve been able to register a son of an Olympic mare,” said committee chairman Wout-Jan van der Schans about the Jan Tops-bred son of Diamant de Semilly.
Patapsco’s Holsteiner dam Lintea Tequila had earned over €800,000 before the daughter of Campbell, by Contender, retired in 2018. Amongst her career highlights with Edwina Tops-Alexander was the pair’s equal ninth place at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
The other successful stallions were all four-year-olds and, among this group, was Reflex van de Watermolen, bred by none other than Dutch vet Jan Greve (featured in the upcoming Irish Horse World Stallion Supplement, free on April 5th).
Egbert Schep, another former judge of The Irish Field Breeders’ Championship, bred Ringo Starr.
“Reflex is a well-developed stallion, who is very easy to ride and jumps over high obstacles with great ease. He has a lot of athletic ability and gives his rider a good feeling,” said van der Schans in their informative summary.
“Ringo Starr is an impressive stallion standing at 1.77m, who, despite his size, is very light-footed and has a lot of blood. He is honest and cooperative, gallops with great balance, and always jumps with a lot of impulsion, bascule and excellent leg technique.”
Two more four-year-olds were successful: Rebellion R.A.G. VDL, bred by Henk and Sannah Angenent, and Rock Me Zsazsa, bred by Gerrit and Karin Huisman.
Edwina Tops-Alexander's Olympic mare Lintea Tequila (right) is the dam of the recently-approved KWPN five-year-old Patapsco, bred by Jan Tops \ Saut Hermes
In the dressage stallion category, both Sarai L, bred by L Horses, and Nashville SW, bred by Stal Willig, are by Secret, a son of the Danish Warmblood stallion Sezuan 2, himself a young horse champion at Ermelo and Verden with Dorothee Schneider.
This group are the only stallions that were approved during the spring performance test. In the autumn or next spring, the three-year-old stallions that were selected during the Stallion Show in January/February will start their performance test.
See: www.kwpn.nl
Talking points
Mill House Stud’s Tom Brennan was one of the guests at the KWPN-organised International Congress of Show jumper Breeders, held after the second-round selections.
Editor and communications expert, Dirk Willem Rosie, moderated the event and the panel also consisted of Joris De Brabander, Harm Thormählen, Patrice Boureau, Alexandra Lebon and Roelof Bril.
Topics included the role of studbooks, equine welfare, the importance of commercial breeding and the choice between young or proven stallions.
What they said
“I firmly believe that a mare determines 90% of the outcome. All great horses come from great mothers.” - Tom Brennan
“Breeder bonuses could help attract more breeders to competitions. I have no problem with allocating part of the prize money to the breeder.” - Roelof Bril
“Both stallions and mares produce their best offspring when they are still young. Just look at Almé, Jalisco B or Laudanum xx.” - Patrice Boureau
“Belgian breeders have taken the best from abroad and selected purely for jumping ability. Show jumpers must have power and scope.” - Valentijn De Bock
“You need to start with a competitive mare. She doesn’t have to be at the highest level — one that wins consistently at a lower level can be just as valuable for breeding.” - Joris De Brabander.
“Small breeders absolutely have a place in the industry — anyone can breed a top horse. Just look at King Edward.” - Walter Lelie.
“A good broodmare is expensive, but breeding is not just for the wealthy.” - Julius-Peter Sinnack.
“Offspring inherit the temperament of their dam. That’s why mares are the most decisive factor.” - Harm Thormählen
“With a young stallion, you take a bit more risk, but you can achieve 10 years of progress. We must continue searching for new bloodlines; otherwise, our breeding pool will become too narrow.” - Kees van den Oetelaar.
“Using young stallions allows you to make big strides in breeding.” - Fred van Straaten.
Tom Brennan, pictured here at the 2024 Cavan inspections with MHS Magical, was one of the panel members at the KWPN International Congress of Showjumper Breeders \ Susan Finnerty
United Touch sires BWP champion
THE Belgian Warmblood Studbook holds inspections for its BWP, Belgian Riding Pony (BRP) and Connemara Ponies. The third phase of their 2025 stallion inspections were completed in early March.
Talking horse United Touch S is the sire of the BWP inspection’s champion: Wodka vd Bisschop and Stefan De Smet, president of the jumping stallions panel, provided this summary of this year’s entries:
“During the second phase, we saw well-developed stallions with a lot of jumping potential. For various reasons, participation in the third phase was slightly lower than expected.
“In this, many stallions showed good rideability under the test riders and showed a lot of jumping potential under their own riders.
Inspection
“The champion of the inspection, Wodka vd Bisschop (United Touch S x Heartbreaker) made a very strong impression with his modern type, commitment and scope, with worthy vice-champions in addition.
“Also definitely worth mentioning are the three-year-old non-BWP-born Asterix JR (Aganix du Seigneur x Balou du Rouet) and the six-year-old BWP-bred Topgun NS (Bamako de Muze x Lux), who both received high praise from the test riders and showed absolute quality on the fences,” De Smet added.
Holsteiner stallion presentation cancelled
AN outbreak of equine herpes has derailed the Holsteiner Verband’s planned Holsteiner Stallion Days event next weekend. While the annual stallion licensing and Holstein Spring Auction will still go ahead, the decision was made by the organisers to cancel the stallion show.
Traditionally held in March, the springtime stallion gradings are held at the Verband’s Elmshorn base.
“Due to the current herpes situation in Schleswig-Holstein, with acute cases in the immediate vicinity of the association headquarters in Elmshorn, the organisers have decided to cancel the stallion presentation.
“In the Steinburg district, several horses recently contracted herpes. The board and managing directors monitored the situation, consulted with those affected, and discussed options for the feasibility of the event. This also took place in consultation with the stations that had originally confirmed their participation in the stallion presentation. Some [of them] expressed understandable concerns and withdrew their participation,” said Chairman Olaf Rörden. “Therefore, we have decided to cancel the stallion presentation entirely.”
The licensing scheduled for March 28th will provisionally go ahead, although horses will only be allowed on the Verband’s premises, if they have a negative nasal swab test result. The Holstein Spring Auction will also take place on March 29th.