Where he lives is very close to Jos Lansink, so he breeds to Libero. “Then comes Mr Kamphorst from the border near Holland and he buys Carmen from Mr Luth. She was not a ‘nice’ horse, she was just 6% Thoroughbred so Mr Luth took her to Calypso, the first Holsteiner stallion that Dr Bade brought to Celle, and she produced the filly, Carmen.” I was there in ’84 so I knew her as a young horse. In 1980 she produces Wildrose by Wienerwald. Mr Luth bred this mare back to Agram and then comes the mare, Alsterröschen. “It starts with Algave, she was by Agram out of a mare with just a number, 311516939. In all she produced seven foals, but it was Wildrose, born in 1980, that earns Alsterröschen her place in this line-up. So he said, I will breed Agram back to an Agram mare, and everybody said, you are stupid, and in the end, the world today must be happy that he had these bloodlines.”īred to Domspatz (Dömitz I / Graf) in 1969 Alsterröschen produced Dux Z (Don Rudolpho) who competed 1.50m with Franke Sloothaak, winning a 1.50m GP with Franke at Leeuwarden CSI in 1988. He was not happy with the stallions at the local Dannenberg stallion station at the time, and that is why he bred to Agram – at that time they had big strong stallions at Dannenberg, heavy old style horses, and he preferred Agram who was a lighter horse. Jens tells the story well: “The breeder of Alsterröschen was Franz Luth. “I have had many discussions with Paul Schockemöhle about this, how important it is to keep the old families, but on the other hand, how difficult it is, because many of the jumper breeders want to sell foals, and in Germany it is not like Belgium or France where you can sell foals on the pedigree, here you have to have a foal that looks impressive at the foal shows, so there is a danger of losing these families, but when I look at the pedigrees of modern stallions like Grey Top and Stakkato Gold, I am really surprised to see how important the old lines are still.”Īlsterröschen was the product of the breeding program of one those old style breeders who followed their instincts, not the whims of fashion. I am grateful to another of my German friends, Jens Meyer who is a keen student of Hanoverian mare lines: When we look at the number one jumping sire in Hanover, Stakkato Gold who stands at the Sprehe Stud, we see the influence of the old families and, in particular, Agram. This is Agram, he stood from 1942 until 1962… Agram was by Alkoven I, a descendant of the foundation Thoroughbred, Adeptus, and out of a mare by Amateur who was a descendant of the Shagya Arab stallion, Amurath, who stood at the Celle Stud.Īgram was the sire of numerous international jumpers, including Anaconda (Feudal II) with Alwin Schockemöhle and Mary Chapot, and Paul Schockemöhle’s Askan (Almhügel III) Alsterröschen is represented in the dam line of Stakkato Gold, one of the leading stallions in Germany today, and Hanoverian Stallion of the Year 2000, his progeny have won €1,253,095.Īgram is one of those names out of ancient history, but perhaps the most interesting aspect of this survey is that while the sport of showjumping has undergone massive changes in terms of the style and demands of the fences, and the showjumper of today looks very different from the old-fashioned Warmblood when you compare the successful ones – you still find those old lines flowing strongly. Ludwig’s first choice underlines the need to keep alive those old jumping lines – the mare is Alsterröschen by Agram, indeed line bred to Agram. Here’s his selection of influential mares… He is also a prolific writer, and puts together the Hanoverian Stallion Book every year along with numerous articles on the Hanoverian breed and breeding. In his rôle with the Hanoverian Verband as the director of the Department of International Affairs, Ludwig has been instrumental in the development of a world-wide network of Hanoverian breeders, but he is also the mover-and-shaker behind the Hanoverian Jumping program, an important initiative to stop the trend of breeders sending their good jumping mares to dressage sires looking for a better market. He was our group leader on our first Hanoverian Study Tour three decades ago. Little did I realise that really I was starting on the sequel to the book I produced with Roslyn Neave, The Making of the Modern Warmblood – a new book, called The Transformation of the Modern Warmblood…ĭr Ludwig Christmann has been a friend and a valued colleague for many many years. I set out to find the greatest showjumping broodmares of them all, and I went to four acknowledged experts to get their nominations: two Germans, Dr Ludwig Christmann and Dr Thomas Nissen, the Dutch expert, Egbert Schep and France’s Arnaud Evain.
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