Healthy Broodmares Can Shed EHV-1

Research by Carina Cooper, DVM indicates that barn mates and foals could be at risk for equine herpesvirus-1 shed vaginally from healthy broodmares. She urges strong measures to prevent disease spread, and believes further research should be done on sources of infection.

To read more on theHorse.com, click here.

What Choices Most Improved Your Breeding Program?

by Anna Goebel, inspired by a discussion on Facebook.

"When looking back over your breeding career, which choices did you make that most improved your breeding program?"

That is the question recently posted on Facebook by breeder Kendra Hansis. Thoughtful answers were posted in response. There were things that surprised me, and there was a lot of agreement on several of the answers. I thought it might be useful to curate the responses and post them here.


1. The first response was posted by Marne Martin-Tucker, and was echoed by several others: "Buy great young mares." She usually buys foals, as does Kimberly Davies, who says, "I’d never be able to afford the horses I have now for breeding or sport if I hadn’t bought them as foals." Jackie VandenBrink said she "bought an amazing broodmare when the opportunity presented itself. Never regretted it. Best investment." Holly Kovach told of selling half of her barn "to buy the foal that I wanted from the Elite auction. The bloodlines are incredible and we’re not available in the US at the time." Broodmares are the heart of the breeding business, and have a huge influence in each specific cross - so it makes sense to have the best broodmares you possibly can. 

2. Continue to improve your breeding stock. Every foaling season is a time of evaluation, and your program will improve every time you tweak things in a better direction. This includes "culling" mares - removing them from your breeding program if they're not producing what you want - and bringing in new mares that fit your goals. Says Kendra Hansis, "I continue to try to improve my mares because I believe they’re the most important part of the equation." Debra MacMillan describes her approach: "Purchasing top bloodline mares, retaining even better fillies from them and now doing my own breeding, hopefully using more stallions here in the US. I feel my mare herd is top and this allows for many choices."

3. Ride your horses. I hadn't thought of this as a critical piece for a breeder, but in some cases it can make a big difference. Eliza Rutherford responded that it was a very important choice for her. "No amount of staring at them on the ground compares to actually riding them and getting a feel for what they are like in the connection. It has absolutely made a huge difference in all breeding decisions." Theresa Schnell says that in "developing our horses, ... I have learned [that] rideability and temperament (absolutely 3 good gaits) trump huge crazy gaits and nutty horses." Jennifer Hoffman agrees. "For me, one of the biggest assets is having been able to ride many of my broodmares. This has allowed me to have much more insight past their character in the stable and seeing their gaits. I am able to feel how the contact, sensitivity, trainability, looseness of the back and many many more traits can weigh on my breeding choices. I choose stallions I have either sat on myself, or can or have seen ridden. This has been a large factor in my breeding choices and also how I can advise potential buyers on what the offspring may feel like." As Marne Martin-Tucker puts it, she has tried to buy great young mares and "competed them myself so that I knew better what they needed to either get to the big tour or get there faster." Kendra Hansis, however, relies more heavily on feedback from her mares' professional riders and her foals' buyers about her horses' rideability, because she is breeding for professional riders, and believes that her own opinion as a rider, in comparison, isn't as important as what pros want or need in a horse. The ultimate breeding goal is important to bear in mind. "Some breeders focus on producing for themselves or for the amateur rider," Hansis says, "but how or what I like to ride has little bearing on what my clients want in a horse. I get tons and tons of feedback from top amateurs and professionals," she says, which helps inform her breeding decisions. She advocates in general for more good conversations between breeders and riders.

4. Travel. Theresa Schnell takes yearly trips to Germany. "Seeing what nicks work and seeing stallions in person really helps in picking boys I might or might not have picked. That goes in both directions; they may look good in video and not in person." Dawn Spencer also lists a trip to Europe as her most important choice, to see examples of the bloodlines in person, and to evaluate European business practices. Kelly Gage says it's important for her as well, "spending time in Europe to see an entire generational effect of bloodlines."

5. Do your own repro work if you can. As Eowyn Brewer put it, "learning to do your own breeding work is huge in regards to being able to survive financially." Vet work is a big piece on the expense side of the ledger, and many breeders have learned to handle much of it themselves. Jane Bartram takes a different approach, and says one of her best choices was "having an equine vet as a husband"! Kendra Hansis says doing her own vet work "has saved me so much $$$." If you use a vet, Cheryl DeRoche Johnson advocates sticking with one to improve accountability. She travels to one repro specialist after some bad experiences with her local generalist.

6. "Listening to my gut," is important to Holly Kovach, "and not to the peanut gallery." This comment got several Likes and a lot of agreement. Kendra Hansis adds, "being a good breeder means trusting yourself."

Contributors:

Kendra Hansis posted the original question, above. She has had a phenomenal year as a breeder, which left her feeling "like floating on air, but also reflective," and thinking about how to keep improving. As someone who firmly believes in the power of community among breeders, she posted this question. Her farm is Runningwater Warmbloods, in New Jersey, where she breeds Oldenburg horses, with international quality as the goal.

Marne Martin-Tucker owns Aspen Leaf Farm in Maryland. The goal of Aspen Leaf is to breed foals of CDI-quality with friendly temperaments. Marne is also a USDF Bronze, Silver, and Gold medalist who has competed at Grand Prix in the US, Germany, and England.

Debra MacMillan breeds superior-quality warmbloods at her Ridgefield Farm in Maine. Her goal is to breed excellent athletes by choosing the finest sires for her top-bloodline mares.

Kimberly Davies focuses on breeding and developing high-quality warmblood sporthorses at her Ariston Farm LLC in New Jersey. They own the approved premium stallion Escamillo (Escolar x Rohdiamant x De Niro).

Cheryl DeRoche Johnson has been breeding since 2003 and is in the process of scaling back to retire.

Jennifer Hoffman has a small breeding program in Pennsylvania called Autumn Charm Sport Horses, where she breeds for the amateur rider in dressage, hunter, and eventing. She also stands the stallion Coromino. "At the end of the day the riders only really care about the feeling, connection and ability to expand and contract the gaits or produce a flawless jump. My end goal is always to produce horses who end up with great homes. This has to be due to a combination of character/ temperament/ athletic ability and soundness."

Kelly Gage of Lexington, Kentucky is a USDF Bronze and Silver Medalist and owns and operates Team EnGaged Dressage. She actively develops young horses towards the FEI, and maintains a very small breeding operation on the side that focuses on Dutch and German lines with the goal of high performance. Her first homebreds started foaling in 2019. 

Jackie VandenBrink operates VandenBrink Warmbloods in the Niagara Region of Ontario Canada. The breeding program targets mostly the hunter and dressage markets. Originally from the Netherlands, she has an appreciation for Gelders foundation lines as well as the modern Dutch dressage horse but will use whichever bloodlines help make a marketable product. Character and temperament are high on the list of priorities in addition to the goal to produce a horse with great conformation, superior gaits and athleticism.

Dawn Spencer breeds modern dressage horses in the Midwest, at Spencer Sport Horses. She has streamlined her mare herd to include only modern Dutch and German bloodlines and movement. She breeds to talented, relevant stallions, hoping to "ensure my foals are desirable and marketable in-utero or their first year."

Theresa Schnell owns Rock Solid Warmbloods LLC, a boutique breeder of top quality German Warmblood horses. "We strive to breed horses that Professionals want and love to ride and Amateurs can enjoy as well. We have done really really well in developing, testing (MPTs,SPTs) and showing our horses. I have great riders/trainers that have now ridden generations of my horses. We currently stand FEI stallion Rock Solid (Rosenthal x Parabola/Parabol/Efendi). In 2019 we will add: Rock Royale RSW (Rock Solid x SPS/El Alsonara/Archipel/Weltmeyer) and Jackson FF (Johnson x El/Lhoretta/Lörke).

Holly Kovach co-owns Iron Horse Farm, in Kentucky, with her husband David, and they breed mostly Hanoverians for the hunter jumper disciplines. Holly is on the Jumper Breeding committee of the American Hanoverian Society.  

Eowyn Brewer has been a breeder of Oldenburg, Hanoverian, and RPSI horses since 1997, striving to produce horses that are suitable for amateurs and juniors.

Jane Bartram is the owner of Hollands Bend Warmbloods and Elite Frozen Foals in Victoria, Australia.

Eliza Rutherford manages Foxwood Hanoverians in Vermont. She breeds Hanoverian foals by top German stallions out of high-quality mares, with an emphasis on temperament.


Thank you to all who took the time to post, and to respond to my emails! Breeders supporting breeders with good conversation and thoughtful comments is one of my favorite things!

Note that these are dressage breeders, because the original thread was posted in a dressage breeding group on Facebook. If you breed hunters or jumpers or eventers, would you agree? Are there other decisions you made that you feel made you a better breeder? Please post comments below.

Treatments for Uterine Tube Obstruction in Mares

Uterine tube obstruction in mares is not common, but it does happen. An article published this spring on theHorse.com reports on a talk given at the 2018 American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention.

Research from Stephanie Walbornn, DVM, Dipl. ACT reveals pregnancy rates after different treatment options for uterine tube obstruction. Her results provide an overview guide for owners deciding on the best procedure for their mare for safety and future fertility.

To read the article, click here.

Meet Faro SQF's Breeder

Breeder-focused article on Chronicle of the Horse

As we reported in an article earlier this month, the 2019 Pan American Games US Teams include three horses bred in the US. There are two on the Eventing Team and one on the Dressage Team. Recently, the Chronicle of the Horse published an article about Faro SQF, an 11-year-old gelding on the US Dressage Team. The focus was on his breeder, Jill Peterson of Star Quarry Farm in Florida.

It is delightful, not only to see US-bred horses competing internationally, but to see them recognized in the news, and to see their breeders acknowledged. Congratulations to Jill Peterson!

Read the full Chronicle article here.

Practical Ways To Reduce Weaning Stress

As we enter late summer and early fall, breeders' thoughts turn to weaning this year's foals. Research in the last few years has uncovered how the stress of weaning can put foals at risk, sometimes with long-term consequences. Responsible breeders are taking this information seriously and looking for ways to reduce the impact of weaning on foals.

From her studies of immune response, immunology researcher Amanda Adams, PhD discusses practical, informed ways to reduce weaning stress in this article on theHorse.com. She also shares the results of her investigations into ways to boost a horse’s immune systems.

Read the article here.

Photo credit: Hanna V [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

American-Bred Filly Bought by USA Dressage Team Supporter

Sport horse breeding in the US has just been given a small but important boost. Betsy Juliano, who has supported US dressage in major ways in the past recently bought an American-bred filly for her program. She purchased Starlight H2O (St. Schufro x Negro), bred by Kendra Hansis of Runningwater Warmbloods in New Jersey.

There is of course no guarantee that Starlight H2O reach a place on the US Dressage Team, but her purchase alone is a strong boost of confidence not only for Kendra Hansis but the whole US sport horse breeding industry. Starlight H2O will take her place in Juliano's program - and that is an excellent launching pad to the stars.

Click here to read the news on Dressage-news.com.

Young Horse Championships to be at Lamplight 2020 and 2021

The Markel/USEF Young & Developing Horse Championship, with classes for 4-, 5-, and 6-year-olds, will again be held at Lamplight Equestrian Center in Wayne, Illinois in 2020 and 2021. They will be held as part of the US Festival of Champions.

The dates for 2020 are August 18–23, and August 17–22 in 2021.

The dates for the 2019 show will be August 20–25, with the Young & Developing Horse classes held Thursday through Sunday.

For information and schedule, visit the Lamplight website.

Foundation Sire: Alabaster

Here is the next installment of Warmblood Stallions of North America’s Foundation Friday.  Every other Friday we will be featuring a foundation sire - one who has been influential in the development of warmblood breeds. We pull from the incredible archive of The Horse Magazine, published by Chris Hector of Australia. Thank you, Chris, for permission to draw on your expertise!

1989–2015
168 cm
Chestnut
Breeder: Friedrich Oppermann

When Werner Schockemöhle bought Alabaster, he was looking at the total pedigree in a very sophisticated way. “With Alabaster, it is a combination of several genes. The special factor with Alabaster is the clear influence from Abglanz, but he doesn’t have some of the mistakes that are usually associated with the Abglanz pedigree. Alabaster is also influenced in his pedigree by the famous horse Ferdinand. Ferdinand was a great producer of showjumpers, but sometimes he also produced very good dressage horses.” As of the 2015 Hanoverian Stallion Yearbook, Alabaster had produced 311 competitors with winnings of €574,794, but his only star, has been Isabel Werth’s Grand Prix horse Apache, who won €208,937. Alabaster is the sire of seven licensed stallions of which Abanos has been the most successful. Alabaster’s  FN dressage ranking for 2014 is 124 with a negative 87 ranking for jumping.  He has a 2015 Hanoverian dressage breeding value of 120 and a jumping value of 90. On the 2015 breeding values, he has a dressage value of 121 (reliability 98) and a jumping value of 86 (95). His Hanoverian dressage breeding value is 123 and the jumping value, 90. On the new breeding values introduced by the German FN, Alabaster has a Jungpferdprüfungen (young horse) dressage breeding value of 119 and a Tuniersport (open competition) value of 121.
In the 2017 Hanoverian Stallion Book, Alabaster is recorded with 323 competition progeny with winnings of €599,316. Six dressage horses have earned more than €10,000: Alabama (€17,117), Allerbeste (€16,575), Aly Mc Beal (€31,152), Amüsant (€28,704), Apache (€208,937) and Athletic Dreamboy (€25,781). In the 2019 Hanoverian Stallion book, Alabaster is credited with 328 competitors with winnings of €615,508. Six horses have won more than €10,000 in dressage competition – the most successful of which is still Apache with 208,937. He has a 2019 FN value as a sire of young competition horses of 117, and 120 as a sire of open competitors. He has a Hanoverian breeding value of 121 for type (with a spectacular 140 for the head) and 100 for correctness of limbs. His dressage value is 117 with a jumping value of 90.

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To read the entire article, with pedigree, details of Alabaster's sons and daughters, on the Horse Magazine website, click here.

There are several stallion descendants of Alabaster in North America. Click on the following links to read about each of the ones on WarmbloodStallionsNA.com:

Allerbester

Frisantos

Horse Joint Angles Set by Genetics

"Science is bringing a new angle to equine morphology evaluations," according to a recent article on theHorse.com. Specifically, some joint angles have built-in limitations due to genetics. According to experts, this knowledge should probably inform all conformation analysis and also training decisions.

A new study from the Agroscrope national agricultural research center and Swiss National Stud finds that horse conformation angles at the head, neck and elbow are governed by genetics and can indicate performance and health. Annik Gmel, PhD believes adding the measurement of these joint angles to conformation judging would improve evaluation of horse morphology, as well as helping owners design training to suit their horse’s natural limitations.

This is interesting news for trainers, especially of dressage horses, and it will be interesting to see if the breed registries take this research into account in their conformation analysis.

To read the report, click here.

Equine Pregnancy Rates After In Vitro Embryo Freezing

A recent post on theHorse.com reports on some early results from ICSI embryo studies.

Research from the Utrecht University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in the Netherlands finds that in vitro embryos using intracytoplasmic sperm injection have an advantage over natural, flushed embryos after freezing. The study examines the factors that influence pregnancy rates, including length of time frozen and the day of ovulation embryos are implanted.

To read the article on theHorse.com, click here.

Silver Twist Excels with "Problem" Mares

9-year-old gelding by Silver Twist out of a Hanoverian mare.

2-year-old pony filly by Silver Twist

While his offspring continue to impress, Silver Twist now occupies a niche for mare owners: he's gained a reputation for successful pregnancies in mares that have failed to get in foal by other means (particularly frozen semen from overseas). It's counterintuitive to choose a stallion of 19 years of age for "problem" mares, yet his domestic fresh-cooled success rate is truly remarkable.

4-year-old Silver Twist mare
out of Trakehner dam

With every shipment from Stallion Services LLC, Silver Twist's stallion station, the mare owner receives a report including a computer-assisted semen analysis performed upon collection. Anecdotally, veterinarians checking the shipment on the receiving end have been quoted thus: "Wow! Looks excellent!" and "Looking at the progressively motile numbers, I'd never guess his age," and even "Looks like a disco on Saturday night!" High praise for a stallion born in 1999.

6-month-old Silver Twist filly
out of TB mare

Silver Twist's offspring share the beauty and talent of Olympic medallist Abdullah with the game competitiveness, savvy, and love for jumping found in the Twist horses.

Yearling filly by Silver Twist
out of a draft mare

So if a Bonne Nuit line horse is on your wishlist, contact Susan E. Church at 740-501-2133 by phone or text, through Facebook, or through the Warmblood Stallions of North America website. Silver Twist will be collecting until the snow flies in 2019. It's not too late to make this breeding season a home (bred in the U.S.A.) run!

For pedigree and more info, click here to visit Silver Twist's Stallion Profile page.

Silver Twist also has a Stallion Story on WarmbloodStallionsNA.com. Click here to read about the life of Silver Twist and what makes him special.

Silver Twist at home

Preliminary Prize List Now Available for Dressage at Devon 2019

July 18, 2019 (Devon, PA) – Dressage at Devon has announced that the 2019 preliminary prize list is now available at https://www.dressageatdevon.org/pdf/DADPrizeList.pdf

Opening date is July 15, 2019. Closing date for inclusion in the program is August 30, 2019 and the final closing date is September 12, 2019.

Dressage at Devon Grand Championships will be held on Wednesday September 25, 2019. Pony measurement for the breeding division will be Monday, September 23, 2019 at 4pm. And if you have sale horses, don’t forget to get your green dot!  

“This year’s breed show schedule will not only benefit our competitors, it will allow equestrians in all disciplines, as well as performance competitors, to view future champions in the Dixon Oval,” said Melanie Sloyer, Chair of the Breed Division at Dressage at Devon. A green dot on the bridle number signifies the horse is for sale!

The 2019 Dressage at Devon (www.dressageatdevon.org) will take place September 24-September 29 at the Devon Horse Show Grounds in Devon, PA. For reserved seating, visit dressageatdevon.org/box-office.

About Dressage at Devon (www.dressageatdevon.org) 

Dressage at Devon has been a premier North American Equestrian event since its founding in 1975. It combines worldclass dressage competition and the world’s largest open breed show with the international Fall Festival show and special activities for the entire family. The six-day event attracts hundreds of riders from around the world and thousands of spectators. Dressage at Devon is a 501(c) (3) PA non-profit organization, benefitting equine education. 

Techniques for Subfertile Mares

A 2017 article on theHorse.com describes three reproductive techniques that breeders can turn to when a valuable mare fails to get pregnant using standard methods. These include intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), oocyte transfer, and cloning. The author is reporting on a talk given at the 2016 American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention.

These techniques are relatively new, and require specialized knowledge, and of course there are costs involved. But, as the presenting veterinarian points out, "Assisted reproductive techniques offer tools for veterinarians and breeders alike who want progeny from valuable mares that are otherwise unable to conceive."

To read about these methods, click here.

Foundation Sire: Akzent II

Here is the next installment of Warmblood Stallions of North America’s Foundation Friday.  Every other Friday we will be featuring a foundation sire - one who has been influential in the development of warmblood breeds. We pull from the incredible archive of The Horse Magazine, published by Chris Hector of Australia. Thank you, Chris, for permission to draw on your expertise!

1974–1993
171 cm
Bay
Breeder: Joachim Kemmer

Akzent II was bred by Joachim Kemmer, father of German dressage team rider Heike, and stood at the family stud, Amselhof, and then on lease at the Celle State stud in Altenbruch before coming to the Oldenburg stallion station of Ludwig Kathmann in 1985. Akzent II was prized for carrying on the "type" of the Trakehner Absatz: a noble head and appealing face, ideal neck and saddle position and a good shoulder, combined with soft-to-the-ground way of going. His dam was by the Thoroughbred Waidmannsdank, who was one of the most influential Thoroughbreds of the post-war period in Hanover. He was for many years the leading Thoroughbred sire of licensed stallions and head stud book mares, and second only to Der Löwe as a Thoroughbred sire of competition horses. Not surprisingly, Akzent II scored very highly for type and ridability. In the Hanoverian Stallion Yearbook of 2002 (the last in which he appears) he is scored 144 for type, putting him into the top-ten category based on studbook inspections, and 134 for ridability on the basis of the mare performance tests. His dressage score on the mare tests was only 112, still better than his jumping ranking of 101. His FN ranking was 116 for dressage and 100 for jumping. By 2002 he had produced 747 competition horses with winnings of DM1,183,852. His most successful competitor was Amazonas, the winner of the German Dressage Derby with Karin Schlüter in 1987, with winnings of DM98,623, not far in front of Isabell Werth’s Agnelli FRH, who won the Otto Lorke prize for Grand Prix horses under 10 years in 2000, and who by 2002 had won DM95,185. Akzent II was the sire of eleven licensed sons.

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To read the entire article, with pedigree, details of Akzent II's sons and daughters, on the Horse Magazine website, click here.

There are several stallion descendants of Akzent II in North America. Click on the following links to read about each of the ones on WarmbloodStallionsNA.com:

Allerbester

Contucci

George Clooney

Rosall

Shine

It's pretty exciting what's happening in England with the Equitop Bolesworth Young Horse Championships (August 14–18) this year. The event will include not only the Young Horse Championships, but also a CSI** International classes and CSIAm International classes, an elite stallion showcase, and two elite auctions. What a way for a young horse to see the world without leaving the event!

Read more...

theHorse - Detecting Twins, Special Technique

theHorse.com has published a new article on detecting twins in horses, written by Christa Lesté-Lasserre, MA. It goes into some detail about the risks of carrying twins to term, discusses how twins are usually detected, and describes a specific way of placing the electrodes for electrocardiograms (ECG) to detect twins in early (or later) pregnancy. This is followed by a case study.

Read the full article here.

New Hanoverian Breeding Manager

Photo: Hanoverian Verband

Ulrich Hahne is new Breeding Manager

Verden. The Hannoveraner Verband has a new breeding manager. In its meeting on June 24th the board of the Hannoveraner Verband appointed Ulrich Hahne as the new breeding manager. The former association spokesman of young breeders has been director of the studbook department since 2001 and deputy breeding manager since 2006. In the past years, he has already performed numerous tasks of the breeding management.

Ulrich Hahne comes from a breeder family near Verden and was a young breeder from the very beginning. After completing his agricultural training, he studied agricultural sciences in Kiel with a focus on animal breeding, graduating as an agricultural engineer. During his studies, he was spokesman of young breeders of the Hannoveraner Verband. The 46 year old is married and has three children. "The breeding management of the Hannoveraner Verband is a very special task, which I am looking forward to and have respect for. I believe that I have always had a good contact with our breeders and hope that I can maintain and intensify this contact."

"The appointment of a new Breeding Director is another mosaic stone on the way to the future. We are happy to have won Ulrich Hahne for this position. He knows the association, its structures and its environment like hardly anyone else. He is technically very competent and I also believe that he is humanly able to bring us forward in the current situation," said the president of the Hannoveraner Verband, Hans-Henning von der Decken, commenting on this decision.

Daily Show and Sole Mio To Compete at World Young Horse Championships

Sole Mio at the North American Stallion Sport Test, 2018, with rider Emily Miles and owner Leslie Waterman. Photo by Allie Conrad.

Two young stallions from North America will be competing under Kansas-based rider Emily Miles in the World Young Horse Championships this year in Ermelo, The Netherlands. The two 5-year-old stallions are:

Daily Show, a Hanoverian by Danciano out of Stockholm, whose average qualifying score was 85.033%.

Sole Mio, a Rhinelander by Stanford out of Donnerschwee, with an average qualifying score of 82.733%.

The stallions were bred in Germany, and imported by Leslie Waterman of Franklin, Tennessee. Leslie has a vision for growing dressage in the US in part by growing and training young horses with performance in mind. Her first horses are now competing at the FEI levels.

Leslie believes in consistent training for her horses from starting to Grand Prix, and she has had Emily Miles handle the training on these two from the beginning. They have been very successful in their showing careers to date. Leslie also brought both young stallions to the North American Sport Test in 2018, where they were ridden mostly by Emily. They placed first (Sole Mio) and second (Daily Show). Emily herself prompted the comment, "That's what dressage riding should look like," from one of the German judges.

The day will be delightful when the US can send horses from a US-based breeding program to Ermelo for the Championships, but this year we can take pride in the American-trained and ridden young stallions Daily Show and Sole Mio. Hats off to Leslie Waterman's vision as it becomes a reality, and to Emily Miles, the sympathetic and elegant rider from Kansas who's a big part of making it happen.

For current photos, click for article at DressageNews.com.

For more on the North American Stallion Sport Test 2018 click here.

US-Bred Horses Selected for Pan-Am Teams

Credit: USEA/Leslie Mintz photos

US-bred horses will represent the United States at the 2019 Pan-American Games this year on both the eventing and dressage teams. The two event horses are by stallions standing in the US, including Riverman, who is listed on WarmbloodStallionsNA.com (see link below). The US Sport Horse Breeders Association included this report in their recent email newsletter to members:

Every breeder has probably dreamt of seeing one of their foals go on to greatness and for three US breeders that dream is coming true this year. The 2019 Pan-American Teams have been announced and three US-bred horses will be representing the US this year.

In dressage, Faro SQF (Fidertanz x Rose/Rotspon) will compete with new team member Nora Batchelder. Faro, a Hanoverian gelding, is owned by Nora and Andrea Whitcomb and was bred by Jill Peterson in Florida.

In eventing, we see two US-bred offspring and both are by stallions standing in the US! Tamra Smith will be riding Judith McSwain's Fleeceworks Royal (Riverman x Marisol/Corofino). This Holsteiner mare was bred by Charlotte Wrather of California. Veteran team member Boyd Martin will be riding the Trakehner gelding Tsetserleg (Windfall x Thabana) who was bred by Timothy Holekamp and is owned by Christine Turner.

The USSHBA update their list on 7-31-2019 to include reserves and alternates, and to include some results: 

Dressage:

Faro SQF (Fidertanz-Rotspon), bred by Jill Peterson, owned by Andrea Whitcomb & Nora Batchelder, ridden by Nora Batchelder.  Competing for the US.  Just earned the Team Silver & placed 5th individually!

Chichic (Florencio-Ferro), bred by Sandi Lieb, owned by Roberta Foster, ridden by Roberta Foster.  Competing for Barbados.  Placed 14th individually!

Eventing:

Tsetserleg (Windfall-Buddenbrock), bred by Timothy Holekamp, owned by Christine Turner, ridden by Boyd Martin.  Competing for the US. 

Fleeceworks Royal (Riverman-Corofino), bred by Charlotte Wrather, owned by Judith McSwain, ridden by Tamie Smith.  Selected for the US  Eventing Team but unfortunately a minor injury prevented them from shipping to the Games. 

Vandiver (Windfall-Mystic Replica xx), bred by Debi Crowley, owned by Debi Crowley, Jessica Payne, & Doug Payne, ridden by Doug Payne.  Selected as a Reserve Horse. 

Sea of Clouds (Malibu Moon xx-Jolie's Halo xx), bred by Betz/Kidder/Blackburn/Lamantia/Davidson, owned by Sea of Clouds Partnership, ridden by Phillip Dutton.  Named as an Alternate. 

Vermiculus (Serazim-Be My Native xx), bred by Lawson Williams, owned byJacqueline Mars, ridden by Lauren Kieffer.  Named as an Alternate. 

Show Jumping:

Quincy Car (Galiani Car-Amour Parfait), bred by Fernando Cardenas Sr., owned by Fernando Cardenas and Meredith Cardenas, ridden by Fernando Cardenas.  Competing for Colombia. 

We wish the best of luck to the entire US Teams, but especially to the connections of these three US-bred horses!

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We at WarmbloodStallionsNA.com second that!

To visit the USSHBA website, click here.

To learn more about Riverman, sire of Fleeceworks Royal, click here.

For more about the US Eventing Association, click here.

To visit the USEF website, click here.