Leatherdale Farms Announces Retirement of Home-Bred Grand Prix Powerhouse Devon L

Wellington, Fla. - May 21, 2019 

Diane Creech and Devon L

Following a stellar career with Canada's Diane Creech and her daughter, Vanessa Creech-Terauds, Leatherdale Farms's 19-year-old Hanoverian gelding Devon L (De Niro-EM Wibranda, Wolkenstein II) will be retired from high-performance dressage competition.

Bred by Doug and Louise Leatherdale, founders and owners of Leatherdale Farms, Devon L turned heads from the moment he was born at their farm in Minnesota, especially as a shiny chestnut despite his dam and sire both being black. Throughout Devon L's long and illustrious show career he has played an instrumental role for his riders. In 2005 Devon L and Creech dominated the 5-year-old division tests and won the Canadian FEI 5-Year-Old Championship title. The following year, the pair represented Canada at the 2006 World Young Horse Breeding Championships in Verden, Germany. However, his success as a young horse was only the beginning of much more success to come.

As Devon L's sole trainer and rider, Creech formed a strong bond with the gelding and they made their Grand Prix debut in 2009. They enjoyed top placings and many CDI Grand Prix wins around the globe, with the pinnacle of their resume thus far being their selection as the reserve horse-and-rider combination for the 2012 London Olympic Games. A few years later in 2014, Creech and Devon L earned a new career high score of 75.100% in Palgrave, Ontario, during their Grand Prix Freestyle.

Diane Creech and Devon L

"I met Devon when he was just turning 3 and, after some excitement getting him undersaddle, he has continued to fill my life with stories and many, 'Wow,' moments," Creech explained. "He is so talented with a genius mind and training came so easy to him. He taught me so much over the years - carrying me from Training Level youngster moments to being a world-class horse ready to head down centerline at the London Olympic Games as Canada's traveling reserves. 

"Retirement are the golden years of our lives and while Devon L is still so young at heart and happy to work, we decided to retire him," Creech continued. "I've always wanted him to feel great as he steps into the next chapter of life happy and full of it. In his mind, he believes he is a 6-year-old and is ready to give 120%. In the meantime, we have to protect his body from his mind and remind him, laughingly, of his age. With one bright and one tearful eye, we decided to make the decision for him and lead him through his next door."

A few years prior to Devon L's retirement, Leatherdale provided the opportunity of a lifetime to Creech-Terauds. Ready to teach a younger rider the ins and outs of the Grand Prix, Devon L and Creech-Terauds began their partnership in May 2017 competing in the U25 Grand Prix division. As Creech-Terauds strengthened her understanding as a U25 rider, Devon L gave her the confidence to further develop her skills, improving their scores each time they stepped in the ring. As a result, they've won over 10 CDI U25 classes together. In 2018, the pair made the trip to Pennsylvania for Dressage at Devon, where they were undefeated in their division.

Vanessa Creech-Terauds and Devon L

"These past two years that I have been fortunate enough to ride and learn from Devon have been absolutely priceless," said Creech-Terauds. "Moving up from Young Riders to the U25 Grand Prix was a very big step and learning curve, and Devon was the best teacher I could've asked for. Always keeping me on my toes and riding every step, his sharp mind and bold personality really showed me what it takes to be a Grand Prix rider. Being able to share so many memories and accomplishments has been a dream come true and I can't thank Louise enough." 

Vanessa Creech-Terauds and Devon L

Leatherdale Farms proudly recognizes this exceptional horse and his great achievements as a great teacher, companion and partner.

"A kind horse that always gave so much of himself to his riders, Devon L brought our entire team an immense amount of joy over the years," Leatherdale said. "Devon L's ability to listen and learn from a young age made him wise beyond his years and he carried this wisdom and enthusiasm throughout his adult life." 

"We are so lucky that Louise is allowing us to take Devon home to Canada with us for his retirement, where he will still be hacked out and be the big uncle to our young Damsey filly, Davina," Creech said. "Devon has taken me so many places and I will always be grateful to him and to Louise, who has supported us all these years. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to Doug and Louise Leatherdale, and Devon L! Let's celebrate looking forward to many more years together!"

Foundation Sire: Lucky Boy

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!

1966–1984
167 cm
Brown
1976 Keur1979 Preferent 

The Thoroughbred stallion Lucky Boy was responsible for the first of the Dutch modern jumpers to set the world alight. Melanie Smith’s Calypso finished second in the 1980 World Cup final and then followed that up two years later with a victory in the 1982 final in Göteborg.

Lucky Boy contributed a string of top jumpers to the international scene. There was Willi Melliger’s Van Gogh, and The Freak with Hugo Simon and later Dirk Hafemeister, and Anne Kursinski’s Medrano – and all three of them were in Los Angeles for the 1984 Olympic Games. In fact, the Lucky Boys seemed to come in threes, because three years later, the winning American team in the Nations Cup at Spruce Meadows found room for three Lucky Boy offspring: VIP and Debbie Dolan, Victor and Joan Scharffenberger, and Anne Kursinski and Medrano. Other international performers include Urchin (Rene Tebbel), Logo (Dianne Shaw), Dutch Regard (Mike McCormick), Revlon Rascal (Lisa Tarnopol), Servus (Martha Burstein), Windsor (Guido Dominici), Zazou (Phillip Heffer), US Neapolitan (Annemarie Kynsilehto) and Bokilly (Eugenie Legrand, now Eugenie Angot).

Lucky Boy produced 16 stallion sons, the most famous of which was Octrooi, who had a successful career in the USA under the name Best of Luck. Interestingly, he was out of a mare by yet another Thoroughbred sire, Koridon.

Best of Luck competed in Europe as a Grand Prix jumper where he was a champion, and in North America where he was a Champion Hunter. A horse of elegance and impressive appearance, Best Of Luck sired winners in all Hunter and Jumper divisions from Junior / Amateur to Open, Puissance and International Grand Prix, as well as FEI dressage and Combined Training champions. He scored over 100 points in both Dressage and Jumping on the Dutch Stallion Index.

[Editor's Note: Best Of Luck was owned in America by Tish Quirk, and he was the foundation stallion of her breeding program. His sons Just The Best and More Than Luck continued the winning tradition, and Tish now stands the grandsons of Best Of Luck: All The Best by Just The Best, and More Like It by More Than Luck (see below for links). For more about Tish and her horses, visit her website.]

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

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

All the Best

HH Copin Van De Broy

More Like it

For our article about Tish Quirk, whose foundation sire Best Of Luck was a Lucky Boy son, click here.

The Horse Magazine on Cloning

Quidam de Revel II Z

Christopher Hector, of The Horse Magazine in Australia, has a new article out on cloning horses, and whether that's been a success or not. He looks at the horses that have been cloned, their competition results, and the results of their offspring. He interviews the people involved, and gets a picture of where cloning is today. He looks at the reasoning behind cloning - whether it's to get breeding stock or competition stock - and what has been most successful. 

Click here to read "Clones - Success or Failure".

2019 Breeders Seminar

2019 Breeders Seminar

In Affiliation with the U.S. Sport Horse Breeders Association

June 29–30, 2019

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Join us for an educational weekend as we discuss modern approaches for today's sport horse breeders. Featured speakers will highlight the role of science to advance your breeding decisions on topics such as:

• Genetic Inheritance & Testing
• Advances in Repro: ET's & Oocyte Recovery
• Breeding Theories, including Line Breeding
• A Current Look at OCD
• Development of Stallion Prospects
• Early Farrier Intervention for Limb Abnormalities
• Breeding Values Based on Facts/Data
• Horse Breeding in the 21st Century

Featured Presenters Include:

Dr. Carrie Finno, DVM, PHD, Diplomate, ACVIM

Assoc. Professor, Genetics, UC Davis

Dr. Liz Arbitteir, VMD, CVA

Asst. Professor, Field Service, UPenn

Dr. Michelle Abraham, BSc, BVMS, DACVIM, LAIM

Asst. Professor, Internal Medicine, UPenn

Dr. Tamara Dobbie,  DVM, DACT

Assoc. Professor, Clinical Studies, UPenn

Daniëlle Arts, MSc

Breeding Specialist, KWPN

Kirk Groves

Performance Farrier

Natalie DiBerardinis

Managing Director, Hilltop Farm, Inc.

Register 

Don't miss out! The registration deadline is 6/21. 

Seminar is $350/ticket. The discounted rate available to USSHBA Members and 2019 Hilltop breeders is $295. Registration includes seminar, lunch Sat/Sun, and dinner Sat. 

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Hilltop Farm, Inc. | 410-658-9898

www.hilltopfarminc.com | breeding@hilltopfarminc.com 

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Hyperion Stud Young Stallions Presented at Flyinge

Press Release from Hyperion Stud, April 11, 2019

Two youngsters from Hyperion Stud were invited to attend the stallion testing at Flyinge in Sweden on February 26, 2019 through March 3, 2019 

Can’t Touch This I (HS) is a 2015 Holsteiner stallion bred by American breeder Reece Miller, and bought as a foal by Hyperion Stud. He is sired by Casall/Canturo/Acorado/Ramiro from stamm 776 and is approved for breeding by the Oldenburg and Mecklenburg Verbands. This stallion come from a hugely successful stamm line as listed below.

1st mother Canturana :

• Full sister to 1.50 international showjumper Couer de Canturo by Canturo owned by Stud Maas J. Hell
• Half sister to 1.35 internationally placed 2011 showjumper Stallion Samiro 50 by Singulord Joter
• Half sister to 2012 mare Evita by Singulord Joter , successful MPT in Holstein with 9.5 jumping
• 1st Mother of 2014 mare Grace by Casall. Successful MPT in Holstein with 9.5 jumping and 8.5 rideability
• Mother of 2015 stallion Can’t Touch This I by Casall. Foal championship foal and approved stallion with Mecklenburg and Oldenburg Verbands.
• Mother of 2016 stallion Can’t Touch This II by Casall. Foal Championship foal and approved stallion with Mecklenburg Verband.
• Mother of 2017 filly by Comme il Faut.
• Mother of 2018 filly by Cornet Obolensky – foal championship filly.

2nd mother Synfonie :

• Mother of 1.50 showjumper Couer de Canturo by Canturo owner Maas J. Hell
• Mother of 2011 Stallion Samiro 50 by Singulord Joter, international placed 1.35 showjumper
• Mother of 2012 mare Evita by Singulord Joter, successful MPT with 9.5 jumping

3rd mother Deflorata :

• Mother of approved stallion Apolon by Acorado I – Croatia
• Mother of 3 States Premium breeding mares by Acorado and Calido

4th mother Walesca :

• Mother of 1.60 showjumper Alamo by Acorado I
• Mother of 1.40 showjumper Ralando by Ramiro

• Grandmother of VDL Groep Zidane – 1.60 showjumper
• Grandmother of Quin Air –  1.60 showjumper
• Grandmother of Dante  - 1.60 showjumper
• Grandmother of HG Heartbeat –  1.55 showjumper
• Grandmother of Tucada Della Caccia – 1.45 showjumper
• Grandmother of Baloubet By ETL – 1.45 showjumper
• Grandmother of Sparco – 1.45 showjumper
• Grandmother of Lentini –  Approved Stallion Holsteiner Verband and 1.40 showjumper
• Grandmother of Looping 66 – 1.40 showjumper
• Grandmother of Erickson EB – 1.40 showjumper

Cool Jazz is a 2012 Holsteiner Approved Stallion by Colman / Cascavelle / Sacramento Song xx from stamm 238. He was licensed by the Holsteiner Verband in Neumunster in 2014. The following year he successfully completed and passed his Stallion Performance Test in Germany to become fully approved as a Holsteiner breeding stallion.

1st mother MyLady I :

• Mother of 2012 Holsteiner Verband approved Stallion Cool Jazz by Colman
• Mother of 1.50 inter. showjumper Coltrane by Colman
• Mother of 1.50 inter. showjumper Constanze 55 by Colman

2nd mother Olivia :

• Mother of 1.50 showjumper Tovia by Lord
• Grandmother of 1.40 showjumper Noblesse X by Candillo
• Grandmother of 1.40 showjumper Ophelia XVIII by Caretino

Hyperion Stud owner Vicky Castegren attended the Swedish licensing. “I really enjoyed meeting old friends and making new contacts in Sweden.” She explains, “I was born in the US, but I am from a Swedish family. I speak the language and often travel to Sweden. I am excited to be working with the Swedish Warmblood Association as we have top show jumping bloodlines to offer their programs. I also wanted to get the word out to Swedish riders that we have a pipeline of quality show jumping prospects in Europe as well as in the US.”

“Since both of my stallions are already approved in Germany; they did not need to do the Swedish testing, but I was interested in the process so I sent the two. The test is just four days, but I was surprised by how tough it was for the younger stallions especially.” The testing takes place in February, so many of the stallions are just coming into their new age year. The first part of the stallion test begins with the conformation evaluation as well as having the home rider showing the horse over fences. The second phase includes a flat portion where the home rider represents the horses in a verbally dictated pattern of movements as well as cantering over poles. During the third phase the horse is presented by his usual rider and then jumped by two test riders for 15 minutes each. On the final day the horse is jumped again with his home rider. “This was quite a task to ask of the younger stallions over age 3 and I was quite happy with how Can’t Touch This handled the questions that were asked of him. For the older horses, Cool Jazz had an unfortunate first day jumping due to some last minute changes that had to be made to satisfy the judges. Despite the outcome of the first jumping test, the rest of his performance was excellent, and was just as he is in the competition arena. Sporty, quick and clever,” says Vicky.

“I was very proud of how my stallions performed,” says Vicky, “ Especially Can’t Touch This I (HS), who is still quite young. Even though he was not approved by the judges in Sweden, he was approved in Germany by two big studbooks. I still felt that it was worthwhile to present my stallions in Sweden, and I know the people watching the horse felt he was of special quality in not only type but for the genetics he can offer the Swedish breeding market. He truly is a special horse and in time he will certainly show his distinction in sport.”

Swedish breeders have the option to choose stallions approved by outside studbooks under the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses rules. All stallions from Hyperion Stud will be available to breeders in Sweden, with Imothep and Chin Quidam VDL semen already stationed there. Hyperion’s plan is to make Can’t Touch This HS available to breeders in short time not only in Europe but worldwide along with other stallions who have recently gotten approved in Germany: Can’t Touch This II (HS), who is also bred by Reece Miller; and Carry The Cash HS (v.Cash and Carry/Cayado/Concorde stamm 776- bred by Hyperion Stud).

Hyperion also offers a wide range of horses for sale both in Europe and in the United States.

For more information please contact us at hyperionstudllc@gmail.com

Foundation Sire: Ferro

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!

1987–2005
169 cm
Black
Breeder: H. J. Gerrits 

Ferro started out in life to be a showjumper but ended up one of the more famous dressage stallions of modern times.

Trainer Johann Hinnemann once said,  “I always believed that Ferro was, and is, a very good horse because he has a very good character, and the power in his hind legs is very good. He is a strong horse. We saw he had a lot of talent for collection, then as Johann says, we worked on the basics, many many transitions until he went better, started to use his back better. The results at the shows in the small tour were very good.”

Ferro went on to a sixth place at the 1998 WEG in Rome, and be part of the bronze medal winning Dutch team at the Sydney Olympic Games. Ferro’s career highlight was in 2000, when they placed second in the World Cup Finals in ‘s Hertogenbosch, scoring over 80% for their Kür.

As a breeding stallion, Ferro has been very successful, producing a number of successful young dressage horse competitors, and the international dressage competitor, Jarwo. He has more than ten licensed sons, including Kennedy, Metall, Negro, Osmium, Paddox, Pyriet, Rhodium and Hilltop Rousseau.

On the 2011 WBFSH dressage stallion standings, Ferro was in 4th, on the 2013 rankings, he dropped out of the top ten, but his son, Negro had moved into 10th place.

At the 2008 Olympic Games, Ferro was represented by his son Mythilus, in the American Dressage team and Prestige in the Spanish team.

On the 2015/16 KWPN breeding values for stallions with a reliability of over 90%, Ferro is in 11th with a value of 148 (97%) He has produced 2059 progeny over 4, with 684 competitors (= 33.22%).

On the 2015 WBFSH stallion rankings, Ferro is in 7th place with 10 points earners with his standout star, Glock’s Undercover with 2686, way in front of the 2nd highest, Goerklintgaards Fanero on 1455.

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

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

Everdale

Glamourdale

Negro

Foundation Sire: Rotspon

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!

1995–
168 cm
Black
Breeder: Hans-Heinrich Müller 

In 2018, Rotspon was awarded Hanoverian Stallion of the Year. He has 29 licensed sons in Germany and he has sired 122 State Premium mares.

He was reserve champion of his licensing and the following year easily won his performance test with a score of 145.67. He was a particular star for the test riders, giving them all such a pleasant ride.

He has consistently produced top-selling auction horses at the Verden auction. As of 2019, he is the sire of 122 state premium mares, including Romanze, the champion mare of the 2002 Ratje-Niebuhr Show in Verden.

Rotspon has been responsible for twenty licensed stallions, including Re Primeur and Royal Blend both of whom were awarded the Burchard Müller Prize as the best stallions of their respective age classes.

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

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

Fürst Belagio FOD

Hampton

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