Stallion suggestions please

My friend has a lovely mare by Fidertanz out of Waldfee - she has been out winning with 70%+, and she has bred a fabulous filly by my boy Adonnis, so the Gribaldi boys obviously work well with the damline! If I remember correctly, Waldfee also has a licensed son, although I don't remember who he is by - lovely mare though - lucky friend!
 
Thanks for the info Sarahhelen1977, that is interesting to know :)

She is a nice mare and this will be her final foal before her retirement so it seems important to make a good choice for her. The friends who now own her are TB breeders as a rule so this all new territory! Hence my post for advice.

Thanks again :)
 
It depends what you are breeding for. Several of the stallions you have listed are professionals only horses who throw hot and difficult. So I'd only use one of those if you were looking to sell the offspring as a foal.

If you are looking more long term then you need a kind, easy temperament as well as good soundness. A stallion who is probably the best dressage sire in the world at the moment is De Niro. 3 of the top 10 dressage horses in Germany are by him! He is a little long in the back and he isn't modern in build but he does throw everything you need for a horse to produce up the levels.

Another one is Breitling W. He is also heavier and more old fashioned but he's an international GP stallion and has sired dozens of international GP offspring.

A more modern type with outstanding hind leg mechanics is Negro. He passes on a great temperament and a good jump. Sometimes his offspring are a little small.

If you want refinement I'd look to a Trakehner. Le Rouge is a fabulous sire. Currently competing Inter 1 and schooling GP. I have a mare from his first crop and she has the best temperament you could ever wish for. She's 6 and has her flying changes, she's starting her tempis, passage is easy, pirouettes are coming, piaffe is starting and she really hasn't been pushed. She only gets ridden 3 times a week and is being produced by an amateur. I can't say enough good things about Le Rouge.

A very smart UK trakehner is Garuda K. He's competing Inter 1 and schooling GP. He's from the world famous line of Caprimond/Hohenstein/Munchhausen, all GP stallions and all renowned for their kindness, soundness and trainability. I watched all 3 being ridden in piaffe and passage at Neumunster in 2010. Caprimond was 25 years old!!!

Another UK stallion to consider is Relevant. He competed at the Olympics and has proved his soundness and trainability. You'd get some line breeding to the R Line with him too.

All I'd say to you is beware the marketing on foreign stallions. If you go and see these horses in the flesh they are often very different to how you expect. And do as much research as you can on their temperament and soundness. That information is hard to uncover but very, very important.
 
Thanks Stolen Silver, that is exactly the sort of advice I was hoping for :)
The foal will be for sale as their expertise is in racehorses not dressage horses :) but temperament and trainability will significantly increase it's market! From memory I think Edna had a De Niro foal last year but I will check my info on that.
I have a photo now so will upload it when I can get to my laptop!

Thanks again :)
 
Actually temperament and trainability will decrease your foal market as the stallions that pass that on are generally not "foal producers".

Breeding to sell is totally different from breeding to produce and most buyers, sadly, don't have enough in depth knowledge of bloodlines to understand what the fabulous, blingy, black and beautiful foal they are buying is going to turn into. Also far too many dressage buyers are taken in by the marketing hype from the big European studs and have never seen the stallions they think they want a foal by in person. They haven't even watched the candid videos on youtube (as compared to the marketing videos which, obviously, are much easier to find).

I breed for GP (I hope) and you probably haven't heard of the stallions I've used.

As I said, decide on your market and do your homework. If you want to join the foal market you'll be looking for homozygous black and preferably blingy with long legs and a big trot. The S line is good for this. Not so good if your long term goal is an easy temperament, good walk and good collectability.

If you want to try to breed a GP horse then choose a stallion who has either competed at GP himself (of the top 80 dressage horses in the world over 80% of them were by stallions who had themselves competed at GP) or who has shown the ability to do clean flying changes in competition (so doing well in 6yo tests is an absolute minimum and even then it doesn't tell you his ability to collect) and, even better, that he has got offspring who are moving up the levels and has a reputation for siring easy horses.

Those are the rules I breed by. They aren't a guarantee that you'll breed a superstar but the statistics suggest that you'll stack the odds in your favour if you follow them.
 
Wow thanks... loads to think about and I have just had a long conversation with Edna's owners and passed all this on. They are going to look again at De Niro, last years foal was by him but for a different owner.

Really grateful for your time :)
 
Is Union Jack able to cover? I'd heard he was 'the' stallion in Glos with a certain notifiable disease.... Shame if it's true, as I've always liked him, although he doesn't seem to have done much since he exploded onto the seen as a young horse and what of his progeny?
 
Personally I wouldn't use Jazz unless you're very brave, very accomplished, young enough to bounce and have enough time to ride 7 days a week. If you tick all those boxes then you will get through the youngster stages unscathed with a Jazz baby. If one of those ticks is missing you could get hurt. JMO. ;)
 
My 5yo Fidertanz mare is out of this mare. She's the sweetest, easiest horse but isn't the sharpest tool in the box. She's been to a few shows and behaves impeccably but would love to drop behind the leg whenever possible. She hacks too and has babied horses older than her as she's so well behaved. She was easy peasy to back too.
Knowing my horse (but not having actually met or seen the mare) i'd actually look for quite a sharp stallion!
 
I can safely say of all the foals we've bred, those with Jazz in the pedigree have been the sharpest and least bold. If the mare is bombproof and you want a bit more sensitivity then I'd consider him or if you want to err on the side of caution, a son or grandson. He will pass on a good quick hindleg and an uphill build with a nice long foreleg. The only thing I would bear in mind with the Ferro sons and grandsons is I would use on a mare with a long foreleg herself - they can throw a shorter foreleg.
 
Hmmm, Faberge that is interesting! I would have said the mare could be a little sensitive at times and certainly knows what she wants lol. Beginning to think the Jazz lines might be a no go...
 
I find Jazz great on the dam line, my own stallion is out of a Jazz mare, he is by Sandreo (so add Sandro Hit and Flemmingh to the mix) and he is laid back, easy to handle, great temperament and excellent trainability/rideability. He's only 6yos, does collections, competes at Medium, ready to do an Advanced Medium (but not in a hurry). So I wouldn't rule everything out with Jazz in the pedigree, just be selective and see what else in is the mix too :) Before anyone says i'm advertising, he is NOT stood at public stud ;)
I am hungering after using Damon Hill and i've found Donnerhall lines to be popular and have good trainability.
You will always find people with good and bad experiences with most lines, so you have to pick the stallion that will give you the best possibility of breeding what you want to achieve from your mare :)
 
Have you considered Desperados. He stands at the Sprehe Stud and will be on the German Olympic Team ridden by the owners daughter. He is by De Niro.
 
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