read more
Already as very young stallion he stood out for his athleticism, but since the last season, Keaton I is probably one of the most talked-about stallions of all. This ten-year-old Kannan son embodies true Holsteiner type and shines in particular with his very good basic gaits; moreover, he attracts attention thanks to his extraordinary ability and his careful jumping.
Keaton is a stallion with lots of ability, good judgement, sufficient carefulness, a very ground-covering canter and the typical Holsteiner knee action and passes on all these qualities with great reliability. He should be bred to modern mares with an influence of TB blood.
Euro 350,- + VAT
plus Euro 750,- + VAT when pregnant; plus
Euro 100,- + VAT Foal fee
ICSI: Euro 650 + VAT
Euro 350,- + VAT
plus Euro 1,150,- + VAT when pregnant
ICSI: Euro 650 + VAT
Stations
Sire
His sire Kannan has officially ranked among the top sires in the world for years, with sport horses like Olympic winner Nino de Buissonnets, Quabri de L’Isle and Molly Malone an obvious reflection of his sire qualities.
Damline
His dam sire Contendro I used to be one of the most frequently used stallions in Germany with successful showjumping offspring like Codex One, Conthendrix and Holiday by Solitour. Contendro I has also established an excellent reputation for his eventing offspring, with the Contender son topping the 2018 WBFSH eventing sire ranking.
The damline was bred through famous stallions like Ramiro and Landgraf I, as well as the TB sires Der Löwe and Royal Wash, with the mare Nigella a half sister to the licensed stallions Lancer I-III.
The Holsteiner studbook has seen Keaton’s mare family 4847 come to the fore time and again through sport horse produce like Carlos Boy and Lysander and the licensed stallions Cascadello I+II, Lancer I-III and Cachas.
Own Performance of Keaton
Keaton completed 14-day ability assessment with flying colours. The judges awarded him 10.0 on character, 9.75 on temperament, 9.5 on willingness to perform and 9.0 on jumping aptitude, resulting in a jumping weighted total mark of 8.68.
In his first showing season, Keaton chalked up many top finishes in young horse jumping classes at A level. At five-year-old, Keaton won several young horse jumping classes up to M* level scoring as high as 9.2. He performed brilliantly at the Warendorf Bundeschampionat, jumping clear in all three classes. In the final, he finished an excellent sixth.
Six-year-old he continued his streak of success, as he won and placed in young horse jumping classes up to M level and again qualified for the Bundeschampionat.
In 2023, Keaton went to the stable of Rolf-Göran Bengtsson, who had had an eye on the stallion for quite some time already and the combination placed up to 1.45m level internationally. Since 2025, Arne van Heel is happy to be riding Keaton. Starting with several placings at S** and S***, they crowned their season by winning the Grand Prix of Warendorf and competing in the Lanaken “Sires of the World” class.
Test results
14-Tage-Test 2019 in Schlieckau: Gesamt 8,23; Dres. 7,46; Spr. 8,68
Offspring of Keaton
Time and again, Keaton’s very interesting and typey foals turn heads, as his children demonstrate striking movement with great elasticity. For a Keaton-Cassiano filly selected for the Holsteiner foal auction held at the Hamburg Jumping Derby, the hammer fell at 14,000 euros. At the foal auction Tomorrow’s Champions in Warendorf, a Keaton daughter was knocked down at 18,000 euros. In 2025, a Keaton-Cascadello I colt found new owners in Falsterbo, Sweden, for 12,000 euros. We hope to see this stallion prospect again for grading, as his new home is one of the biggest stallion stations in Europe.
His first stallion crops attracted loads of attention and put him in the spotlight as a sire. All of the three second season stallion candidates accepted for Holsteiner grading have been licensed for breeding, two of them awarded premium status. His son Kantato was licensed in 2023, awarded premium status, and is on the stallion keeping GmbH roster. At the 2024 grading of the colts, Keaton was one of the most frequent sires again, with three sons accepted for this event, and one of them, Kinrooi (dam by Canto-Clinton I), licensed for breeding.
Holsteiner riding horse auction clients from all over the world have proved impressed by Keaton’s oldest offspring as they have been sold to expert hands. Another Keaton daughter, Nubia BB (Manfred Birchler, CH-Bilten) became first reserve champion mare of the 2023 Holsteiner elite mare show at Elmshorn. His daughters’ free jumping ability has attracted attention in mare performance tests. A mare by Keaton-Quality, for example, completed the test scoring 9.5 on jumping ability.
