The Holsteiner breeders will have fond memories of the 2021 national young horse championships for a long time to come.

Besides the very good performances of the horses from the land between the seas resulting in a total of eight medals, two breeding stallions stood by the Holsteiner Verband stallion keeping GmbH, Elmshorn, are currently much talked about on the sport and breeding scene - Crack and Keaton.

Crack’s career started at the 2017 Holsteiner stallion grading. Already at two and a half years, the grey bred by Spanish stud farm Campos de Cria de Caballos de Deporte had demonstrated thrillingly modern make and shape and correct limbs. The then breeding director, Dr. Thomas Nissen, praised Crack’s natural ease, elasticity, scope and ability, qualities the now six-year-old is able to use to best advantage under saddle as well. The Campos family has been breeding Holsteiner horses near Madrid for round about 15 years now. “I started breeding at time when stallions like Cassini I, Corrado, Caretino and Contender were among the world’s best. Most likely these horses made me a Holsteiner fan. I am always using the following analogy: when talking about football, most children support Real Madrid or Barcelona because of Leo Messi or Christiano Ronaldo. And I believe that in Cassini and Corrado’s heyday many breeders became fans just because of these stallions“, Eduardo Campos looks back. The relationship between Crack’s breeders and Norbert Boley is based on trust. In 1999 Boley had bought Crack’s dam, Operette by Candillo, as a foal, seeing that her second dam, Adele by Aloube Z, not only was a very good horse herself but had already produced a licensed son, Quinar, who performed convincingly at stud and as a show jumper. Eventually Otto Boje Schoof bought Operette and bred several good sport horses from her, including Corcega la Silla by Casall, who attracted attention in sport firstly with Rolf Göran Bengtsson and later with Jose Antonio Chedraui. When the Campos family approached the Holsteiner Verband several years later through Tobias Hanke, asking to assist them with buying interesting mares, Norbert Boley put them in touch with Otto Boje Schoof. The opportunity for the stallion keeping GmbH to secure sires from this successful mare family for the Holsteiner studbook - as in Crack’s case – has arisen from this cooperation.

Sport test, state championship, national championship - Crack is ever the winner
Crack had already demonstrated his riding horse qualities and above-average jumping ability during the Verden sport test in March 2021, where he outperformed the competition at a weighted final mark of 9.25. This year, his sport career reached the first milestone by winning the Elmshorn state championship in July. Already then it had been clear that the Cornet Obolensky son and his previous trainer, Maximilian Gräfe, would go their separate ways. Just a few days later, Norbert Boley, who had secured Crack for the Holsteiner breeders after the grading, announced that the Verband stallion’s ride would be taken over by Richard Vogel (Marburg), one of the best and most successful German jumping riders, in early July. The contact to Vogel had been established by Matthias Wittke, chairman of the breeding district Europe. A great opportunity for the stallion, but tied to great expectations. Following a short familiarization phase and two prep horse shows, the new combination travelled to Warendorf, followed by the watchful eyes of not only the Holsteiner breeders whenever Crack and Vogel performed a course. Following more than convincing rounds in the qualifiers, Crack got ahead of all expectations in the final on Sunday. “Of course we had been hoping for a good result, but we did not count on winning the champion title. Anybody who knows just a little bit about our sport knows that the road to Warendorf is a long and stony one. Taking the title there is definitely a great feat“, Norbert Boley admits. A triumph that can’t be taken from Crack any more. After the presentation ceremony, his new rider was over the moon as well: “I’m just thrilled about the stallion’s willingness to perform – his character and his attitude are just exceptional. I feel that anything is possible when riding towards a high jump with this horse.” The first offspring by Crack, who has already sired championship foals in his first season, are now two years old. Expectations are high for his first sons to be presented for preselection for the stallion grading in autumn. Whether they will be able to follow in their sire’s already big footsteps remains to be seen. The chances are quite good though, in view of Crack’s consolidated genetics, rooted in the Holsteiner mare family 1020 through Obolensky, Candillo, Aloube Z and Calypso I.

Keaton – a Kannan with Holsteiner finish
Selectively competed during the ongoing showing season, Keaton by Kannan-Contendro I has already placed several times in young horse jumping classes at L and M level with his new rider, Massimo Bonomi, who has taken over the stallion’s ride in April. In Elmshorn, Breitenburg, Hörup and Ladelund the combination left the show grounds victorious, with scores in the very good range. They qualified for the national championships in Breitenburg. Warendorf saw the bay bred by Rudolf Schmitt (Wöhrden) perform clear rounds throughout. In the first qualifier, he was awarded the mark 8.7 by the jury, resulting in fifth place out of 65 starters in the first division. His second performance was equally convincing, earning him the ticket to the final of the best five-year-old jumping horses of the country at 8.5 and in sixth position. There Keaton and Massimo Bonomi jumped two clear rounds again, increasing their 8.7 score from the first round to 8.8 in the second and finishing on excellent sixth position.

Discovered as a foal
Keaton had changed into the ownership of the Holsteiner Verband stallion keeping GmbH already as a foal, as executive director Norbert Boley clearly remembers: “His bloodline on itself is very interesting, but he was a tremendously typey stallion prospect with brilliant movement to boot, with his outward appearance Holsteiner through and through.“ The representative of mare family 4847 performed brilliantly at the 2018 stallion grading: he was graded with premium marks and eventually awarded the title of second reserve champion stallion. “Whenever he performed, he convinced with his very good frame and his perfect body proportions”, the then breeding director, Dr. Thomas Nissen, commented. “These qualities in combination with a very correct structure very quickly put him into the top group of the year. He is also valuable for Holstein in view of his good top-line with smooth transitions and a strong back.“ Already then his particularly good movement had stood out, supported by his great freedom of shoulder and powerful hind quarters, qualities distinguishing Keaton from other Kannan offspring.
The grading committee described his jumping as being “light footed with super technique and convincing ability”. His proud breeder, Rudolf Schmitt, had purchased Keaton’s dam Zahara II as a foal after having convinced her breeder, Ole Mellberg (Haarby), to breed his Ritual-Landgraf I mare from the important mare family 4847 to Contendro I. This mare family has made breeding history in Holstein, for example through champion stallion Lancer II and reserve champion stallion Cascadello I. “Zahara boasts excellent movement, a quality she has definitely passed on to Keaton”, Schmitt is certain. According to the Wöhrden-based vet, “she is a typey and modern horse with a good conformation, which is very important for breeding sport horses. Keaton is a stallion who has athleticism as well as strength and good judgement over the jumps, and is always willing to perform – just what I had in mind when deciding on the mating.“ Because of this, he has decided to breed Zahara II to Kannan again this year – and expectations are running high for this produce.