Heartbreaker was a greatly influential stallion in the sport of showjumping. Competitive himself from 1995 up until his retirement in 2001, his influence is still present in our modern-day sport through his offspring.
Heartbreaker's career in showjumping sport
Heartbreaker was born in 1989 in the Netherlands to breeder P.S. Koopmans as a product of Nimmerdor paired with Bacarole, a dam by Silvano. The first signs of Heartbreaker's qualities shone through early on. As a six-year-old, the KWPN stallion finished fifth in the World Championships for six-year-old horses under the saddle of Grant Wilson, competing for New Zealand. One year and a rider change later, Heartbreaker improved on his performance and finished fourth in the World Championships for seven-year-old horses, this time with Peter Geerinck in the saddle. This set the tone for the future of this combination's career, with podium finishes in the Grand Prix of Falsterbo, Geesteren and Rotterdam amongst others.
Discover Heartbreaker's highest sports achievements here.
Heartbreaker's breeding career
Right now, there are 1725 Heartbreaker offspring registered in the Hippomundo database. His youngest progeny were born in 1993 and he has continued to sire offspring every year since. Despite his passing in 2021, 44 foals born in 2022 have been recorded with Heartbreaker as the father.
Currently 123 Heartbreaker offspring have reached the 1.60m level and become real household names in the sport. Scuderia 1918 Halifax van het Kluizebos for example has won over €840,000 in prize money during his career, mostly under the saddle of Lorenzo de Luca. One of the highlights in this pair's career was the Grand Prix victory at CSIO5* Rome. Romanov is another great example of successful Heartbreaker genes. The KWPN stallion helped a young Bertram Allen win not only the World Cup in Bordeaux, but also the GCT Grand Prix in Paris, at just 18 years old. Penelope Leprevost's Topinambour had been a great asset to the French team with multiple Nations Cup podium finishes on their record.
© MH Blanchet - Penelope Leprevost & Topinambour
Browse a list of all of Heartbreaker's offspring here.
Heartbreaker, the father of sires
Heartbreaker has not only been influential through his direct genes. Some of his sons have proven to produce great showjumping horses, passing on the blood that is necessary to tackle the modern courses built in today's sport. At the moment, 106 of Heartbreaker's sons have been approved by various studbooks for breeding purposes. The stallions shown in the diagram below either have competed to 1.55m+ level themselves, have produced a significant number of offspring, or produced at least 5 offspring who have gone on to compete at a high level.
© MH Blanchet - Toulon
Toulon is perhaps the Heartbreaker son who has gone on to have the most successful breeding career. Over 2000 horses in the Hippomundo database have Toulon as father on their pedigree. His presence in today's sport is more than visible, as Toulon was one of the best represented sire at the FEI Jumping World Championships in Herning just last summer, with five of the 123 selected horses being one of his direct products.
Heartbreaker as sire of the dam
Not only his sons pass on the genes for success, also Heartbreaker's daughters seem to produce great performers. Heartbreaker currently occupies the 3rd place in Hippomundo's Sire of the Dam ranking counting since 2015. For Joy van 't Zorgvliet, Grand Cru van de Rozenberg, Extra, Silver Deux de Virton HDC, Don Juan van de Donckhoeve are all horses that have had significant successes in our sport and they all have one thing in common. A dam by Heartbreaker.
© MH Blanchet - Kevin Staut & Silver Deux de Virton
