Passion, expertise, and above all, hard work must be rewarded. That is the thought process behind the development of the Belgian Breeders Bonus. The Belgian horse sector has joined forces to compensate its most successful breeders with a financial bonus. A total sum of €95,000 will be divided among the breeders of the top 35 Belgian-bred horses in the Hippomundo Horse ranking. The year 2022 has almost come to an end, so who are those breeders that could be accepting this premium?
The highest-earning horse, not just Belgian-bred, but globally is Killer Queen VDM. Under the saddle of Daniel Deusser, the BWP mare has been making waves in the sport and collected a total winning sum of over 1 million euros. She was bred by the Family Bruggeman of VDM Jumping Horses. They are currently up for a €15,000 bonus to start off the new year.
© MH Blanchet - Daniel Deusser & Killer Queen VDM
Lisa Bruggeman about the Belgian Breeders Bonus : "I think the Belgian Breeders Bonus is a very good initiative and the premium is of course a nice extra. Especially if you breed horses with the intention of seeing them grow up and not to sell them immediately, it quickly becomes quite an expensive business and it also takes a long time before there is a financial return. Killer Queen has actually had three extra-ordinary years already. In 2020, she was the best-earning horse in the world; last year, I think she was a close second. This year she will hopefully stay in the lead as well. (smile) In my opinion, she has won the two most beautiful and toughest Grand Prix in the world, Aachen and Calgary. By the way, in Aachen this year she also jumped a triple clear in the GP. So we are spoiled. On the one hand, we realise that, but on the other hand, those good performances are also a bit addictive. I hope she can stay at the highest level for a while yet."
N. Beaufort, breeder of the McLain Ward's HH Azur, is in the running to receive a bonus of €10,000. "Annie", as she is known in the yard, and McLain have had a beautiful career spanning over several years together, but they are far from done. Just last weekend the pair splendidly won the Rolex Grand Prix of Geneva.
The breeder of another one of Daniel Deusser's mounts Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z is up for a €7,500 bonus at the end of this year. Jonas Bellemans bred the stallion by Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve in 2008. Deusser and Tobago Z have been incredibly successful in 2022, with a Rolex Grand Prix win in 's Hertogenbosch early on in the season, followed by a victory in the LGCT Super Grand Prix in Prague last month.
Wim Impens, breeder of Henrik von Eckermann's superstar horse King Edward is currently in the running to receive €5,000 of the Belgian Breeders Bonus, while Patrick Thienpont, breeder Edouard Schmitz' Gamin van 't Naastveldhof, could be collecting €2,500.
A total of 25 breeders are currently eligible to a bonus of €2,000 and an additional 5 could be receiving €1,000.
Discover the entire ranking for the Belgian Breeders Bonus here.
