The revelation of the last edition of CHIO Aachen was without the shadow of a doubt Bud Spencer 7, the impressive grey of German rider Sven Sclüsselberg. Breeding information of this rising star was impossible to find, so Hippomundo went out to investigate. And the fairytale is full of magic!
The circle
"We breed between 3 and 5 foals every year" says Sven, son of Manfred Schlüsselberg, a former member of the German Nations Cup team and of Veronika, herself a former international showjumper. "We produce the horses ourselves in our stable in Ilsfeld in Baden-Württemberg, 40 km above Stuttgart. By doing so we try to create a complete circle, from foal to sport horse.
Bud Spencer 7 was born in 2009, one year after the family combined the stallion Artiest de Wynckel with their broodmare Giaconda, by Azett. Artiest who?
"Artiest de Wynckel isn't known at all, but there is a good reason for it" Sven starts the remarkable story on Ariets' life.
"In 2000 we were competing at a show in Belgium and one day we were having diner in a restaurant nearby. We were talking about horses and al of a sudden, a waitress tells us that she knew about a good foal, located nearby. We decided to go and have a look and a couple of hours later Artiest was ours" Sven smiles as he thinks back on the discovery of Artiest.
Artiest was bred by Dirk Mestdagh and registered in the BWP studbook. He was a son of Lux Z out of the KWPN mare Minouska by Goodtimes.
"Artiest developed into a very good horse. He was a real prospect for the future and we believed he was able to do big things. But fate had a different plan. As an 8 year old, Artiest suffered from a severe colic attack and despite all the help and treatments he didn't survive. Luckily a few months before we let him breed 2 off our mares. With hindsight, those are the only mares he bred."
"Artiest was never approved as a stallion. Not because he lacked talent, but because he wasn't ready to do the tests, he was quite late. That is why his son, Bud Spencer, is an 'Ausländer'. His father was an non-liscenced BWP stallion, so Bud couldn't be registered."
But Artiest covered 2 mares and in 2009 his first and only crop came into this world, including Bud Spencer 7. The other son of Artiest has also moved back to Schlüsselberg's stable. "That's correct. It seems to be a good horse! We sold him years back but the owner returned him for further training. He is now competing in S classes, on 1.40-1.45m level."
Giaconda
Dam Giaconda is a daughter of Azett, a stallion registered as a Hannovarian, though he was bred by the late Leon Melchior. The father of Azett is Aladin Z, by Almé Z and dam Gessy Z is by Gotthard. "Old blood" confirms Sven. Azett is most known as the sire of As-Taro. The gelding, bred by Manfred Hülsman was 3rd in the Basel Grand Prix and 4th in the Stuttgart Masters with Luciana Diniz.
"I also rode Giaconda's half brother, Allesandro 19 by Althoff and he jumped 1.55m! Now, Giaconda is to old for breeding, but we've bred 3 foals from her. They all look like good horses."
Bud Spencer 7
"Bud was a remarkable foal. He has character and was intelligent! Once we let him free jump, we got even more enthousiastic about him. It looked really good. Actually he always jumped well, but I never dared to predict he would go to Aachen. Don't get me wrong, he showed quality, scope and so on but you don't know what they are capable of until they actually do it." And he did it, in Aachen.
"In the first class I was clear but had 2 time faults. On this level you are forced to canter at higher speeds and I miss that experience" explains Sven. The next day I had a total of 6 faults and it looked like the qualification for the Grand Prix was out of reach. I was only 3rd on the reserves list but Saturday morning I got the call I was waiting for. I was in. I could compete in the Grand Prix of Aachen. A dream come true!"
But the fairytale got even better. Sven and Bud Spencer 7 formed the first pair to go clear in the tough Grand Prix though again, they had 2 time faults. The outburst of emotions of the German was enormous. The outburst of scope and talent of the grey wasn't any less. Amid the biggest names in the sport the pair qualified for the second round were they rode another clear. This time inside the time allowed.
The final result of the legendary Grand Prix of Aachen featured Sven and Bud Spencer 7 in 8th place. A self-bred horse sired by a stallion nobody has ever heard off!
