The World Championship in Aachen has come to an end, providing us with plenty to analyse from a sporting perspective. But beyond the results and performances, the 25 finalists also offer an interesting insight into the breeding behind today’s top-level showjumpers. So, now that the final is behind us, let’s take a closer look at some of the facts and figures surrounding the horses who made it all the way to the final.
25 combinations made it through to the final: 6 female riders and 19 male riders, riding 7 mares, 14 geldings and 4 stallions. In percentage terms, this is not significantly different from the original master list of 150 horses.
Looking at the studbooks, KWPN and Selle Français were the best represented, with four finalists each. This is hardly surprising, given their strong presence on the original master list, with 32 KWPN and 22 Selle Français horses. It is also worth noting that both SBS representatives made it through to the final.
Looking at the original breeding areas of the 25 finalists, Holsteiner bloodlines were clearly in the lead, with 9 representatives. They were followed by Dutch bloodlines with 5, Hanoverian with 4, French bloodlines with 3, Oldenburg with 2, and Ireland and Belgium with 1 each. Iron Dames Sinclair can ultimately be traced back to a Thoroughbred mare line.
The ages of the horses: fortunately, there were no 9- or 10-year-olds in the final. We had 7 eleven-year-olds, 4 twelve-year-olds, 6 thirteen-year-olds, 3 fourteen-year-olds, 3 fifteen-year-olds, 1 sixteen-year-old and 1 eighteen-year-old. So, no real surprises here.
The age of the dams when the finalists were born is also interesting. 80% of the mothers were 10 years old or younger, and not a single mare was 14 or older. This picture broadly reflects what we saw in the larger starting population. It is also noteworthy that the the dams of the three podium finishers were respectively only 7, 6 and 6 years of age at the moment of birth from their champions.
As for the pedigrees: 24 different stallions are responsible for the sire line of the 25 finalists, with only Cornet Obolensky represented twice. There is a striking mix of very well-known stallions and some considerably less fashionable names. Interestingly, the so-called “sexy auction stallions” are almost completely absent. Hopefully, that is a little encouragement for the smaller, passionate breeder to keep doing their own thing and trust their own breeding programme. I already noticed more or less the same pattern in the original master list.
Looking at the damsires, four stallions are represented twice: Quidam de Revel, Darco, Cassini II and Numero Uno.
Ten of the 25 dams have themselves competed in sport: 3 at 1.30m, 2 at 1.35m, 2 at 1.40m, 1 at 1.55m (Irivola del Maset), and 2 at 1.60m (LT Holst Freda and Iron Dames Sinclair). Again, this does not really differ from the situation in the original master list, where 54 of the 150 dams had competed themselves — including 17 at 1.50m, 1.55m or 1.60m level.
These facts and figures are, of course, not intended to predict success or define what makes a top-level sport horse. Breeding is far too complex for that, and every horse has its own story. But looking at the pedigrees, maternal lines and performance backgrounds of these finalists does provide some fascinating insights — and perhaps a few points for breeders to consider. Ultimately, the World Championship is about performance, but behind every horse standing in the arena lies a breeding story that is well worth exploring.
This article is written by Ben Verheij
