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A
tribute to one of the great Sires of Holstein
When you visit Elmshorn,
Germany, these days, and you stop at the century-old "Riding and Driving
School", then you are where the heart of the Holsteiner Horse Breeding is
beating.
And there you meet that characteristic shape of Landgraf I in front of the
complex, the symbol of the modern Holsteiner Sport Horse and performance
sire. The original himself died in 1996 at the age of 30.
In his article in
Breeding News
(August 1999) French journalist, Pascal Renauldon records the great
stallion's passing: "On 10 April 1996, the Holstein breeders had celebrated,
with great pomp, their charmed stallion, during a ceremony which had
assembled some of his most celebrated progeny:
Libero H, Taggi and some 30
others. Exactly one month after this hommage, Landgraf passed away due to
heart failure, even though his physical condition had showed no signs of
decrepitude. His strong back was not swayed, his proud eye of a dominant
stallion and imposing neck were still as superb as when they appeared on
photographs of him as a youngster."
Yet Landgraf was not
initially widely accepted as a stallion in Germany because sons of
Thoroughbreds were still regarded with suspicion . It was after the 1975
Equitana in Germany, where Landgraf easily cleared a 6'6" several times a
day, that international riders started to buy his offspring. For many years,
Landgraf led the list of sires of sport horses. His offspring have won just
under seven million dollars mainly in showjumping, and in this respect he is
the top sire in the world today. The runner-up, Furioso II is more than two
million dollars behind, and Landgraf still has a few offspring in
competition to add to the total.
Born in 1966, Landgraf I
belongs to the first vintage of his sire, Ladykiller XX, who produced
another hero one year later in Lord, another of the most influential
stallions in Holstein.
Ladykiller XX was a very
popular Thoroughbred stallion, born in England, and a descendant of the very
famous stallion line of Phalaris - Fairway - Blue Peter - Sailing Light,
combining with Hyperion. His dam also carried Phalaris-blood, as well as
Son-in-Law. In spite of his famous ancestors - Ladykiller was a failure as a
race horse. His performance genes were still there, of course, but they
emerged not as speed but mainly as jumping talent with the occasional good
dressage horse as well. All of Ladykiller's offspring could easily be
recognized as such, and Landgraf was no exception. These horses have
beautiful noble faces with large bright eyes, bay - brown coats - and they
could jump.
Landgraf had a very good
temperament which he passes on, together with excellent movement. His dam,
Warthburg, came from the stem No. 275 and accumulates the performance genes
of Ethelbert, Aehill and Cicero, who are responsible for laying the
foundation of the Holsteiner Sporthorse as the world's leading jumping stud
book.
Warthburg was born in
1962 and was bought as a weanling by Baron Friedrich Christian de
Kielmansegg. After a competition career as a jumper, she produced Jenni, by
the Thoroughbred stallion, Little Lion xx - Jenni is the dam of Orchidee,
who was a member of the gold medal winning German jumping team at the Seoul
Olympic Games with Dirk Hafemeister. Orchidee in turn was the dam of Avion (Athlet
Z) ridden in international competition by Ludger Beerbaum.
Warthburg then produced
six foals by Ladykiller. Landgraf was born in 1966, the following year saw
his full brother, Landgraf II who was sold to the south of Germany where he
was gelded. Under the name - Leon III - he was on to compete at Grand Prix
level with Manfred Schlusselburg. In the following two years, the fillies
Eva and Frederica were produced - Frederica when bred to Farnese produced
the licensed stallion, Fridericus. In 1970 Warthburg produced another filly,
Landgraffin who was ridden in the 70's and 80's by Hugo Simon, winning many
speed and puissance classes. Bred to Cor de la Bryère, Landgraffin then
produced the stallion Cash, who also competed internationally with Simon
before his death at the age of 10 while competing at Aachen.
Landgraf was licensed in
1968 along with twelve other sons of Ladykiller xx. Landgraf finished in 5th
place with the comments 'a lot of presence, good gaits with excellent
propulsion, good conformation and average hindquarters.'
Landgraf was chosen to
represent the Holsteiner breed at the 1972 German National Agricultural Show
- and finished last. Following protests from the Holstein officials, this
was converted into second place, and then in an elegant piece of
gobbledegook to 'first place C'.
Jumping is the field
where he excels most as a sire. The list of his showjumping offspring is
endless. A few names for example: Freestyle (formerly Lalique) won Aachen
Grand Prix,
Libero H won the Dutch National title five times and also the 1994
Volvo World Cup. The licensed stallion, Lacros, is another along with top
performers: Lucky Luke, Lanciano, Landlord, Lausbub and Taggi.
Nearly sixty colts by
Landgraf I have been licensed for the Holsteiner stud book, like the
champion of 1991, Linaro, and the dressage talent, Loutano. Some of his sons
have already achieved top positions as performance sires, for example, Letus
II, a jumping sire, and the versatile Landadel, who produced three champion
stallions for the Oldenburger breed alone, and also the outstanding
international showjumper, Le Cou Cou, a licenced stallion.
So far, 340 broodmares
by Landgraf I are registered in the Holsteiner stud book, 260 of these are
in the Head Stud Book, 70 have been awarded the State Premium, and a
considerable number have been champion mares at shows. Landgraf I was a
legend already during his life time. His genes are securely anchored in the
breed of the modern sporthorse.
In his Stallion Book of
the Holsteiner Warmblood Breed, Dr Dietrich Rossow comments:
"Imposing appearance
with enormous crest and neck carriage. Smooth total topline and much
presence. Beautiful face with marvelous eye. Long, rather broad neck, long
sloping shoulder. Withers, could be more clearly defined. Well shaped,
muscular croup. Strong bone. Good in front. Slightly sickle hocked in youth
(became very straight with age). Tied in below the hock and faults in the
hind fetlocks. Good mover. Marvelous temperament. Phenomenal jumper; tight
in front, lots of bascule, careful and talented. Great performance
capabilities."
"Offspring are of
various sizes and usually late developers. In youth, the tall ones appear
leggy and narrow. Nearly always passes on his face, type and also his
hindleg faults. Amongst all offspring are endowed with their sire's jumping
ability. In the beginning they jump rather awkwardly with less than ideal
form which improves with increased maturity. Seldom passes on his overly
heavy neck. Huge number of international class jumpers. Up to now (the book
was published in 1988) Landgraf is far and away the most important jumper
sire in the world" |