Passage Magazine October 2014 | Page 15

Ferro - Dutch Warmblood Pik Bube I - Hanoverian Ferro was extremely well bred with a good character and very good powerful hind legs. He was first in his stallion test. Ferro produced 8 KWPN Approved stallions such as Rousseau, the winner of his stallion test and producer of a winner of Stallion test as well, the Keur stallion Negro, and the famous stallions Metall and Rhodium. His grandsons have also been successful in the difficult KWPN stallion licensing. Ferro has been granted the rare KWPN title of "Preferent" which is the highest predicate a stallion can have. Although Pik Bube was only shown during the 1980 season, he was successful 11 out of 12 times. Pik Bube was an excellent sire in his own right, producing licensed sons. But, perhaps his greatest contribution to dressage breeding was from his mares. Pike Bube was half of a rare "magic cross" with the great Donnerhall. Producing such stallions as Don Schufro, Don Primero, Duntroon, Davignon, and others. This beautiful and successful sire died tragically while being ridden at the age of 18. Rubinstein I - Westphalian Weltmeyer - Hanoverian Although Rubinstein died young at the age of 14, he is still one of the most influential sires to come from the mid 1980's dressage "golden era" of breeding. This superbly bred stallion was a great performer and, perhaps, an even better sire. His famous licensed sons include Rhodiamant, Royal Diamond, and Olympic competitor Relevant (ridden by Lisa Wilcox). A strong supporter of the Hanoverian W-line, Weltmeyer continued the strong genetics he received from sire World Cup I and passed them on to his many sons and daughters, including Wolkenstein II. During the 1990's, Weltmeyer was a wildly popular sire for breeding horses and sport horses alike, with quality foals preselling for sometimes as much as $20,000. Frozen semen is still available for Rubinstein world wide. His frozen semen is reportedly of excellent quality and is widely available through seme