Breeding the Show Jumper - Influence of the Selle Fracaise bloodlines

Quidam de Revel

In order to improve my own education on bloodlines I have been doing a bit of research into prominent show jumping horses and their families. I have used several sources that I was previously unaware of including the sites:

Sporthorse Database

World Breeding Federation of Sport Horses

The WBFSH compiles a list of top horses competing in each discipline and the bloodlines. They also have a list of top sires. These lists are based on FEI competition results. I also looked at the horses that were in the top 10 placings in show jumping at the 2012 London Olympics. In some cases the same horses were involved. In many cases the same bloodlines are involved. One of the impressions that I got from studying this list was the overwhelming presence of Selle Francais bloodlines in the top show jumping horses; even in the top competing Dutch, Holsteiner and Belgian Warmblood horses.

WBFSH Top 10 Jumping Sire Ranking

1 BALOUBET DU ROUET (SF)- 10.328
2 KANNAN (KWPN) - 9.576
3 DARCO (BWP)- 8.442
4 QUICK STAR (SF) - 7.983
5 HEARTBREAKER (KWPN) - 7.499
6 CARETINO (HOL) - 6.844
7 QUIDAM DE REVEL (SF)- 6.308
8 NABAB DE RÊVE (BWP but 100%SF)- 6.067
9 DIAMANT DE SEMILLY (SF)- 5.644
10 CARTHAGO (HOL)- 5.585

Of the top 10 Sires, 5 of them are 100% Selle Francais; 3 are over 25-50% Selle Francais, 1 is 1/8 Selle Francais. Only Darco has no evidence of the Selle Francais blood influence.

The top 10 horses in Show Jumping from the Olympics are:

Nino Des Buissonets (SF) Kannan/Narcos II
Eurocommerce London (BWP) Nabab de Reve/ Chin Chin (56% SF)
Blue Loyd 12 (Old) Landor S/Hadj (50% SF)
Noblesse Des Tess (SF) Cumano/ Irak E
Rosalia La Silla (HOL) Cassini I/Contender (12.5% SF)
Hello Sanctos (SBS) Quasimodo/Nabab de Reve (62% SF)
Big Star (KWPN) Quick Star/ Nimmerdor (50% SF)
Flexible (ISH) Cruising/Safari
Star Power (KWPN) Quick Star/ Calvados (75% SF)
Tripple X III (AES- KWPN) Namelus R/ Calve Z(25% SF)

Out of these 10 horse, 7 are 50-100% Selle Francais. Two of the remaining three are 12-25% Selle Francais. Only Rich Fellers' Cruising does not have a significant influence of Selle Francais in his breeding. However, he is significantly Thoroughbred in his Irish Sport Horse breeding which is worth considering when analyzing what kind of genetics make the Selle Francais blood so significant in top level show jumpers.

Whenever you take current success at the top of the levels and try to break it down to bloodlines, you have to take into account trends at the time that the horses were born. In this case the majority of the horses competing in the Olympics were born between 2000-2003. Two Selle Francais sires that show up more than once in direct lineage are Nabab de Reve and Quick Star. Cor de la Bryere is the most well known Selle Francais that shows up somewhere in almost all of the show jumping sires. I examined these three stallions in an effort to better understand the nature of the Selle Francais success.

Cor de La Bryere - the Thoroughbred influence

Cor de la Byere was born in 1968 in France. "Corde" as he was nicknamed was by Rantzau, a French Thoroughbred racehorse who later became most well-known for the jumping horses that he sired. Rantzau had a reputation for producing sensitive, difficult horses that were generally excellent jumpers. The dam of Corde was Quenotte B by Lurioso,who was sired by Furioso, an equally influential Thoroughbred stallion. She was a Selle Francais show jumper. Although Cor de la Bryere's bloodlines were considered exceptional, the French selection committee recommended that he be gelded. Instead he was sold to the Holsteiner Verband as a 3 year old and later that year won his 100 Day Test.

Cor de la Bryere stood at 16.2 1/2 hands (169cm). He was a dark bay with one white hind stocking. I was unable to find out any information about whether he was ridden, but his success in the breeding shed overshadows any question of his value. With select mares he produced some of the most important sires in sporthorse breeding.

As quoted in a Eurodressage article:

The mare Tabelle (by Heißsporn) brought five approved sons in a row. First of all the sons Calypso I and Calypso II got big influence in the Holsteiner - and Hannoveranian - breeding of today. The mare Furgund (by Colombo) was bred by Cor de la Bryère 18 times and delivered five approved sons. One of them, Calando I, was German Champion in jumping with Karsten Huck, and today he is still one of the most important sires of the Holsteiner breed.

The mare Deka brought the approved stallions Caletto I, II and III by Cor de la Bryère. Calleto I was very successful in the international jumping circuit with Michael Rüping and today he is a demanded sire. The most important Cor de la Bryère-son for the breeding must be Caletto II, sire of the Olympic Champion Classic Touch, who lost his life by a tragic accident after only four years breeding.

The offsprings of Cor de la Bryère were also very successful in sport. First of all the dressage champion Corlandus, who was a highlight on the international dressage scene for many years, ridden by French Margit Otto-Crepin. The grey Corrado I, who has returned for breeding at the Holsteiner Verband, won several World Cup-qualifications under Franke Sloothaak.

Corde was known to produce incredible bascule, scope and jumping technique. He was also know to produce highly trainable, good dispositions with an excellent, balanced canter. He had a freedom of movement that made him suitable for both jumping and dressage horses. His athleticism and springiness improved the longevity of jumping horses preventing premature breakdowns previously caused by horses that exhibited only raw power. However his influence was predominantly in the German breeding of Oldenburgs and Holsteiners, where he crossed well with the powerful, heavier warmblood mares. It took a number of years for the French to see the usefulness of their own son.

Quick Star - The Anglo Arab Influence

Quick Star was born in France in 1982. His sire is the well known Galoubet who is predominantly French Trotter crossed with Thoroughbred. And his dam, Stella, who was 7/8 Anglo Arab was a highly successful jumper under Nelson Pessoa. Stella was sired by Nithard, who was considered the "foundation sire of the modern Anglo-Arab." Nithard started with a respectable career on the racetrack but went on to sire some very influential progeny including his grandson, Matcho AA, who was imported to Hanover and has had a significant influence as a broodmare sire of dressage horses.

Quick Star was small in stature standing just at 15.2 hands (159cm). He was ridden by Meridith Michaels, who took him to Germany with her when she moved and later married Markus Beerbaum. While in Europe with Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, Quick Star was stabled at Paul Schockemoele's stables and was supposedly used by Paul Schockemohle for his own breeding purposes covering around 400 mares without the owner's approval. The owner, Alain Katz, had difficulty impressing the French breeders with this "midget" but the criticism was soon proven wrong by the success of his offspring. He seems to have inherited force, power and courage from his Galoubet lines, and the intelligence and technique of his dam line.

Quick Star is known for producing spirited horses with lots of character; strong, short backs capable of catapulting over the fences, and occasionally some aesthetic weaknesses including disproportionate head and necks, and less than perfect front ends. His youngsters are known for their strong wills, keen attitudes, and incredible jumping talent. In forums on the internet, he is described as a producer of horses that challenge the average amateur but are unmatched in jumping talent.

Nabab de Reve - the French Demi-Sang influence

Nabab de Reve was born in Belgium in 1990 and is by the well known Selle Francais stallion, Quidam de Revel. Although Nabab de Reve is registered as a Belgian Warmblood, his dam is also a registered Selle Francais. The bloodlines are pure French, combining well known French Demi Sang lines with an infusion of Thoroughbreds such as Orange Peel, Furioso, Rantzau. The result was a highly successful show jumper that competed at the international level with great success. Nabab's jumping style shows great front end technique characteristic of other French Thoroughbred lines like Furioso and Rantzau. But unlike the hotter more aggressive style of a horse like Quick Star, Nabab appears to leisurely power over the fences.

Nabab was ridden by Phillipe Le Jeune at several world championships including winning the bronze medal at the World Games at Jerez. In 2002 he was named Horse of the Year by the BWP ( Belgian Warmblood organization). He has produced several licensed sons for the BWP including Bacardi van’t Lambroeck, Winsome v d Plataan and Vigo d’Arsouille. Nabab de Reve has produced numerous successful show jumpers including Olympic successes, Eurocommerce London, and Hello Sanctos. He has proven to be an excellent broodmare sire and seems to cross well with the offspring of Cor de la Bryere's sons. He is also considered an excellent cross with Heartbreaker mares. Unfortunately his frozen semen has mixed reviews and there are few off-spring in the United States. Nabab's get tend to be large with notoriously plain heads. They are known to be honest with a good temperament for amateurs. In most videos of offspring that I have seen, Nabab produces horse with elastic form, great shoulder rotation and opening up of the hind-end over the fences.

Expertise is Earned not Purchased

Breeding success is not something that can be purchased in a single horse or dose of semen. The majority of breeders that have produced Olympic show jumpers have acquired their knowledge through years of experience at shows, auctions, and the breeding shed. The Selle Francais's success in show jumping seems to be the result of a multi-generation focus on creating superior jumping power and technique. The Selle Francais breeders have combined proven Anglo Arab and Thoroughbred blood with the stronger, more powerful French warmblood and trotters to produce horses that have a reputation for being keen and careful jumpers with a lot of power. The bloodlines that are more predominantly Anglo-Arab lines have a reputation for quick, careful jumps as well as strong wills and intelligence making them excellent top level competitors but not necessarily suitable for an amateur.

It seems that a breeder interested in pursuing a breeding program that utilizes the Selle Francais lines would be advised to consider the distinctive differences in temperaments between the Selle Francais horses heavily dosed with the French Demi Sang/ Trotter lines and the more Anglo-Arab/ Thoroughbred lines. This requires an examination of three to four generations. But regardless of the choice in family, it is undeniable that the Selle Francais lines offer a heavy dose of power and technique on the horse bred for the top levels of show jumping. The number of Selle Francais horses that were successful at the Olympics in 2012 indicates to me that the French continue to have a "finger on the pulse" of successful pairings for top level show jumpers.