Zangersheide horses colour World Cup season

The most eye-catching name during the first rounds of the season was undoubtedly that of the chestnut gelding Consulent de Prelet Z, the son Consulent Z and Fuego du Prelet bred in Slovakia by Kamil Plučinský of Svo Trans Feka. Under the saddle of Irish rider Richard Howley, Consulent de Prelet Z managed to impress by winning both the first round in Oslo and the subsequent round in Helsinki. "We are very happy with Consulent de Prelet Z's successes and are following his achievements very closely. I have even taken out several subscriptions to equestrian platforms to watch as many courses as possible and have actually never missed him live," says Kamil Plučinský. With his stud Trans Feka S.R.O., Plučinský breeds about 10 foals a year, although the dam of Consulent de Prelet Z came into his possession rather by chance. "I was in Holstein at the end of 2003 with Mr Claussen at Gestüt Rabenshof because I was looking for some horses to invest in. He had two horses in mind at the time that I was really interested in: a young stallion and the then 3.5-year-old mare La Granna. The yearling mare Lara de Prelet also appealed to me, but given her young age, she was actually the least interesting to me at the time. When we were negotiating the two horses, Mr Claussen told me that if I bought the two horses, he would give me Lara de Prelet for free. And so it happened. At the time I bought her, the mare La Granna was in foal to the stallion Consulent CR and so, in 2004, Consulent Z (the father of Consulent de Prelet Z) was born. In turn, when Consulent Z was old enough, we combined him a few times with Lara de Prelet, whom we thus got for free, and the third foal from this combiance was Consulent de Prelet Z." Kamil Plučinský has never ridden himself, but immediately realised that Consulent de Prelet Z, or 'Idefix' as they called him at the stables, had something special in him. "He was strong, full of energy and very sensitive and enterprising. If we left him alone in the indoor arena, he would jump the fences for fun and on his own initiative. He is the third offspring of Consulent Z and Lara de Prelet and I already knew from his older siblings that they are very good horses. But because we are mainly concerned with breeding, we sold him as a 4-year-old, as we actually do with most of our horses. I am happy that he is now doing so well with Richard and his good performance has definitely had an impact on our breeding. He has put the name Consultant Z and our breeding on the map (laughs). I will therefore follow their performance in Riyadh next weekend with suspicion."

Who also managed to achieve two victories during the past World Cup season was the bay mare Legacy, a daughter of Chippendale Z and Bon Ami, who was born as Chavantele Z to her breeder Romain Rotty. Legacy has been a strong duo with Irish rider Daniel Coyle for several years now and together they have already amassed an impressive record, including a ^10th place at the European Championships in Herning in 2022. Legacy and Coyle made their first appearance in late December with a ^3rd place at the London World Cup and in January they managed to add the World Cup to their records in both Leipzig and Amsterdam. Legacy was bred in Zoutleeuw by Romain Rotty, a hobby breeder pur sang. "I have been breeding horses for more than 40 years and in the past I have always combined riding at national level with breeding 1-2 foals a year," Rotty reveals. "This is also how Legacy's dam Regina D came my way at some point. She was owned by an acquaintance of mine and when he was having problems with his health and wanted to sell everything, she came to me. At first I rode her myself up to 1.10m level, but she really had a lot of blood for riding. In fact too much. To compensate for that blood in breeding, I looked for a larger stallion with less blood and a lot of scope, and that is how I ended up with Chippendale Z. At the time, he was available for stud at Zangersheide and jumped excellently and with a lot of quality under Stefan Corten's saddle." Rotty did soon realise that Legacy had something special. "From the first moment I was absolutely crazy about Legacy. I have large tracts of pastures and you see a lot when you see foals like that walking through the pasture. Just the way they leave or how they jump over a branch says a lot to me about their qualities. I also normally always try to sell my foals because I don't have and didn't have the time to train horses myself, but for some reason Legacy stayed then. As a 3-year-old I then took her to Zangersheide for a loose jumping competition and there she was bought by André Vorsselmans, after which she was trained by his daughters Marilyn and Annelies Vorsselmans. And through Annelies, she then in turn ended up with Daniel Coyle's sponsor." Rotty still breeds to this day and also keeps a close eye on the performance of his breeding products. "Of course, I follow Daniel and Legacy's performance explicitly and also have a good contact with him. We met once a few years ago when he was in Opglabbeek and exchanged mobile phone numbers. That was a pleasant evening. Since then, we sometimes call or send him a message when Legacy has jumped a good show somewhere. I am currently still breeding with two half-sisters by Legacy, namely Cablesse RK Z (Calvados Z) and Cava R Z (Coriano Z). Out of Cava I have another 2-year-old mare by Couleur Latour, who I think is definitely going to be as good as Legacy, and this one I am expecting another foal by Chippendale Z. When it is born I am going to invite Daniel to come over anyway (laughs)."

Another striking name during the past World Cup season was that of the gelding Belano Vd Wijnhoeve Z, a son of Berlin and Darco from the stud farm of Danny De Cuyper. Under the saddle of Spaniard Mariano Martinez Bastida, Belano Vd Wijnhoeve Z may not have won a heat, but he did manage to place four times including a ^3rd place at the Madrid World Cup in November. "It is really fantastic how well Belano is doing at the moment and I am really experiencing this very intensely. It's also nice to see that rider and horse have made each other better in recent years, because until a few years ago both Martinez Bastida and Belano did not jump higher than two- and three-star level. I also have some contact with Mariano Martinez Bastida from time to time, but it is not always easy because he really only speaks Spanish," an enthusiastic Danny De Cuyper tells us. De Cuyper is primarily a supplier of fodder carrots and has always considered breeding as a hobby. "At the time, I was breeding with two mares including the Darco mare Wynona van de Donkhoeve, which I bought from the Quintelier family. Wyona had a lot of blood and was not too big, so I initially had to look a bit at size when choosing a stallion. After a first foal by Eros Platiere, I chose Berlin in 2008 and from that combination Belano was then born. A good choice, as it turned out later." De Cuyper has always taken his time with his horses had a clear vision in terms of training his breeding products. "My horses never competed before they were 5 years old. I did let them ride some dressage as a 4-year-old and once a jump under saddle, but nothing more was necessary for me. They are still so young at that time and that body is still developing. Then they would go back into the meadow for a while after which they could start their career as 5-year-olds." So that was also the case for Belano, who could be seen as a young horse under the saddle of Daphné Van Hende and José Thiry before ending up with Jean-Christophe De Grande in mid-2015. "With José Thiry, Belano had already taken part in the jumping tour of Jumping Lummen as a 6-year-old, but the real breakthrough came under the saddle of Jean-Christophe De Grande. They did well at national and international level and when Belano was 7 years old, they won the Belgian Cup at Gesves. Shortly afterwards, however, circumstances made me quit everything and Belano was sold to Jean-Christophe de Grande and his in-laws." In the years that followed, De Grande and Belano formed a rock-solid duo on the international stage, and in the process they also wrote quite a few classes and Grand prizes to their name. Since the beginning of 2020, however, Mariano Martinez Bastida has been in Belano's saddle, so they grew together in recent years to the very highest level with the known results. Due to circumstances, De Cuyper has been away for a few years, but has started breeding again in recent years. "I didn't have any horses for a total of six years after I sold everything in 2015. In addition to Belano's dam, I also bred with a Dollar Dela Pierre mare during that time and I was lucky to buy back a progeny from both my mares a few years ago. I am currently breeding with the mare Synona Van Den Heuvel, a daughter of Jenson van 't Meulenhof and therefore a half-sister of Belano. She gave birth to a foal by Catoki twice in recent years, one of which I was able to sell as a foal and of which I still have a 2-year old standing. And also Belano's mother is now back in the meadow with me. She is now already 25 years old and can enjoy her well-deserved retirement (laughs)."