The moment has almost arrived! Tomorrow marks the very first foal auction of the KWPN Select Sale in collaboration with the Oldenburger Verband. Tonight at 6:45 PM, the foals will be presented live during the international event Horses & Dreams in Hagen. The presentation can be watched live via ClipMyHorse. The auction will take place tomorrow evening at 8:30 PM and features a selection of outstanding foals from both the Netherlands and Germany. The collection includes fourteen dressage foals and seven showjumping foals. The dressage foals are sired by Viva Gold, One Million, Dynamic Pur, Elastic, Odin, Sarai L, St. Emilion, Extreme U.S., Vitalis, Veneno, Fascination, Ortisei, and Escanto PS. The showjumping foals are by Zinedine, Don’t Touch Tiji Hero, Casallco, Zirocco Blue VDL, Cornet Obolensky, and Catoki. Olympic Dressage Genes Dynamic Pur, winner of the stallion competition in Vechta, presents a highly promising colt from his first crop via Dynamic Renard. This damline has produced many successful dressage stallions, such as the approved Signore Rubinstein and Sirano de Luxe. The granddam of the Elastic colt Vicky Litchy US is the half-sister of Olympic stallion Painted Black and the Olympic horse Go Legend . Valentino AVE (by Sarai L) descends from the same damline as the approved Lord Romantic and several other stallions. The dam of Vice President , a son of Vitalis, is the Small Tour mare Luna (by Governor), who is preparing for her Grand Prix debut. Exceptional Showjumping Foals Expectations are also high for the showjumping foals. The filly Catanga boasts a powerhouse pedigree featuring Catoki, Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve, Vigo D’Arsouilles, and Cornet Obolensky—all top 1.60m performers. The dam of Casa Mia , a daughter of Casallco, is the full sister of 1.55m horse Carlo ridden by Harry Allen. Don’t Touch Tiji Hero is the sire of the highly interesting colt Discreetly Touch , whose dam is the sister of 1.55m jumper Campino MR (by Colestus). Viva Girl , daughter of the Olympic Zirocco Blue VDL and Vivant van de Heffinck, comes from a rock-solid damline. Her dam is the half-sister to no less than 14 international jumpers, including 1.50/1.60m horses Katyusa , Carilot , and Carquilot . Live Presentation & Auction On Friday evening, April 25 at 8:30 PM, you will have the opportunity to invest in future stars. Prior to the live and online auction, the foals will be presented on Thursday evening, April 24 at 6:45 PM, and again on Friday, April 25 at 2:45 PM (dressage) and 5:15 PM (jumping). Contact The collection is now online and available for viewing on Horse24. Bidding is possible both online and in person. If you have any questions about the auction or the foals, feel free to contact the KWPN Select Sale team at +31 6 82 09 73 69. Collection

For the second year in a row, an exclusive foal auction will take place during the international Horses & Dreams event in Hagen. This year, the guest country is the Netherlands, reason enough for the Oldenburg studbook and KWPN to join forces. On Friday evening, April 25, a total of 21 exceptional dressage and jumping foals will go under the hammer, selected in both the Netherlands and Germany. The collection features fourteen dressage foals and seven jumping foals. The dressage foals are sired by Viva Gold, One Million, Dynamic Pur, Elastic, Odin, Sarai L, St. Emilion, Extreme U.S., Vitalis, Veneno, Fascination, Ortisei, and Escanto PS. The jumping foals are offspring of Zinedine, Don’t Touch Tiji Hero, Casallco, Zirocco Blue VDL, Cornet Obolensky, and Catoki. Olympic dressage bloodlines Dynamic Pur, winner of the stallion competition in Vechta, presents a highly promising colt from his first crop via Dynamic Renard. His dam line has produced many successful dressage stallions such as approved stallions Signore Rubinstein and Sirano de Luxe. The granddam of Elastic foal Vicky Litchy US is the half-sister of Olympic stallion Painted Black and Olympic horse Go Legend. Valentino AVE (by Sarai L) comes from the dam line of the approved stallion Lord Romantic and several other licensed stallions. The dam of Vitalis son Vice President is the Small Tour mare Luna (by Governor), who is preparing for her Grand Prix debut. Exceptional jumping foals High expectations also surround the jumping foals. The filly Catanga boasts a powerful pedigree with Catoki, Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve, Vigo D’Arsouilles, and Cornet Obolensk, anchored in 1.60m-level genes. The dam of Casallco daughter Casa Mia is the full sister of the 1.55m horse Carlo ridden by Harry Allen. The stallion Don’t Touch Tiji Hero is the sire of the very interesting colt Discreetly Touch. His dam is the sister of the 1.55m horse Campino MR (by Colestus). Viva Girl, a daughter of Olympic stallion Zirocco Blue VDL and Vivant van de Heffinck, comes from an outstanding dam line. Her dam is the half-sister of no fewer than 14 international jumping horses, including 1.50/1.60m horses Katyusa, Carilot, and Carquilot. Live presentations Every April, the world’s equestrian elite gathers at Hof Kasselmann in Hagen a.T.W. The Horses & Dreams 4* dressage and 3* jumping competition traditionally marks the start of the German outdoor season and is an absolute must on the calendar of top riders. Each year, a different country is honored as the guest nation, this year it’s ‘Horses & Dreams meets The Netherlands.’ On Friday evening, April 25 at 8:30 PM, you’ll have the opportunity to invest in future talent. Prior to the live and online auction, the foals will be presented on Thursday evening, April 24 at 6:45 PM, and again on Friday, April 25 at 3:30 PM (dressage) and 5:15 PM (jumping). The collection is now online and can be viewed at Horse24. Bidding is possible both online and live. COLLECTION Photo Vivi-Lou: Fascination x Ferguson

The Dutch influence during the World Cup Finals was striking. In show jumping, top sire Heartbreaker posthumously left his mark, and the Cardento-daughter Iliana was the highest-scoring KWPN horse. The dressage final consisted of 40% Dutch horses and had the keur stallion Glamourdale as a dream winner. Although no Dutch horse ended up on the podium in the jumping, the influence of the studbook was unmistakable in this World Cup Final. Four KWPN horses placed among the top twelve, and Dutch influences were clearly present in other horses as well. Iliana The victory went to the winner of the first round, Frenchman Julien Epaillard with his Jarnac-offspring Donatello d’Auge, who only had a small mistake in the second round on the final day. Their performance brought in €172,500. In a time that, without the four faults, would have been good enough for the win in the second round, Henrik von Eckermann finished fourth with Iliana sport-spr (Cardento out of Destiny by Gentleman), bred by farrier Jan Bocken. This mare has been paired with the Sweden-based rider since early 2022 and had previously caught the eye under Lars Kersten. With Henrik von Eckermann, Iliana advanced to the highest level and already competed at the European Championships in Milan in 2023. That the ultra-careful mare suits the St. Jakobshalle in Basel was proven in January when she claimed the Longines Grand Prix there. In her first World Cup Final, the Cardento daughter delivered a top-level performance and added €60,000 to her winnings. Great cooperation “Iliana did fantastic. She cooperated so well and stayed calm in her head. Even in the last lines of the course, she kept her composure, and that’s very important. Because at a multi-day competition, she must not get too hot, as she would carry that tension into the next day. So I’m incredibly happy with Iliana and the progress she has shown. She couldn’t have done better, and the mistakes on the last day were entirely my fault,” praises Von Eckermann his top horse. Heartbreaker Heartbreaker’s influence was significant. Two grandchildren of the influential stallion made it to the podium, and three more horses in the top twelve carried the genes of this pride of Team Nijhof. For instance, the runner-up Point Break under Ben Maher is a grandson of Heartbreaker through his sire Action-Breaker. This SWB-registered stallion traces back to a Dutch dam line. The third-placed Visconti du Telman of Kevin Staut is a granddaughter of Heartbreaker through Toulon. Incredible (Clinton out of Unbelievable ster prest PROK by Heartbreaker, breeder Gebroeders Bosch), who finished twelfth, once again demonstrated his jumping quality under Daniel Coyle, and only had a minor time penalty on the final day. This gelding, bred by the KWPN Breeders of the Year 2024, is a maternal grandson of Heartbreaker. Team Nijhof Additionally, two offspring of top sire Eldorado van de Zeshoek, another stallion from the stables of Team Nijhof, finished among the top twelve. Willem Greve started the World Cup Final with some unlucky faults but made a strong comeback on the final day with a 0/1 result aboard the KWPN-approved keur stallion Grandorado TN N.O.P. (Eldorado van de Zeshoek out of Charmieque elite IBOP-spr EPTM-spr sport-spr PROK by Carolus II, breeders Marinus Rietberg and Dick Verhoeven). They ended up, together with two other combinations who were just slightly faster in the second round, on 12 penalties, securing seventh place for the Dutch pair. Under Max Kühner, another Eldorado van de Zeshoek-offspring, Elektric Blue P, finished the World Cup Final in a nice tenth place. Eldorado van de Zeshoek himself is out of a dam by Toulon, one of the strongest-producing sons of Heartbreaker. Also among the prize winners was Gamin van ’t Naastveldhof, who placed sixteenth under Edouard Schmitz and is out of a Toulon dam. This means Heartbreaker’s genes were present in five horses among the top twelve (40%). Dutch stallions But the influence of Team Nijhof’s stallions does not end there, as Out of the Blue SCF, who placed eighth with Katherine Dinan, is an American-registered offspring of the preferent sire Verdi. The other major stallion station from the Netherlands, VDL Stud, also had influence via their stallions in this World Cup Final. The winners of the second round, Martin Fuchs with Leone Jei (Baltic VDL out of Dara ster IBOP-spr prest PROK by Corland, breeder Gijs van Mersbergen), achieved a top 10 result as well. Unfortunately, they could not maintain their good form on the last day and ended this World Cup Final with 14 penalties and ninth place. In the second round, however, they had the Swiss home crowd on their feet with their victory. Another top sire from VDL Stud, the Olympic stallion Zirocco Blue VDL, had a successful son competing. Under Hans-Dieter Dreher, the Holstein-registered Elysium jumped to thirteenth place. KWPN bloodlines Iron Dames My Prins, bred by Ludo Philippaerts, finished fifth with Sophie Hinners and descends from the KWPN-registered Grand Prix stallion Zilverstar T. This Berlin-son, bred by Herman van Triest, competed in the Olympic Games himself and has already produced several offspring at the highest level. Moreover, Iron Dames My Prins comes from a KWPN dam line, going back via two BWP-registered mares in the third generation to the Joost x Abgar xx-mare Atanette. Dutch influences Kick On, who placed eleventh with Lillie Keenan, is also by a KWPN-registered stallion. He is a son of the Grand Prix stallion Warrior (s.Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve, breeder Leo de Bruijn), with whom Jamal Rahimov competed in the European Championships in Aachen and the World Equestrian Games in Caen, and who was placed in multiple Grand Prixs. More indirectly, we can also mention United Touch S, who placed sixth with Richard Vogel, as he is a grandson of the KWPN-approved Grand Prix stallion Untouchable via Untouched. Similarly, Untouchable 32 (s.Van Helsing), who placed fifteenth with Ramzy Al Duhami, is a granddaughter of the KWPN-registered stallion Valentino (s.Now or Never M) through her sire. KWPN well represented in dressage In the dressage final, KWPN was also well represented. With seven out of the seventeen participating horses, more than 41 percent of the horses in this final were KWPN-bred. The great representative of this Dutch breeding success was, of course, the KWPN-approved keur stallion Glamourdale (Lord Leatherdale out of Thuja pref prest by Negro, breeder Joop Rodenburg), who took the win under Charlotte Fry. It is yet another highlight in the career of this stallion. In Basel, the pair once again proved too strong for the competition. With Total Hope Old ridden by Isabel Freese and Gotilas du Feuillard (Totilas out of Vital Hit S ster PROK by Ferro, breeder Unlimited Stables) ridden by Corentin Pottier, the KWPN-bred and -approved stallion Totilas produced two offspring in third and fourth place. Larissa Pauluis finished eighth with the KWPN horse Flambeau (Ampère out of Lakarla elite pref prest sport-dres by Zeoliet, breeder José van Eijkelenburg from Oisterwijk). On to Los Angeles 2028 The Zangersheide-registered Sertorius de Rima Z (s.Sandro Hit) is out of the KWPN mare Siolita (s.Voltaire) and performs very harmonious tests with Pauline Basquin. We also saw Dutch horses such as Gino (Bretton Woods out of Lugienna keur by Haarlem, breeder M.F.M. Heynert-Hermans) and Ivanhoe (Desperado out of Pirouette ID elite PROK by Jazz, breeder S.M.F.H. Waterschoot) under Genay Vaughn and Mary Hanna respectively. The latter had a strong track record in the Netherlands from a young age, including in the VSN Trophy and Pavo Cup, and was trained to the highest level by Margreet Prosman before being purchased by her current rider. Incidentally, the 70-year-old Mary Hanna leaves no doubt about her ambitions with this KWPN horse: the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028 are her main goal. Overview page World Cup Finals Text: Jenneke Smit Photos: Dirk Caremans

Horse enthusiasts, breeders, and equestrian professionals—mark your calendars. On April 5th at 13:00 CET, we invite you to an extraordinary showcase of world-class stallions at our Annual Stallion Show. This annual event is a must-attend for anyone passionate about the best genetics, performance, and breeding. We will present stallions who have and are competing at the top level in our sport, with offspring in the spotlight worldwide, as well as the next generation of sires who are developing to follow in their footsteps. Top 100 Sires ranking WBFSH 6 of the 7 stallions we have featured in the top 100 Sires ranking from WBFSH will be shown live during the show; Zirocco Blue, Arezzo, Baltic, Harley, Carrera and Etoulon. Highest placed stallion, Cardento, will be represented by his relatives in a way we can be very proud of with son Grand Slam VDL recently home in Bears after his World Cup campaign with Brazilian rider Marlon Zanotelli and his half brother, the Cartani son Cartello VDL. Cartello made his name known globally under the saddle from Irishman Darragh Kenny this combination won the 5* GP in Monterray (MEX) last year and took 2nd on of the arguably most prestigious Grand Prix’s there is, Spruce Meadows. The next generation of sires will also be presented including recently approved Rebellion RAG (Harley x Crawford); premium KWPN stallions from 2025 Celtic (Chatinue x Calvaro Z) and Santiago (Eldorado van de Zeshoek x Kashmir van Schuttershof); popular Baltic son Boston, as well as stallion competition dominating trio Sambucci de Muze, Night Life and New Pleasure; and the next generation breaking through on the international scene Mindset (Aganix du Seigneur x Kannan), prolific winner McAllister (Inaico x Emilion) and breakthrough stallion Comthago (Comme Il Faut x Carthago). Newly offered stallion Mattias (Comme Il Faut x Catoki) will be jumping at the show a very interesting stallion showing a lot of quality at international shows already. Not to forget winning machine Stargos (Stakkato Gold x Conthargos) will be again on display. Offspring from the stallions will be showcased giving you the chance to inspect the qualities these sires produce. To guide us through the show, we are delighted to welcome voice of worldwide Showjumping Frederik de Backer and the voice of Dutch Showjumping Bert de Ruiter. Of course with the motto ‘Quality Always Wins’ at the forefront, top quality stallions and top quality commentary would not be complete without top quality riders. We will be joined by Jur Vrieling, Hessel Hoekstra, Alex Gill, Luke Hill, Marcel De Boer, Femke de Laat to name a few. We are lucky enough to expect visitors from all over the world, entry is free for all, so bring your fellow equine enthusiasts to enjoy this spectacular event. Can’t be here with us-the entire show will be broadcasted LIVE by Clip My Horse. We look forward to welcoming you on April 5th. Source: VDL Stud  

Small in stature, but great in deeds. That applies to the Carthago daughter Valerie, who has developed into a highly successful broodmare at the Nijhof family and Wim ten Pas. Mares like Valerie add extra prestige to Team Nijhof’s own breeding program. In addition to producing the 1.55m-classified stallion Diathago, she has also delivered remarkable sons such as the 1.45m-jumping Lamaze TN and Pilothago. Henk Nijhof Sr. once purchased the Hanoverian state premium mare Sera del Castegno (Stakkato) in Germany and bred one foal from her before selling her to esteemed Italian clients. That one foal turned out to be a direct hit with Valerie, and her half-brothers and sisters in Italy also underscore the breeding power of this family. Additionally, top showjumpers such as Karamell M&M (Kannan), with whom Takashi Haase Shibayama competed at the Paris Olympics, and Audrey Coulter’s Grand Prix winner Acorte (Acorado I) comes from Valerie’s direct damline. Strong lineage Valerie is a half-sister to no fewer than seven international showjumpers, including the highest-level classified Maximo del Castegno (Acodetto I) of Roberto Prandi. “Looking back, it is of course very unfortunate that the Stakkato mare only produced one foal for us, especially now that we see how incredibly well Valerie herself breeds. But we have always sold many of our mares,” says Henk Nijhof Jr. Sera del Castegno “Only in the last 10 to 12 years have we focused more on our own breeding, and thanks in part to Valerie, we are really reaping the benefits. We love buying foals and later having success with them, but it is extra special when they come from our own breeding. Valerie’s dam was a beautiful mare of average height. That’s why we chose the powerful sire Carthago for her, and the following year, pregnant with Concorde, we sold her. That Concorde son jumped at 1m45 level in Italy, so the start was immediately promising, and later, Sera del Castegno produced six more international horses there. Like her mother, Valerie is certainly not tall – she barely reaches 1m60 – but the majority of her offspring are of good to excellent size.” Co-owner Wim ten Pas The Nijhof family has co-owned Valerie with Wim ten Pas since she was young, and they are jointly listed as breeders of her offspring. “We have a great collaboration with Wim, and Valerie spent most of her life with him. Only in recent years have we done more embryo transfer, so now she stays with us in the summers. As a young horse, she underwent colic surgery, so we no longer want her to carry foals herself.”  First approved son Valerie was immediately used for breeding. “At that time, it was less common to put mares in sport, and due to her colic surgery, that was not an option anyway. We first bred her to Sandro Boy, resulting in the mare Balade. From her, we bred multiple international 1m30/1m35 horses, but she didn’t pass on her qualities as strongly as her mother.” The following year, she produced the Calvaro Z daughter Crocodile Dundee. She was sold as a promising showjumper to the Czech Republic and was later successful at international 1m45 level with Jan Studnicka and Barbora Tomanova. Before her sport career, Crocodile Dundee produced the Canabis Z son Hickstead TN at Nijhof and Ten Pas, who later competed at 1m40 level and also moved to the Czech Republic. After two offspring by Quidam de Revel, Didam who competes at the 1m40 level under Devin Ryan and the internationally classified 1m30 horse Equidame, Valerie produced her first approved stallion in 2010. This stallion Pilothago is a son of Pilot. Pilothago This stallion began his international career under Zoï Snels, who was then affiliated with Team Nijhof and trained him up to 1m45 level. “Pilothago is a very beautiful stallion, and we first leased him to Westfalia. He jumped well and seemed to be breeding well too. The only thing that stood out was that he was a bit more skittish than Valerie’s other offspring, which must have come from Pilot. Generally, Valerie’s offspring excel with their fantastic jumping style and mentality, and that certainly applies to Pilothago as well. As a three-year-old, he was already highly rated in the stallion test in Neustadt-Dosse and later performed well in sport.” The Westfalian premium stallion was the last approved son of Pilot, and his oldest offspring now compete at international 1m50/1m60 level. Top talents The year after Pilothago, Valerie produced another talented stallion: the Diamant de Semilly son Golden Diamant TN. “Like Pilothago, this stallion, later renamed Diathago, was approved in Westphalia, and we sold him to the Westphalian Verband. He performed well with Marcus Ehning and even won a 1m55 class at the five-star event in Oslo with him. Like Pilothago, Diathago also seemed to be breeding well,” says Henk Nijhof. The oldest offspring of this Valerie son are now 10 years old and compete at 1m45 level. Lamaze TN The third approved son of Valerie is the Grandorado TN son Lamaze TN, born in 2016, who stands at stud at Team Nijhof and is approved by Zangersheide and Hannover, among others. “Lamaze TN was initially in the Czech Republic, where he became champion of the stallion licensing. In 2021, he returned to us and started training with Kars (Bonhof, ed.). We believe he is a stallion for the big sport. At nine years old he jumps 1m45 courses with ease and is known for his power and carefulness, making him a stallion suitable for top-level sport.” High expectations A nice detail is that all three Team Nijhof stable riders each have a talented offspring of Valerie under saddle. The six-year-old Orpheus TN (Poker de Mariposa TN) stood out in the GMB competition under Koen Westendorp, while the five-year-old Purple Rain TN (Pegase van’t Ruytershof) shows enormous potential under Fabiënne Lichtenvoort Cats. “Lamaze, Orpheus, and Purple Rain all train here at the sport stable, and we have very high expectations of them. The youngest two are still too young for international results, but I think they will bring a lot of recognition to Valerie. And Lamaze TN is one of our rising stars; he seems to have everything needed to follow in the footsteps of his father Grandorado.” Technique and mentality The Nijhof family and Wim ten Pas also breed with several daughters of Valerie, such as the E-Star daughter I’m A Star TN and the Canabis Z daughter Joint TN. Through the Youngsters Auction, Valerie’s offspring Matchwinner TN (Kannan) has also found his way to international competitions, with more young talents coming up. “Valerie is one of those mares that shows us how beautiful breeding can be. She consistently produces excellent jumpers. Her offspring have fantastic characters, are easy to ride, and possess great jumping ability and carefulness. Most of her offspring are well-sized and have power,” says Henk. He continued by saying: “They all jump the same way; knees up, head down, and great hind technique. If I could change anything about the past thirty years, I would have invested more in our own broodmares. Valerie proves how much a mare can influence breeding, and we are thrilled to train our own products now.” Special mare Co-owner Wim ten Pas is equally enthusiastic: “She’s not just a great broodmare; she’s also a special horse in terms of personality. She still has a sharp mind and a bright eye, which she passes on. We have high hopes for her line, and this year, we expect foals by Hernandez TN and Casallco from Valerie.” Text: Jenneke Smit Photography: Jacob Melissen