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