Sire Donnerhall

Sire Donnerhall

.

D’OLYMPIC

A stallion of amazing ability in dressage and showjumping, proven by his scores at his licensing.

The World Young Horse Championships in 2000 proved to be extremely successful for D’Olympic. In the 1^st Qualifier he finished 1^st with a score of 8.4, this was from a field of 31. The 2^nd Qualifier was nearly as good, finishing 2^nd with a score of 8.6, again from a field of 31. In the Final he finished with a score of 8.6, to take out the Reserve Champion Title. These great results are made even more impressive when you take in to consideration that he started as a reserve!. In the same year at the Bundeschampionat he finished as Reserve Champion of the Consolation Final. It was observed at the time that perhaps both he and Laurentier were feeling fatigued due to their World Championships campaigns.

D’Olympic stamps his progeny with his good looks, movement and conformation. He has a number of Licensed sons and high priced auction horses.

The Sire, Donnerhall, holds the highest dressage breeding value index (271) of all stallions.  He placed second among 70 stallions at his Performance Test and went on to become DLG Champion in 1986.  Donnerhall won more than 65 FEI Level and Grand Prix competitions and competed successfully until he was retired at 17-years of age.  Donnerhall's remarkable success as an international competitor and breeding stallion has made him one of the most successful dressage stallions in the world today.  With over 77 approved sons (all registries), 450 broodmares, 84 of which are State Premium, and over 636 competition horses, he has made a tremendous impact on the sport horse breeding world. 

 When a colt by Donnerwetter out of Ninette by Markus-Carnot was born at Otto Gärtner's stud farm in Wenstein, Holstein on the 30th of May 1981, no-one could have imagined that the dark chestnut who was later christened Donnerhall, would one day stage a triumphant march through the equestrian world like no stallion before him. What's more, no other stallion has ever come close to achieving what the chocolate coloured chestnut Donnerhall managed in such a convincing manner, namely, the symbiosis of the dual qualities of being a successful competition sports horse and on the other hand being a top grade breeding horse.
It was undoubtedly an encounter determined by destiny, that Donnerhall grew up on the memorable Otto Schulte-Frohlinde's Grönwoldhof studfarm.

On the occasion of the 1983 Oldenburg approval, the then still somewhat lean chestnut with the handsome blaze made a relatively unspectacular appearance. It did not take long however, until he had his first triumph. One year later, Donnerhall absolved his stallion performance test in Adelheidsdorf as vice-champion with a score of in excess of 130 points, exceeding all fellow contenders in the field of rideability. From that time onwards, Herbert and Karin Rehbein took over the training of Donnerhall, who proved to be a model student. Everything fitted together perfectly: Donnerhall's preparedness to perform, his rideability and first class basic gaits virtually predestined him for an international career in the dressage arena. In 1986 he was again in the limelight, becoming champion stallion of the DLG show in Hanover.

His following appearance under Karin Rehbein, who danced through the arena with him remains unforgotten until this day.
In next to no time, Donnerhall and Karin Rehbein established themselves in the upper echelons of the dressage sport, easily managing the jump into the difficult advanced class. This was followed by high placements and wins in Grand Prix, Grand Prix Special and optional Grand Prix events.
In 1994, Donnerhall had not only already gained an outstanding reputation for himself as an exceptional sire through his approved sons, highly decorated daughters and numerous competition sports horses, but also returned home from the World Championships in the Hague with team gold and individual bronze medals, which he secured for himself following a fascinating freestyle performance. Then at the 1997 European Championship in Verden, Karin Rehbein and Donnerhall once again belonged to the golden team and won an additional individual bronze medal.

At the 1998 World Championships in Rome, Karin Rehbein and the meanwhile 17-year old stallion were once more part of the German gold medal team and gained an excellent fourth place in the individual rating.
His sporting successes, substantiated by his life winnings of around DM 640,000 are no less significant than his importance as a hereditary transmitter. His breeding tally includes 77 approved sons, while of the more than 450 registered mares, 84 were awarded the state premium, including the champion mares Primavera and Hallo. In excess of 300 progeny have moreover been registered as sports horses.
Donnerhall's last public appearance under his rider Karin Rehbein at the gala evening of the 1998 Oldenburg approval, where children with lanterns formed a narrow passage through which Donnerhall strode magnificently, remains a warm and unforgettable memory.

From that time onwards, he only fulfilled his duties as a sire at the Grönwohldhof, where his remarkable career had begun.

The Damsire, Cor de la Bryere came from Normandy, and the breeders found it difficult to remember his name. Today the French-bred is present in more than 70 percent of the Holsteiner pedigrees. At first Corde was standing on the famous stallion station Siethwende of the Holsteiner Verband. His groom Bruno Grigat and the stallion stayed there together for more than 14 years. In 1974, as the first sons of Corde entered the Approval ring in Neumunster, his offspring impressed due to an excellent technique and their suppleness when jumping,
combined with the scope of the Holsteiners. So the experts could only hope that Corde would mark the Holsteiner breed once and for all.

With certain mares Cor de la Bryere developed so called suitable pairings, which must be outstanding in the whole history of horse breeding. The mare Tabelle (by Heisporn) brought five approved sons in a row. First of the sons Calypso I and Calypso II have a large influence in the Holsteiner and Hanoverian breeding of today.

The mare Furgund (by Colombo) was bred by Cor de la Bryere 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 Bryere. Calleto I was very successful in the international jumping circuit and today he is a demanded sire. The most important Cor de la Bryere-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 offspring of Cor de la Bryere were also very successful in sport. First, 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. The overall winnings of Corde's offspring amount to more than 4.5 million DM. Cor de la Bryere leaves 49 approved sons and 536 registered daughters, of which 86 received the State Premium title, to the Holsteiner breeding.