2012 season

Golden Horses Article continued.....

Dilute Thoroughbreds

Falkenhorst stud farm imported the first golden Thoroughbreds to Europe, one filly and the later approved stallion Glitter of Gold xx, from North America in 2001. Glitter of Gold xx is a rich golden Palomino and a direct descendant of Glitter Please xx – a Palomino Thoroughbred who was very successful competing in high level dressage up to Grand Prix on international FEI level in the United States.

They were followed by RFF The Alchemist xx, a double dilute stallion who is now approved in Germany and finished his stallion performance test, where he was placed 3rd on August 14th 2010. This now opens him for all Warmblood Associations for getting his foals main book papers.  RFF The Alchemist xx is sired by hunter champion RRF King’s Ransom xx and his dam is sired by Glitter Please xx.

Gwendolyn Gregorio proved her sense for quality horses and potential sires – it was not taken for granted that both imported colts would be approved later. The goal of Falkenhorst stud farm is to purify the Warmblood breed and to introduce the golden coat colour into the Trakehner breed. RFF The Alchemist xx has already been bred with success to Trakehner mares. Falkenhorst stud farm currently owns two palomino Trakehner fillies out of the bay mare Mandela (Ferrum – Hagedorn IV) and a buckskin tobiano filly out of Make Up – a bay tobiano mare by Sanssouci – Elvis. All three are eligible for the Trakehner main mare book and will be presented to the association in due time. Nearly all foals by RFF The Alchemist xx were premium awarded and many of them were already sold worldwide. He also sired a few purebred Thoroughbreds, for example a palomino filly out of a mare by Platini xx – Windwurf xx, a palomino filly by the imported mare Golden Desire xx by Majestic Regent xx, a grandson of the legendary Northern Dancer xx, and a buckskin colt out of a mare by Lando xx – a grandson of well-known racehorse Surumu xx. Most of them will be retained by Falkenhorst stud farm for their breeding program, but we might see one of them on the racetrack in the near future.

Falkenhorst stud farm uses the dilute Thoroughbreds, as mentioned already above, also in their Warmblood breeding program with very good results. Glitter of Gold xx produced a nice talented Warmblood double dilute stallion Glitter N’ Cream GF who was bought back recently from Scotland by Falkenhorst stud farm and will be available next breeding season. RFF The Alchemist xx has been bred to selected Knabstrupper mares and produced some quality diluted and spotted future sport horses. He not only brings the cream gene into the breeding program but also size, frame, strength, stamina and a good canter as well as jumping ability and his very kind, calm character. He has already competed in combined eventing and has completed his performance test in August this year.

Always investing in the future, Falkenhorst stud farm already owns the next rising star: TCF Palladium – the worldwide first Smoky Cream (a double dilute on black) Thoroughbred colt born at the Canadian True Colours Farm this year, which was bought by Gwendolyn Gregorio already in utero. Sire is Guaranteed Gold xx, who is a successful eventer in Canada. Palladium’s dam RFF Pearlescent xx is a double dilute on bay (perlino) mare sired by King’s Ransom xx.

RFF The Alchemist xx
Copyright: www.turnierfototeam.de

A lovely jacket..

..on a well conformed body, combined with good gaits and a good temper is the ultimate goal. But no matter in what colour a horse comes; the quality always comes in the first place and must be excellent.”

These words are written on the webpage of Falkenhorst stud farm and define their breeding goal. This is no empty phrase and has been fixed in their breeding program from the very beginning. The selection only for coat colour is not favoured by animal breeding experts because in most cases it means a step backward for the breed of riding horses because other characteristics will be neglected most of the time. The ideal is when the colour is just an addition to an already quality horse. As a horse breeder, you have to think economically, but you are also responsible for what you breed and therefore you always must keep in mind that the non-coloured offspring need to be able to be sold too. To achieve this, Falkenhorst stud farm has a large proven mare stock, of only main mare book mares, and is not only breeding with their own stallions but also with some of the current top stallions of the German breeding population.

TCF Palladium
Cream Thoroughbred colt by Guaranteed Gold xx and RFF The Pearlescent xx
Photo credit: ACCphotography

Some of Falkenhorst’s foals were lately sired by the Rubinstein sons Ruben As, a premium awarded stallion (now available through Sprehe), and the former international successful Olympia dressage horse Rapptänzer, Kempke’s Hof stallion Wind Dancer by Weltruhm – Argentan and Sancisco by Sandro Hit – Rohdiamant, as well as the Trakehner stallions Kaiserkult by Elite stallion Van Deyk and, last but not least, Hirtentanz, best jumping stallion at the grading in 2005.

In 2011 Falkenhorst stud farm is expecting foals by their own proven sires Win The Gold, Morgengold II GF and RFF The Alchemist xx as well as again some foals by outside stallions, for example by Laurencio, an Oldenburg stallion from the famous Landgraf line, and Blickpunkt by Belissimo M – Fidermark.

If you’re looking for an upcoming sport horse with lots of potential and an exclusive golden jacket a visit of Falkenhorst stud farm is a must and always worth the travel. Located in Thuringia, a state in the Eastern part of Germany in a region well known as “the green heart of Germany”, with a long history and lots of old castles, a visit can easily combined with a sightseeing tour. You will find an array of horse colours like in a sweet shop.

Visit www.gestuet-falkenhorst.com for more information.

Additional Information:

FN - Fédération Equestre Nationale: Federal Association of Horse Sports and Breeding in Germany

The Cream Gene

In 2001 an American research team mapped the cream gene on chromosome 21, but only when a further study by a French research team involving Denis Mariat looked closer to the chromosome, did they find out that a single mutation at the so-called MATP (membrane associated transporter protein) gene locus is responsible for the dilution. The mutation dilutes the base color of a horse in two steps depending if the mutation is heterozygous or homozygous. A homozygous carrier always gives one copy of the cream gene to his offspring, a heterozygous only up to 50 % of them.

The cream gene in a single dose (heterozygous) has only an effect on red pigment (phaeomelanine) and therefore a black horse can carry a cream gene without any effect on his coat color. If you are breeding a cream gene carrier and the resulting foal is a black, a gene test can help to determine if the foal carries the gene. The gene test was developed at UC Davis in California and is available worldwide. But not only is the cream gene responsible for all dilute colors, there are some more genes which can dilute the basic colors bay, black and chestnut.