Nijhof Interview continued.....

One question that I posed to Jeannette was of all the stallions in the world today that was doing well as a sire, who she would like to own. Her answer brought a smile to my face – “If I had to choose one stallions who is doing well at the moment that I would like to own, then I would choose “Clinton” (v Corrado), as he is making fantastic offspring in the showjumping arena……………but we own him already.”

She then went on to say – “So if I had to choose a stallion owned by someone else, then I would choose a promising young stallion like “Epleaser van ’t Heike”, a son of “For Pleasure” that jumped fantastic recently at the World Championships for Young Horses in Lanaken”.

After hearing this I then looked up this stallion because I thought “If Jeannette thinks he is good then he must be good”. I did a search on this stallion to fill my own curiosity and came across several videos on YouTube, which showed a young chestnut stallion with scope, power, and ability. “Epleaser” is ridden by Matthijs Van Asten and came 4th in the 5-Year Old Championships at Zangersheide the other week.

“Epleaser” is a Belgium Warmblood that measures 1.68m and stands at Stoeterij De Vier Dagmaelen in Belgium, and is owned and bred by Karel and Maria Boonen. His sire is “For Pleasure” and his dam is “Valentina van ‘t Heike” who herself competes at International Grand Prix with Jos Lansink. She is by the outstanding French stallion “Nabab de Reve” out of a Lys de Darmen mare.

Having done some research into this stallion there is a lot to like about him and I too look forward to watching this stallion with interest, this reinforces exactly what Jeannette and her family are good at.

The one thing I notice more and more in Europe is the partnerships that are formed by several people to own one particular stallion. This was another question that I asked Jeannette about and her response was – “To do partnerships with stallions is a way to obtain a part of a super stallion, which is normally not for sale. Or to sell part of a stallion to prevent that stallion being sold, and therefore having a Partner so that he can stay.”

Obviously as a mare owner you are always looking for not only the best stallions to match your mare, but for any deals that may be offered by Studfarms. I have to say having worked with Jeannette over the last couple of years, we have nothing but praise for them and how they operate, both they and their team are incredibly helpful when you need assistance in receiving semen in time.

Photo copyright galop.be

Epleaser Van 'T Heike

When asked about what they can offer mare owners, Jeannette said – “Our studfarm is offering good deals to breeder’s world wide. They only pay for a pregnant mare, and if the mare is not pregnant by 30th September then the mare owners only pay 200 euros (excl vat) to cover the collection fees. Also when breeders have more than one mare we offer them a discount on the breeding fees for the next mares that are bred to one of the stallions that we own.”

One of the last questions I asked Jeannette was what Team Nijhofs future goals were:

“Our future goals are to maintain a group of stallions that are of the highest quality and that are measured within the top of the world in showjumping and showjumping breeding. These goals are very high, however stallions can only give the qualities to their offspring that they have themselves. If they can jump Grand Prix level then it is very likely that their offspring will inherit their qualities to do the same. That is why all our stallions are represented in the sport.”

"One of our best young stallions at the moment is the Stakkatus x Grannus son "Spartacus". In 2008 the stallion Spartacus was very successful at M level ridden by Hanno Ellerman. At the World Championships in Lanaken they earned themselves a very prestigious 10th place. Spartacus also jumped phenomally in the KWPN stallion competion in Roosendaal ensuring a victory when ridden by Hanno Ellerman. We have high hopes for him for the future."

My last question to Jeannette was what the best advice she can offer to breeders:

“The best advice I can give to any breeder is to purchase good mares. Breeders have access to the best fresh/chilled/frozen semen of all the stallions in the world…….so the difference in the quality of foals you breed comes down to the mare, she is what makes the difference!!”

Spartacus by Stakkato x Grannus

The above is something I have always had a great belief in and something that we have done over the years ourselves as a breeding farm. As she has rightly said, with the age of Artificial Insemination it has made stallions more readily available to any breeder, but to produce top class foals as breeders we need to put a great emphasis on the mares we are breeding with. In doing this it gives us, the British Breeder, a bigger chance of seeing the fruits of our labors compete in national and international sport.

I would like to thank Jeannette Nijhof for giving me the chance and time of this interview as she was busy with the World Championships at Lanaken. Also for allowing us to use some fabulous pictures which you can see more of below.

Dressage star "Johnson"

Florencio I, World Champion of Dressage Horses

"Wizzerd" Rising Showjumping Star

BELOW YOU WILL FIND A LOVELY SELECTION OF PICTURES THAT WE HAVE BEEN SENT BY JEANNETTE NIJHOF OF HER STALLIONS & HORSES
(Click on the Picture to Enlarge)