Almé

Almé
Born 1966, 166 cm
Breeder - Alphonse Chauvin

Born 1966 died 1991
Served France 1971-74; Zangersheide 1975-85, France 1986-1991
The Selle Français stallion, Almé influenced showjumping bloodlines all over Europe. Almé was by the great French stallion, Ibrahim out of Girondine.
Ibrahim is again one of those stallions who was shunned at first, only to become hugely popular far too late - in his case, after his death. Born in 1952, Ibrahim is out of Vailante, and by The Last Orange (born 1941), another sire initially shunned by breeders. The Last Orange carried the blood of Eclipse xx, Matchem xx and Herod xx. His sire, Orange Peel (born 1919) is considered the founder of the modern Normandy horse, and left 19 licensed sons in the area.
Ibrahim was champion of his age group in 1956 and was acquired by the State stud St-Lô and sent to Sartilly. However the local breeders did not like him much, thinking him only good enough to cover their Normandy draught mares. In 1965, Norvale, a mare from his first crop started to compete internationally with Jean-Michel Gaud, followed soon by Petit Prince C with Alain Navet and Quo Vadie with Michel Raoul-Duval.
Still breeders were reluctant to use him and it was only when his progeny dominated the jumping finals at Fontainebleau in 1970 that he achieved real recognition. At this show, his youngsters won in hand classes, while his four year olds - Alcazar D, Aurore C, Azimut, Arteban and Almé - dominated the jumping finals. His daughter Val de Loire B won the five year old class. Even today the influence of Ibrahim is strong. At the finals of the 2003 Cycle Classique in Fontainebleau, it is interesting that in the 4 Year Old final, 219 youngsters started, with 112 double clears. Eight stallions sired more than one horse that went double clear: Urbain du Monnai (Narcos II x Monceaux xx - 6); Apache d'Adriers (Double Espoir x Felix xx - 5), Cacao Courcelle (Jalisco B x Mersebourg - 3), Drakkar des Huittins (Narcos II x Feu Sacré - 3), French Cancan (Quidam de Revel x Uriel - 3), Papillon Rouge (Jalisco B x Centaure du Bois - 3), Rox de la Touche (Lord Gordon x Fantaisiste - 3) - and all eight descend from Ibrahim!
Girondine was a daughter of the Irish bred Thoroughbred, Ultimate, and as well as Almé, she also produced his three full-brothers, all licensed stallions or successful jumpers. Her daughter, La Citadell (by Jus de Pomme) was bred to Ibrahim to produce three top stallions: Espoir (sold to Spain), Gibramino (sold to Belgium) and Quastor who stood at St-Lô.

Almé at the age of five, showed great potential, ridden by Bernard Geneste. After his first season at stud, he was sold to the American Fred Lorimer Graham, who competed him for the next two years. Almé went on to compete internationally with François Mathy and Johan Heins, and sired many international performers. Before he left France for Belgium, he produced the stallion sons, Galoubet, I Love You, and Jalisco, all of whom competed internationally.
At the time Almé stood at Zangersheide, the horses bred there were being registered in the Hanoverian studbook but this did not prevent the Almé genes making their way to Holstein where they were happy to use Ahorn Z (out of the Holstein mare, Heureka) and Aloubé Z and Athlet Z, both out of Hanoverian mares of Gotthard breeding.
In the south west of Germany, Alexis Z - who is out of the Hanoverian mare, Wonne, herself an international performer with Peter Schmitz - was enormously successful and he was soon used in both Holstein and Hannover.
In France the breeders were also keen to use the blood of Almé, and at least some breeders used Galoubet (another international performer) before he was exported to the United States in 1983. He produced Quick Star and Quatoubet from his first crop and is currently brilliantly represented by three times World Cup winner, Baloubet de Rouet. The Almé grandson, Quidam de Revel has more recently been used in Holstein.
There is one drawback to the Almé line - many of his sons and grandsons, like him, suffer from scrotal hernia, and many after colic have had a testicle removed, still he is acknowledged as one of the all time great stallions of Europe.

In the 2003 edition of Annuaire Monneron (see www.monneron.com) Bernard le Courtois, has this to say about the present influence of Almé, describing him as 'father of world breeding':
"It is obviously no surprise to see that the line of Ibrahim is influential in French breeding. Almé's line is becoming increasingly important in many great breeding countries as could be seen during the World Championship in Jerez 2002. I have received from the USA an analysis of the results which I find interesting and would like to share with you. Among the 92 horses participating, the division between the sexes is realitively well balanced: 32 uncastrated males, not all of them stallions, 34.8%, 31 geldings, 33.7% and 29 mares, 31.5%. Five stallions had more than one product: Quidam de Revel (5), Capitol I (4), Le Tot de Semilly (3), Robin Z and Touchdown (2 each). Quidam, Robin and Touchdown are grandsons of Almé and 21 horses in the event (22.3%) were descendants of Almé. At the end of the speed class and of the Nations Cup we could count among the Top 25: 10 stallions, 7 geldings and 8 mares, 9 of them came from Almé (36%). When we arrive at the Top 10 (after two round of the individual championships) we find ourselves with four stallions, one gelding and four mares, four of them from Almé (40%). The four horses in the final (where the riders swapped horses) comprised one stallion and three mares, three of them from Almé, 75%! If we were to draw some preliminary, hasty, but nonetheless interesting conclusions we might suggest that if we want to produce horses of high quality the best way would be to invest in mares coming from our leader of the dynasty, Almé. One thing is sure and certain, and that is that Almé remains a valuable asset in the pedigrees of our sport horses. And everything comes together when we remember that the best 6 year old in Europe this year - Mozart des Hayettes - had Almé twice in his pedigree."

On his website, M. le Courtois has this wonderfully impassioned account of how he brought Almé back to France:

But from 1981-83 , while Almé's small production was winning titles world wide, Ibrahim's son was covering mares for our Benelux neighbours.
Despite the expectations of some of his best production ( I Love You, Herban, Jolly Good, Joyau D'Or) Almé was placed 2nd in the list of French stallions in 1980 -81, preceded by Uriel who had fathered 2.5 times as many foals.
This is when French breeders and riders became aware of the enormous loss represented by Almé's exportation, but few breeders were prepared to go abroad to have their mares covered. However some made the effort in 1991 and thanks to them we have several 5 and 6 year olds in competition. In the meantime Almé had been operated on for an inguinal hernia and in 1984 became monorchid. The Dutch then sold him and returned to Belgium. But what, I hear you say, were the French doing? What were they waiting for to bring their stallion home? Particularly when they had several opportunities to do so.
An offer had been made by the UNIC on behalf of the National Stud Farms, I remember the offer being F350,000. A ridiculous sum (double the price of a 3 year old at the St Lô Stallion sale) for the best stallion in the World, even if he was 18 years old and monorchid.
At the time I was the Chief Editor of the magazine L' Eperon. I had heard of this offer and of Almé's return to Zangershiede, and decided to go there myself to see this dream stallion at last, having been too young to have seen him in France.
So I went to Belgium, between Liege and Aix La Chapelle, and realised that despite his age and far from calm life, Almé was still an admirable horse. I also learnt that two offers had been made for him, not from France, but by Americans and Venezuelans. On one side there was an offer of big shiny dollars and on the other, thousands of acres of Pampas.
What could I , a modest stud farmer, a passionate but poor breeder, do faced with such superpowers? I knew no rich patron as fanatic about breeding as myself and no bank would have lent me enough money to repatriate Almé.But the idea became a target and then an obsession..
A few months beforehand on my return from the Olympic Games at Los Angeles, I had managed to retrieve a 17 year old Stallion I liked a lot, the Thoroughbred, Laudanum. He had been forgotten and sent to the south west of France and had only covered 9 mares in all in 1984. To acquire him I had applied a principal common to the racing world, ie. sale to Shareholders.
Laudanum's syndicate had succeeded and the following year he had covered 63 mares . Pleased with my success I decided to use the same principle to save our genetic heritage and bring back Almé to French Breeders. Negociations were long and difficult. I often grew depressed about the attitude of the people I was dealing with, who did not keep their word and refused to sign any contract.
The 1985 breeding season was wasted for us, Almé stayed in Zangersheide.
Despite frequent trips to Zangersheide I thought that the battle was lost and that Almé was leaving for America. Through the magazine I encouraged French breeders to take their mares to Zangersheide to be bred . In this way, about 20 mares were covered by Almé in 1985, albeit late in the season.
The Americans were willing to pay a lot of money for Almé. It should be remembered that his son Galoubet, had been bought by syndicate in the USA one year before for the sum of $2,000,000. At a time when the dollar was worth F 10, this represented F 20 million. They could afford to be stubborn. However Almé's weaknesses were to my advantage . I won the first round of the fight. Almé could not go to the USA because he showed positive on a biabose test. Unwilling to give up completely the Americans decided to leave Almé in Belgium and import his frozen sperm. Second round won, Almé's sperm could not be frozen!
The Americans gave up the fight leaving the Venezuelans and their acres of Pampas. Here dialogue won the day. To export a stallion like Almé to South America was nothing less than a burial. I was left with 3 points to argue with: French breeding , international commerce and the financial structure that was to repatriate Almé.
The person with whom I was negotiating accepted the principal but still would not sign the contract allowing Almé's return. Negotiations had been going on for 9 months. I was furious and about to abandon the idea when, whilst at the Fontainbleau European Championships in 1985, I issued a deadline . After several heated discussions I left Fontainbleau with my contract signed.
Almé was to return to France. His official comeback was to be a month later at the Dinard European Championship. My incredible gamble had been won, I announced in the magazine Almé's amazing and unhoped for comeback.
Almé's comeback must have disturbed quite a few people. I heard so much rubbish, either directly or repeated to me, from people who are meant to be authorities in the horse world and who I believed to be intelligent or at least reasonable.
According to them Almé was little more than a rocking horse, and sterile to boot! Obviously , as a tenderfoot, I was made out to be a fool, if not worse.
However Almé's presentation put things in place and silenced more than a few. Almé then 19 years old was on dazzling form. I'll always remember his presentation and the admiring gaze of hundreds of people passing the message, "It's Almé".
Accompanied by Handel's magic Saraband, Almé made his comeback on the grounds at Dinard in front of thousands of spectators entranced by his beauty and charisma of the horse whose reputation was at its peak.
I admit that the emotion brought tears to my eyes. A moment of great satisfaction and pleasure: pleasure in the beauty of the scene and the satisfaction in the work accomplished. False modesty aside I was also very proud.
The follow up was just as exciting . Shares in Almé were a great success. There were 70 - 80 shares for sale at F20,000 (today this seems cheap but in 6 years horse prices have greatly increased). Within a few days all the shares were sold and the money raised to buy Almé.
In the space of a few weeks I received almost 400 requests to buy shares. Real Almé fans contacted me unfortunately too late. Every day I had to return cheques arriving too late . Some were even signed blank accompanied by a note to say "I've heard that Almé is for sale to a syndicate, I don't know the conditions but please keep me one or two shares and fill in the enclosed cheque".
Incredible, this enthusiasm and confidence were a great comfort to me. It was without doubt this owners association which made me decide to make the move to Normandy and set up as a stallion breeder.
As I lived in Paris at the time I had to find somewhere to keep Almé, big enough to accomodate the 100 mares who were sure to come to be covered by him. Stud farms of that size, experienced in artificial insemination were hard to find in 1985. The only suitable one was Villepeleé. Almé was then covering in the Pin region an area where his three best products were born: Galoubet, I love You and Jalisco.
During 1986 - 87 Almé's fresh sperm was used for artificial insemination, 100 mares per season. Mares came from all over France as well as from Belgium, Holland, Great Britain, Switzerland and Italy. In 1988-89 I limited him to 80 mares and in 1990 to 60 because of his age and state of health. Out of the 420 mares covered during 5 years, with an average fertility rate of 78%, many products were exported and roughly 20% of the mares covered gave birth abroad ( foreign mares or mares in foal exported) added to these are the dozens of Almé foals of all ages exported to Italy, Belgium and Sweden over the past 5 years .
Since his comeback, trade in foals has flourished . Record prices were attained in the Fences sales: F240,000 for a bay foal , direct sister to the World Champion, I Love You in 1989; F210,000 for a chestnut foal of the same family as Flambeau C. Many of the foals have been sold for between F 50 - 150,000 by agreement, and 3 year olds for anything between
F300,000 to 1 million. Almé's service fee was expensive, starting at F14,000 then F16,000 before finishing at F20,000 regardless of the outcome! But it was money well spent, what other stallion could offer such a high probability of producing a crack?
As for the shareholders, they had the satisfaction of being offered one service by Almé per year. Several of them sold their shares after the first season making a profit of F 15,000 on an initial outlay of F22,000, a 70% Dividend. Others who waited 2 seasons before selling benefited from a dividend of F 30;000, ie 140%. But the wisest of the real breeders did not speculate on the sale of mounts but used them with their mares. At the end of the day, despite the problems involved in breeding (empty mares... abortions... still born foals…) they are the real winners in the association. They have the satisfaction of having played a role in Almé's comeback and in his perpetuation through the foals born from the highly successful combination of this great horse with French mares; of improving their stud farm; of making good profits when selling foals and for some, of preparing for the future by keeping males or females.
Then there are those who were lucky enough to have produced future cracks comparable to their elders Galoubet, I Love You or Jalisco. These foals will be revealed in years to come since the eldest of the new Almé production will only be 4 in 1991.
It should also be noted that Almé foals are not precocious, needing to be patiently conserved and not shaken around at the age of 4. Observe their elders Galoubet, I Love You or Jalisco who were hardly out at the age of 4. Only at 5 years old were they beginning to be noticed. The future will smile at those who are patient with their mounts. However despite the numerous exports and mares kept for breeding at 3 years (some of whom will appear the late 5 year olds next year) there were 12 Almé products in the 1991 Fontainbleau final.
Almé, once named by a journalist the "Golden Goose" was retired in August 1990.
It gave me the great satisfaction to see him finish his days with me at the Brullemail stud farm. From my office, where I sit to tell you this story, I used to see his head over his box door every day, so expressive despite his age. I could hear his high pitched neigh, so unusual, like a dolphin, as the mares crossed the courtyard or came in from pasture.
His deteriorating health over the last year had pushed me to put him into retirement. Despite an excellent appetite Almé grew thin, like an old man living slowly between the fireside and the window. He was saving himself and would enjoy his daily outing on the lawn while the lad cleaned his box.
Almé led a full life through breeding and sport. His glory crossed frontiers and his name is honoured in equestrian countries world wide. The only horse with a comparable family tree and with whom he has often been compared is Northern Dancer. Almé's legacy is already assured by the extraordinary quality of his sons, already working stallions, and will gain from the arrival on the sports field his 5 new generations.
Today Almé is the only stallion in the World to have fathered 2 World Champions and 3 Olympic horses.
During the Eighties an Olympic team could have been made up of his sons alone. Only Furioso could have done that in the sixties. In 1991 Jalisco may hope to do as much, being a product of both Furioso and Almé.
1990, the year in which Almé retired was also the year in which Eric Navet won the title of World Champion with the young stallion Quito de Baussy, a grandson of Almé . His blood lives on.
Almé will always be the stallion of the century. I am always touched when I think or talk of him. For a breeder it is fabulous to encounter such a horse during a career. I thank my lucky stars for such joy and satisfaction.
But memories are not enough. The future has to be prepared, breeding is a long daily task. The new generation has to be prepared , new progentiors found and maybe one day I will meet the stallion of his calibre, his brilliance and strength who will go to make a phenomenon such as Almé.

Bernard le Courtois's website is a great place to visit - a click here will take you there...

In the most recent, 2007-2008 edition of Monneron, Bernard le Courtois has, after spending many hours on his computer, produced a list of the top 75 jumping stallions in the world, on the basis of the FEI list of the top 2515 jumping horses in international competition. This survey once again, confirms Almé's pride of place, for he is responsible for 17 of the 57 leading stallions on the leaderboard. Four of these stallions are by Jalisco, the most important of which is Quidam de Revel, who heads the standings with 48 representatives. Quidam himself already has two of his sons on the leader board, Nabab de Reve and Guidam.Another Jalisco son, Papillon Rouge is ranked equal sixth in the world with 26 winners. Jalisco B, despite his death at a relatively young 19 years of age, is in 30th place on the leaderboard with 10 representatives.
Almé was also influential in Germany and The Netherlands. His grandson, Acord II (by Ahorn Z) is in 13th place with 16 winners. In Holland, Almé's son, Animo is 19th with 12 winners. Animo's son, Andiamo Z is ranked 64th with 5 winners.