Briar

Born 1991Chestnut 172 cm
Breeder – H-Y Göranssen
Text - Eva de Richebourg

BRIAR 899 – The dressage world has a new idol.
He is adored, admired and desired by everyone who is lucky enough to see him perform. This 172 cm high, elegant, leggy and powerful Swedish Warmblood stallion has, with his partner Jan Brink, just made his true international breakthrough at the Hickstead European Championships by winning the individual Silver - as well as the Bronze medal in the open Championship.
The audience gave them standing ovations after the Kur and the Judge at C, Stephen Clarke simply said: ‘Absolutely super!’
As the breeding season was not over and the attraction to mares could still be a very possible distraction, Briar’s results tell us a lot about his wonderful temperament.
Yet, as we all know, to come this far in the painstaking sport of dressage, every detail must work for you and behind every great man there is a great woman! Jan and Briar have the dedication and expertise from Kyra Kyrklund, who says about Briar: "I would give my soul for that horse".
She has herself a top class filly, Brittania by Briar and out of a full sister to Matador.
From the day Briar was born in 1991 he was destined for fame and fortune.
With his choice pedigree of carefully selected Swedish Warmblood and Hanoverian bloodlines, with a touch of Thoroughbred and the advantage of being bred by one of the most respected breeders in Sweden, Hans-Yngve Goransson, his path was staked out.
After playing around on lush green pastures and growing into the handsome boy he is, Briar was given the best training any horse could ask for at the more than perfect, Jan Brink establishment, Tullstorp in the south of Sweden.
It was soon obvious that Briar had very special talents indeed. Already at 7 years of age he placed in many prominent international Intermediaire l & ll competitions and at 8 he was ready for GP! In spite of his youth he still made the Swedish Olympic team for the Sydney 2000 – the youngest horse there.
It’s interesting to go back and look at his pedigree. We find Briar’s sire Magini 695, who excelled at his own classification tests 1986, by having the highest scores both in dressage and showjumping. Magini 695 was sired by the famous Elite stallion Maraton 600, who in turn sired many, many GP dressage and showjumping horses - as well as 6 approved stallions and 54 Diploma mares!
Behind Maraton 600 there are famous Swedish Warmblood horses, like Caracas 403 and Jovial 369 and the great Hanoverians, Utrillo 432, Anisette 60 267, Anilin 320337141, Havanna 49951 and Fugosa 54287.
Briar’s Dam line is equally impressive, starting with his Dam Charis 21695 by Krocket 651/ Kaliber 574/ Utrillo 432 and out of Mickaela 13537, by the Hanoverian, Illum 527/ Der Lowe xx . It goes on with Mickaela’s Dam, Medea 9648 by Gaspari 340 – one of the most famous horses in the history of dressage stallions.
Gaspari 340 sired the legend Piaff, who with Liselott Linsenhoff, won the European Championships 1969 and 1971, the individual Gold medal at the Munich Olympics 1972 and the Silver at the World Championships in Aachen 1970 and again in Copenhagen 1974.
Herbert Kuckluck says in Harry Boldt’s book," Das Dressurpferd", published in 1978, that Piaff was : " A stallion with the ideal requirements for a dressage horse".
In Sweden they often say: "Buy any dressage horse you like, just make sure it has Gaspari in the pedigree."
Briar 899 seems to have many things in common with both Piaff and Gaspari 340. Good looks apart, all were ready for GP at 8 and able to separate the "fun of breeding" from the demands on concentration and perfection when competing.
Briar is now 12 years old and has so far served more than 600 mares. He has sired both outstanding dressage and showjumping horses. In fact, he had 9 9/ 8 9 in his showjumping score at the Flyinge stallion classifications 1995.
Briar has proven his ability to pass on his talents year after year. Just to mention a few of his offspring - two of his approved sons Berlioz 978 and Biggles 1015 were dressage winners in their respective classification tests. Biggles was also classed "The Best Young Dressage Stallion" 2002. Briar has sired a high percentage of Diploma mares internationally, as well.
As a Type 10 Improvement Sire, Briar is used by many competition riders, trainers and breeders of world class horses in Europe, USA and South America to refine and improve overall Type ratings in their offspring.
He consistently passes on his excellent type, superb gaits and wonderful temperament. Briar is also registered in the Hanoverian Verband, the Oldenburg Verband and foals by Briar out of other registries are eligible for Swedish Registry – Thoroughbreds included.
After the Sydney Olympics – only his 5th start ever in GP, Briar had his first big success during 2001 when he placed 10th at the European Championships. Then he won the Swedish Championships, the Swedish Horse of the Year award and rounded the year off by ranking no 1 Dressage Stallion in the world!
In 2002 Briar placed 6th in the World Cup finals and won the World Cup qualifier at the Globe Arena in Stockholm, became Swedish Champion again, which he repeated this 2003 season, for the 3rd time in a row.
Briar just keeps getting better and better. He is mature and focused.
The ease with which he executes the most elegant half-passes in passage, the height and lightness in his piaff – not to mention the smoothest of transitions and expressive canter changes - are only some of the attributes that make us believe Briar will be one of the great stallions.