Mexico
		Le Mexico	Peche Melba
	Ulft		Pericles xx
		Pia	Elmi
Ferro			Fax I
		Farn	Dorette
	Brenda		Prefekt
		Upianna	Piana

 

Ferro started out in life to be a showjumper but ended up one of the more famous dressage stallions of modern times.
When the Dutch rider met up with the black stallion, Ferro was working at Prix St Georges level, but according to Coby – “he was not trained so much. He was also a jumper when he was a younger horse. When he was five and six he was with a Dutch international showjumping rider, but then the national showjumping coach, Hans Horn, said to the owner, 'maybe he could be a very good dressage horse'.”
"We started with my trainer, Johann Hinnemann, and now you see the result..."
Did he always show such a lot of talent for piaffe and passage?
This question provokes great mirth from both Coby and her trainer Jo...
" I think that is a better question for my trainer." Coby passes that one along...
" It was really difficult to get the movement.," says Jo Hinnemann, " He was a very hot and sensitive horse in one way, and in the other way, not sensitive enough to get all the half halts through. That was the difficult part, to get the whole thing together so he listens to the rider and starts to move in a rhythmical way. The only way to do this was to go back to the basics - normal simple work, how you train a young horse. We had to bring his basic movements back, and improve those basic movements."
And Coby, did you think at that time you were riding such a fantastic horse?
" I always believed that Ferro was, and is, a very good horse because he has a very good character, and the power in his hind legs is very good. He is a strong horse. We saw he had a lot of talent for collection, then as Johann says, we worked on the basics, many many transitions until he went better, started to use his back better. The results at the shows in the small tour were very good."
Ferro went on to a sixth place at the 1998 WEG in Rome, and be part of the bronze medal winning Dutch team at the Sydney Olympic Games. Ferro's career highlight was in 2000, when they placed second in the World Cup Finals in 's Hertogenbosch, scoring over 80% for their Kür!
Ferro is by Ulft, a handsome all-round stallion that never really set the world on fire as a sire. His dam was by Farn, one of those old fashioned Holsteiners that played such a substantial role in the making of the Dutch Warmblood. The mare – Brenda – was awarded all three mare titles on offer in the KWPN – ster, preferent and prestatie. The mare line goes back to the Hanoverian Prefekt, and one of the old Gelders foundation families.
As a breeding stallion, Ferro has been very successful, producing a number of successful young dressage horse competitors, and the international dressage competitor, Jarwo. He has more than ten licensed sons, including Kennedy, Metall, Negro, Osmium, Paddox, Pyriet, Rhodium and Hilltop Rousseau.

 

Return to the top of the page