Who's Who

Nijhof Sn, Henk

Discipline : Breeding

Born : 1939

 

Henk Nijhof is the founder of the world famous breeding centre in Geesteren, Gelderland where the Nijhof family has lived for generations. Henk’s grandfather established a mixed farm, but it was Henk who turned it into a horse stud in 1998 – and the first stallion was the to-become-famous, Voltaire, purchased as a two year in partnership with Jan Greve, when the Oldenburg licensing committee rejected him.

Since then, the Nijhof Stud has been home to a number of top stallions, like the Voltaire son, Concorde, the Nimmerdor son, Heartbreaker, Clinton, the French stallion, Calvados and Burggraaf.

Every stallion should contribute something of his own, Mr Nijhof told Horses International:

“Each horse has its specific traits and you should appreciate that. We have very diverse breeding, in which you do not need uniformity. The stallions do not all have to be the same. Although I think they should breed as they are themselves. Heartbreaker did not produce large, but good horses. The same was the case with Jasper at the time. If you had a large one from him, it was often not a good one. Sires should put their recognisable mark on their offspring.”

Henk’s son, Henk Junior and daughter, Jeanette, play a major role in the stud today, and in the 2014 season, Team Nijhoff offered 26 stallions via fresh semen with a further 32 via frozen semen… including Voltaire.

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