Influence from the sire’s side…
(Photo: Hannoveraner Verband/Arnd Bronkhorst)
(Verden Press Release) Since 2009, the Grande-Prize has been awarded to a stallion between the ages of ten and twelve at the beginning of the breeding season. Toto Jr. is a stallion who is only rarely used in Hannover, but has proven his quality through his licensed sons.
The awarding of the Grande-Prize to a middle-aged stallion is linked to the hope that he will have a lasting positive influence on Hannoverian breeding. Normally, this is the case when the stallion is widely used in the population, mainly via the mare base. In the case of this year’s winner Toto Jr. by Totilas/Desperados, bred by Zuchtgemeinschaft Schmidt from Naumburg, things are different. From the first phase of his breeding career in the Netherlands, his influence is currently more evident on the sire’s side. To date, only three of his daughters have been registered in Hannover, but ten of his sons have been licensed and registered in stallion book I.
Toto Jr.’s dam, who is a full sister of the Moritzburg state stud stallion Decurio, came into the possession of the Zuchtgemeinschaft Schmidt via the Verden foal auction. Toto Jr. was her first foal. The black stallion was still quite young when he was licensed in Verden in 2013 and moved to the Glock’s Horse Performance Centre in the Netherlands via the stallion sales, where he was sold for 100,000 Euros. In 2014, Toto Jr. passed his stallion performance test in Ermelo/NED, where he excelled in walk and canter as well as rideability. This made him the first licensed and performance-tested son of his ‘super sire’ Totilas not only in Germany, but also in the Netherlands. Edward Gal took over the training of the black stallion, whose sire and dam’s sire won Olympic gold, and led him to victory in international Grand Prix dressage competitions at the age of ten.
Unlike other Grande Prize winners, Toto Jr. did not enjoy great popularity among breeders right from the start. Only gradually did the Hannoveraner breeders discover the well-constructed and well-bred stallion based in the Netherlands for themselves. The few competition horses that have competed in Germany to date are predominantly Dutch-bred. However, they have given him an FN breeding value for young horse tests in dressage of 147. Toto Jr. has already produced several Pavo Cup finalists in the Netherlands. He is a good ambassador for Hannover’s dressage horse breeding in the Netherlands and is also having an increasing influence on Hannoveraner breeding. The breeders will be honoured during the dressage stallion licensing in November.