Gletsjer, Champion of the 2014 AES Stallion Licensing

Breeding

AES Breeding News

The dressage colt Gletsjer and the show jumper Black Bird were named champions of the 2014 AES Stallion Licensing held at equestrian centre De Molenheide in Schijndel, The Netherlands, on Friday 4 April 2014.

Kees Van Den Oetelaar showed to be a successful new leader for the studbook. He left the judges’ table and moved to the secretary table to organize things. His efforts were highly respected by the public. No less than fifty stallions were presented. "The world was not created in one day," said Van Den Oetelaar at the grading in Schijndel. "We’re happy with the progess we made, but there is still a long way to go. It costs a lot of money to reorganize things. We want to give the studbook a new image. We’re modernizing and reorganizing."

AES has great ambitions. The AES Stallion Licensing is still a small-scale event, but several improvements were made. They used a new ring, in which the horses jumped loose and two new judges entered the inspection team. Bernard Demets and Maikel Van der Vleuten made their debut and both were enthusiast about the quality.

Jumping champion Black Bird, brother of Orient Express

Of the 28 stallions which were licensed, Black Bird (Street Hassle) appeared to be the most complete jumper of all. The French bred horse showed a lot of balance, great canter, scope and a good technique. Also his bloodline is top, as he’s a grandson of Quickstar out of the same mother as Orient Express (Quickstar), the third placed horse in the GP of Aachen last year. Their dam is also the half sister to the stallion Dollar de la Pierre. Owner Joop Aaldering also wants to mention the other owners of this horse, Mr. Van De Lageweg and Mr. Sinnack.

"I bought Black Bird in France as a foal. The breeder Mr. Boureau was the best breeder of France that year. By him I also bought Quick Study, Street Hassle and Hors La Loi. He also bred Orient Express.’ Black Bird will in the future listen to the name Gare du Nord. He is also invited to do the saddle testing of KWPN in the end of the year, but thanks to his AES approval, he will already breed this year. Joop Aaldering: ‘I already had several requests from mare owners, so AES gives me this perfect solution."

Gletsjer, Dressage Champion

Dressage rider Wilma Van der Steen is the owner of the newly crowned dressage champion Gletsjer (by Apache x Prestige VDL), a nice and modern bay horse with elegant movements. The owner doesn’t have a stud, so she’s still not sure what will happen to her horse in the future. "I want to sell him because I don’t have a stud. Horses are not my job. I just ride dressage until intermediaire level. I do it for pleasure, but this horse is capable to do more," said Van der Steen. Wilma bought Gletsjer as a foal. He’s always had the looks from when he was born.

Three older stallions got approved, including the Dutch warmblood dressage stallion Elton John CL (by Johnson x Balzflug).

Kees Van Den Oetelaar is super happy with the new champions and also with the average quality at this gradings. "A few years ago at AES you sometimes saw simple or uncorrect horses, but those we didn’t see any more today. We were very delighted with the lot of dressage horses. We could license and approve ten of them. In the past we often had not enough dressage blood on the list."

Rik Van Miert of WBFSH: ‘No hesitations anymore’

Kees Van Den Oetelaar had to fix many things when he became the new AES director last year. Many illegalities had to be changed. That’s what WBFSH sub director Rik Van Miert said. The Belgian official attended the gradings in Schijndel: "We had a lot of decent conversations with the new team of AES. We made clear that something had to change and when seeing the way how this grading is organized now, I really feel like they have understood our wishes. I think this is not the most eyecatching stallion approval, but horses get the time to be decently presented to the judges. There is a good atmosphere and I think some horses show nice quality. Nothing makes me believe AES is still working as it did before. They are self-conscious and listen to what we ask."