The Trakehner licensed stallion Van Deyk has passed away on 14 February 2018. Dorothee Schneider's first Grand Prix horse was about to turn 34 years old in spring.
Home bred by Dorothee's father Hans-Eberhard, Van Deyk was born in 1984. He was by Patricius xx out of Vanessa (by Ibikus x Impuls x Julmond)
First licensed at the 1986 Trakehner Stallion Licensing in Neumunster, Van Deyk did his 100-day stallion performance test in Medingen in 1988 and scored 112.29 points to finish 21st amongst 73 participating stallions. The stallion has an index of 90.74 for show jumping and 118.32 for dressage.
Van Deyk made his show debut under Dorothee Schneider in 1987. In 1993 he made the transition to small tour level as a 9-year old and in 1996 he moved up to national Grand Prix level. The stallion did his last show at the local event in Daun in June 1999 placing third in the Grand Prix and Special.
Van Deyk has sired 10 licensed sons and 16 State Premium Mares. The German Equestrian Federation has 229 of his offspring registered as sport horse and 7 of them have competed at S-level. He was retired from sport at age 16.
Van Deyk's most successful offspring are the international Grand Prix licensed stallion Polarion (Laura Bechtolsheimer) and the Bundeschampions Kaiserkult and Kaiserdom. Under Dorothee Kaiserkult went on to compete at international Grand Prix level, while Kathrin Meyer zu Strohen trained Kaiserdom up to national Grand Prix level. He's now a schoolmaster in the U.K.
"He leaves behind a big hole in my heart," Dorothee Schneider told Dressursport Deutschland. "After a stable fire and a severe injury, he really attached to me. He battled his way back to life and to Grand Prix. Not many do that. It was a long, fun road with a horse whose intelligence, curiosity, big heart and emotional connection are hard to beat."
Photo courtesy: Gestut St. Stephan
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