Lusitano Top Stallion Rubi AR Retired from Stud Duty

Breeding

Lusitano

The top Lusitano breeding stallion Rubi AR has been retired from stud at age 23, following a small health scare on 20 October 2020.

Rubi is a 1998 born Lusitano stallion, bred by Coudelaria de Alter. He is by Batial out of He-Xila (by Xaquiro).

The bay stallion was acquired by the Luxembourg based French lawyer Christine Jacoberger in 2009.

Illustrious Career

Rubi first appeared in the international spotlight at the 2004 World Young Horse Championships in Verden, where he finished 23rd in the consolation finals.

He made the transition to Prix St Georges level in 2006 and to Grand Prix level one year later, finishing second and third at the Portuguese Championships in 2007. His big international break through came in 2010, winning the Grand Prix classes at the CDI in Comporta, Arruda dos Vinhos, and Vidauban and ranking well in Wiesbaden.

The stallion was a member of the Portuguese team at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Kentucky and won the Portuguese Championships in the autumn that year. He went on to represent Portugal at the 2011 and 2013 European Championships and at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, where he wrote history for his breed by qualifying for the Kur to Music Finals and placing 16th. He reclaimed the National Title one month later.

Rubi was retired from competition sport at age 16 in the spring of 2014. His last international show was the 2013 European Dressage Championships.

Stud Career

Rubi AR became a foundation for Lusitano dressage horse breeding. Never before did one Lusitano sire produced so many internationally competed dressage horses.

His most famous offspring is Maria Caetano's Coroado (by Rubi AR x Xaquiro), who was the first Lusitano ever to score 80% in the Kur to Music. The grey stallion in fact did that twice, at the 2018 and 2019 World Cup qualifier in Mechelen.

In 2019, Rubi AR ranked 31st in the WBFSH Dressage Sire Rankings amongst warmblood colleagues. He was also the first stallion to ever enter the WBFSH Dressage Sire Ranking Top 50. Contributing to this incredible ranking in 2019 were Portuguese Grand Prix team horses Coroado, Beirao (by Rubi AR x Joca), and Maria Caetano's Fenix de Tineo (by Rubi AR x Oheide).

Other successful Rubi offspring from young horse level to national Grand Prix include Gavião dos Cedros (Alejandro Asencio), Heroi do Seixo (sold to the U.S.A.), Portuguese youth team horses Douro AR (Yoann Pinto) and Ca (Mateus Abecassis), Irano da Estribeira (French 2020 Young Horse bronze medal winner under Charlotte Chalvignac), as well as Jururu do Seixo and Imperador dos Cedros.

Retired from Stud

Christine Jacoberger on Rubi AR at the Golega Horse Fair

Owner Christine Jacoberger decided to retire Rubi AR from his stud duties after a small health scare yesterday.

For the first time ever, the stallion had to labour to cover. This was enough of a signal for Christine and her husband Marc to decide to retire Rubi from stud.

"Ruby AR scared us with a little cardiac alert. We think it is the signal that we have to stop letting him cover," Jacoberger told Eurodressage. "Only rides in the fields and paddock now. For us just to imagine that something can happen to him fatally was enough to make this decision. The whole family is very upset."

She continued, "It's too bad because despite the age, his semen quality gets outstanding. Ruby is not just one of our horses, he is a member of our family and we always tried to make the best decisions for him."

High quality frozen semen is still availablle.