Dynamic Dream: Sport Career Up in the Air, Breeding Career Secure for 2021-2022 with DWB Waiver

Dressage

Danish Warmblood

Andreas Helgstrand announced today the sport career of Dynamic Dream is up in the air due an injury, but his breeding career has been secured with a waiver given by the Danish warmblood society, at least for 2021.

Dynamic Dream is 2017 born Westfalian stallion by Dream Boy x Sir Donnerhall. He is bred by C. Van der Laan in The Netherlands.

Licensing Champion Stripped from Title

He became the champion of the 2019 Westfalian Stallion Licensing in Munster-Handorf in November 2019 and sold at auction for 1.9 million euro to Andreas Helgstrand.

Rumours that this stallion was already sold beforehand and the stellar 1.9 million euro auction price amount was not paid, never stopped circulating in the breeding world.

Presented and owned at the licensing by Heinrich and Jan-Dirk Giesselmann, Dynamic Dream was stripped from the title and his licensed status when it turned out the stallion tested positive to medication. The stallion was positive to Flunixin, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) and painkiller, which Giesselmann claimed to have used for a skin problem.

Licensed in Germany and Denmark

In March 2020, Dynamic Dream was presented at the Danish warmblood licensing and declared a premium stallion. He immediately did his 10-day observation test in Torring and was accepted for breeding for 1 year. He scored 8.63 for dressage, 6.48 for jumping and generated a 7.80 total score.

German breed societies require the first testing to be 14 days, so the Danish warmblood society offers German licensed stallions to stay 4 extra days at the testing centre for their German approval.

Three weeks later in April 2020, Dynamic Dream was reassessed by the Westfalian licensing committee and re-accepted (with a negative medication test). The Oldenburg society also approved him a few days later.

Career Ending Neck Injury? DWB Gives a Waiver

On 20 January 2021, Helgstrand dressage communicated that Dynamic Dream might never return to sport and will be unable to fulfil his mandatory sport testings to retain his licensed status.

Anne-Mette Strandby on Dynamic Dream in February 2020

"He got an injury in the neck during the collection of semen last year (2020), which resulted that he could not participate in the Danish Warmblood 35-days test during the fall 2020 and therefore could not receive the final approval in the Danish Warmblood."

The Danish warmblood society decided to give Dynamic Dream a waiver for the testing and the dark bay sire may continue to stand at stud in 2021 and 2022.

"The Danish Warmblood has chosen to expand the breeding approval due to the stallion licensing and will evaluate the foals from the years 2021-2022 and see if the breeding approval shall be permanent," Helgstrand explained. " It is really a shame when such a promising young stallion gets injured, especially now that he had so many mares the first breeding season."

In his first season at stud, the Danish warmblood society registered that 32 mares (based in Denmark) were bred to Dynamic Dream. This number does not include mares from outside Denmark.

"It is very sad that the injury might affect his riding career since the vets do not think his future riding career looks too promising at the moment due to the affects of the injury," said Andreas who added that the stallion is based at his Gestut Famos in Syke, Germany.

With no performance test done, also in Germany it might have an effect on Dynamic Dream's licensed status. As of 2021 he will no longer be part of the "Stallion Book I", but will be registered in "Stallion Book II".

Klaus Miesner, breeding director of the German equestrian federation, told Eurodressage, "so far, the FN has only heard out about a special regulation for this stallion in Denmark in the press. The FN is not yet aware of any special decisions for the stallion in Germany so far."

Special Licensing Cases

The Danish warmblood society did not issue a statement explaining on what basis Dynamic Dream retained his licensed status.

Eurodressage contacted Casper Cassoe Kruth, director of the Danish Warmblood society, to ask why special permission was given to this stallion, while other young stallions in a similar positions before simply disappeared from a breeding programme. Cassoe referred Eurodressage to Karina Christiansen (chair of the stallion licensing committee), who referred us to Claus Hansen (spokesperson of the licensing committee).

On 21 January Hansen ended up posting a short announcement in Danish on Varmblod.dk that only included the extra information that Dynamic Dream's breeding allowance for 2021 and 2022 would be limited to 50 mares per year, after which his foals will be inspected. He did not give any explanation for the waiver.

This is certainly not the first time that DWB has approved stallions under special conditions. In 2010 Blue Hors Rockefeller was approved to breed to 50 mares a year during 2010-2012 without a performance test. Rockefeller sustained a hoof injury at the age of 2 and without a performance test, Danish Warmblood Society approved Rockefeller to breed 50 mares a year during 2010-2012. After a foal inspection in 2014, Rockefeller was fully licensed.

Stallions who are particularly liked by the licensing committees for their gaits, sport record, etc. have been accepted despite not fulfilling the studbook's own standards. Also in the Dutch warmblood society (KWPN) special conditions apply for stallions with exceptional movements. Bretton Woods, for instance, has a class C remark on right hind leg hock and stifle (osteochondrosis), which normally would rule out the stallion for breeding, but he was accepted for his extraordinary gaits. Swedish warmblood approved Sezuan, for instance, despite his OCD status. In recent years the hereditary factor of osteochondrosis is under discussion as rapid growth, nutritional excesses or imbalances, and superimposed trauma on the cartilage can cause it alongside genetic predisposition.