It has been a sad week with several licensed breeding stallions passing away. The legendary Don Frederico passed, Florenciano died a week ago, and last week sport horses Bomerang and former licensed stallion Brilliant passed away. Another one exchanged the temporal life for the eternal: Dressage Royal.
Dressage Royal was a 24-year old Oldenburg stallion by Donnerhall out of Rosalie (by Rubinstein x Futuro I). He was bred by Hans Rode.
Westfalian Licensed
Originally owned by Herman and Dorit Kothe, the black Oldenburg bred Dressage Royal was first licensed at the 2000 Westfalian Stallion Licensing in Munster-Handorf, and between 2001 and 2002 he got approved for Hanover, Brandenburg and Oldenburg.
He did his 30-day stallion performance test in March 2001 in Munster-Handorf and scored 8.21 for dressage and 8.0 for show jumping.
He fulfilled his HLP duties through sport in 2002 and 2003.
Sport
Anja Hermelink was the first rider to compete him as a 3-year old in 2001.
In 2002 Christoph Koschel took over the ride, but halfway through the season Ulla Hansen took over, followed by Ramon Dreyer. The latter rode the stallion to a fourth place at the 2003 Bundeschampionate in the 5-year old finals.
In 2004 a show break followed, but Dressage Royal returned to the arena in 2005 under Sonja Franzenburg-Much. She competed him at L-level for a year.
In 2007 he made a second come back to the arena under Hannes Krüger at L-level. It was his last competition season.
Breeding Stallion
Dressage Royal stood up for stud the majority of his life at his owner's yard, Hengsthaltung Kothe until the couple retired and closed their business.
Martin Sprehe took over Dressage Royal and stood him at stud. As of 2018 the stallion spent his time at the "retirement" center Schemder Bergmark, where he enjoyed his quiet time outside and still covered a few mares live.
"Because his general condition was deteriorating and the treating vets saw no way for improvement, the Kothe family decided with a heavy heart to put him to sleep," Martin Sprehe stated.
Legacy
Dressage Royal lives on through his offspring. He sired 4 licensed sons: Damsey, Doringcourt, Diesel CF, and UNO Don Diego - and 9 state premium daughters.
Although Dressage Royal was not so much a "popular" breeding stallions, his exceptional Donnerhall x Rubinstein pedigree produced an impressive string of top dressage horses! He has 258 offspring registered for sport in Germany, of which 25 compete at S-level.
Louise Leatherdale's Damsey FRH is his most famous son. Under Helen Langehanenberg the stallion won team gold at the 2017 European Dressage Championships and was third in the 2019 World Cup Finals. Other famous offspring are Grand Prix horses Dandy de la Roche (Antonella Joannou) and Dressman (Wolfgang Schade), the 2008 World Young Horse Champion and 2011 Nurnberger Burgpokal winner Desperado OLD, and FEI horses David du Plessis Belliere (Hana Vasaryova), Darek CH (Stephanie Hartmann), and Darius Rubin (Cesar Parra).
Photo © Martin Sprehe
Related Links
Dandy de la Roche Retired from Sport
Hanoverian Stallion Damsey Retired from Sport in Doha, Maybe a Few More Shows in Europe
The Journey to Germany: Kasey Cannon and Diesel CF Train with Helen Langehanenberg
World Young Horse Champion Desperado OLD Passed Away