Hanoverian Stallion Ferguson Passed Away

Breeding

Hanoverian

The 12-year old Hanoverian and KWPN licensed stallion Ferguson has passed away on 10 February 2023. The liver chestnut was euthanised following complications during anaesthesia.

Ferguson was a Hanoverian stallion by Floriscount out of Liebelei (by Lauries Crusador xx x Wolkentanz I). He was bred by Erika Lütjen in Germany.

Platinum Stable

The liver chestnut stallion was first licensed and named premium at the 2013 Hanoverian Stallion licensing.

He sold at auction for 80,000 euro to Singapore based Indonesian entrepreneur Titan Wilaras, who owned Platinum Stable in The Netherlands and who had Rom Vermunt as a scout in Verden.

A few months later Ferguson was also accepted at the 2014 KWPN Stallion Licensing and was the third best scoring stallion with 85 points in the 2014 KWPN Spring Stallion Performance Testing.

String of Seven Riders

He was first started in dressage under Tommie Visser, but in the autumn of 2014 Kirsten Brouwer took over. The new pair was fourth at the 2015 Pavo Cup Finals and fifth at the 2016 Pavo Cup Finals.

They were also selected for the 2016 World Young Horse Championships in Ermelo to represent Germany on a wild card, but the FEI rejected the wild card system as all entries had been filled.

After Brouwer fell out with owner Wilaras, Spaniard Antonio Laiz Zandio was allocated the ride. He left the stable after one year and the horse briefly moved to Ukrainian Inna Logutenkova, who is based in Belgium.

Blow-Out Sale

In April 2019 Rom Vermunt and Harld Bruinier purchased Ferguson in the blow out sale of Platinum stable and the stallion moved barns.

The ride on the liver chestnut was first given to Bart Veeze, but in 2021 it was Esmee van Gijtenbeek's turn. He was last trained at Grand Prix level by Nars Gottmer.

Freak Accident

Ferguson injured himself at Rom Vermunt's stable in Geesteren on Tuesday 7 February.

"A bad step on Tuesday in our stable changed everything," Rom Vermunt stated. "An operation was required to give him a nice retired life and to continue his career as a breeding stallion. This complex operation seemed successful at first instance. However, multiple complications from the anaesthesia led us three days later to make the decision to put him to sleep."

Legacy

Ferguson became one of the most undervalued, yet successful breeding stallions in The Netherlands.

At the 2022 World Championships no less than five (!!) Ferguson offspring, all (!!) bred by Titan Wilaras, competed successfully. Nero (by Ferguson x Totilas) was fourth in the 4-year old challenge, My Precious (by Ferguson x Vivaldi) fourth in the 5-year old finals, Lord Plantinum (by Ferguson x Bretton Woods) was fifth and Lightning Star (by Ferguson x De Niro) eighth in the 6-year old finals, and Kyton (by Ferguson x Ferro) 13th in the 7-year old consolation finals.

He sired three licensed sons: Kyton, First Lewis, Fenati Gold S and no less than 80% of his KWPN registered daughters made it to ster or elite status. To this date he has sired 369 offspring registered with KWPN.

"We can't comprehend this loss and we are deeply saddened that last Sunday we were still enjoying his training and now his box is empty," Vermunt added. "He was so close to making his debut at Grand Prix and last year he finally got the full recognition of the breeders."