Where Are They Now? Secret

Focus

F.O.C.U.S.

A hyped internet sensation, a breeding hit, a Bundes- and Reserve World champion.... yet he is nowhere to be seen. No stallion has prompted more discussion, debate, love and wonder than the Baden Wurttemberger bred stallion Secret. After winning the Bundeschampion's title in 2020 the black beauty has disappeared from the spotlight and has not been presented in public. Where is he now?

Secret is by Sezuan out of Seline (by St. Moritz x Rotspon x Argentan I). He is bred by Hubert Vogler.

Best Kept Secret

Owned by stallion owner Eckhard Wahlers in partnership with Christine Feichtinger, Secret began his career entirely built on a social media hyped video.

He was privately licensed behind closed doors by the Oldenburg society in January 2017 and soon after Wahlers posted a 10-second video on Facebook which immediately prompted breeders to select this stallion for their mares. His book was full (a rumoured 600 mares in his first year of breeding). Secret is a chunky, sizeable stallion with a big neck, but has a questionable conformation (hoof deformity) and this led to a tremendous amount of speculation.

He did his 14-day suitability test in Schlieckau in April 2017 and scored 9.5 for dressage and 6.5 for show jumping, totalling 8.23 points. Under Swedish Jessica Lynn Thomas he did his first show in Wohlesbostel, winning and qualifying for the 2017 Bundeschampionate, where he scored silver behind Finest Selection OLD after the test rider decided to place him second while the judges had him first.

The video that launched Secret's breeding career

After that Secret did not leave the barn for 1.5 years. There were no showings at stallion shows and there were no competitions at all in 2018.

In 2019 he showed at four local events (Ankum, Elmlohe, Dotlingen, Bremen) before earning a ticket to the World Young Horse Championships in Ermelo at the German team trials in Warendorf.

The Coming Out in Ermelo

Secret finally stepped onto the world stage by competing at in Ermelo for foreign and domestic dressage fans to see. Eurodressage titled the article about his appearance in Ermelo as "The Secret's Out" as for the first time, a larger group of people, non-German, were able to witness the horse up close and in competition.

With Jessica Lynn Thomas in the saddle he won the preliminary round for 5-year olds with a secure and confident round that showed much quality in the riding. He scored 9.54 points for the victory. In the Finals he was edged out by Andreas Helgstrand and Jovian and he was back to being the bridesmaid (or best man), as a figure of speech. After scoring silver at the 2017 Bundeschampionate has now added a second silver medal to his list of achievements.

The End of the Sport Career with the Bundes Title

And then again Secret was gone... poof... for at least 10 months.

Suddenly at the end of July 2020 Thomas and Secret resurfaced at the Bundeschampionate qualifier in Munster which they won. At the 2020 Bundeschampionate the pair finally struck gold and won the title in the 6-year old division. As the winner of the warm-up round with an 9.2 points, Secret was the hot favourite in the Finals class but had Eva Möller and Valverde breathing down their neck. With a mistake in the flying changes, Secret left the goal wide open for Valverde to win, but the bay stallion also made mistakes and Secret finished first.

Since then Secret has disappeared: no stallion shows, no competitions, no social media posts, no photos. Where is he now?

Where is He Now?

"Secret is together with his stable late Finest at Gestut W.M, where he is in best health," Gestut W.M spokesperson Philipp von Thaden told Eurodressage

Secret's hooves continue to spark debate

Secret has been a highly demanded breeding stallion from the start and has had a full book of mares year after year, something only very few stallions achieve in their breeding career. At age 9 Secret has sired 37 licensed sons in Germany and 47 state premium daughters.

Still in January 2023 Eckhard Wahlers made the surprise announcement that Secret would not be standing at stud in 2023 due to a shortage in staff at his stallion station. While barn mate Bon Courage easily found a new station in Lodbergen and continued to stand at stud and cater to the needs of breeders, Secret did not move and was no longer available with fresh semen, right in the year that his youngest offspring started to make their mark in the competition ring.

At the 2023 World Young Horse Championships 11 of the 44 competing 5-year olds were sired by Secret, 30 of his offspring made it to the Bundeschampionate this year! Statistically with so many mares bred, it is only logical that his first offspring is starting to make its mark, but the rideability and character of his progeny has been greatly liked amongst breeders, although their is also a group of breeders skeptical of the inconsistent quality in conformation that he procudes.

A Year off

Eurodressage got in touch with Gestut W.M., home of Secret. Wahlers' station is a small family business which had its break through with sires Finest and then Bon Coeur. The latter they sold to Sweden in 2018.

"We owe a lot to these stallions (Finest and Bon Coeur) and decided that in the future we would no longer sell any of other stallion," Philipp von Thaden told Eurodressage. "Bon Courage was born here with us in Visselhövede and impressed with his first crop of foals last autumn. It was the wish of his owner, Christine Feichtinger, to keep this stallion in active breeding duty (in 2023) after his outstanding first crop and we supported her in her choice."

Secret, however, stayed home and was not available to breeders for one year.

Retired from Sport

When asked why he no longer competed after the 2020 Bundeschampionate, Von Thaden replied the following.

Secret: loved by breeders, missed in sport

"Already at the Bundeschampionate we decided that the next year (2021) would be a competition-free breeding season. His successes in sport and his impressive hereditary power gave another boost to him being in demand. We had two options at that point: breeding or sport. We are very grateful to Jessica Lynn Thomas that she made these achievements in sport despite challenging training conditions. To make possible the daily training and the focus on the clearly more difficult (S-level) exercises, Secret would have needed to leave the station and as well as an active breeding career. Our focus is on breeding and that's why with the entire family we decided to offer him to the breeders at the expense of ambition in sport."

After one year off from the breeding business in 2023, Secret will be standing again in 2024, either fresh or frozen which Von Thaden says they haven't decided yet on. The huge success of his offspring prompted their decision to re-offer him.

"It's a unique achievement which wouldn't be possible without the trust and encouragement of our breeders," Von Thaden explained. "It confirms to us that we made the right choice to choose for Secret's breeding career in the future."

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