Rousseau, Influential KWPN Keur Preferent Stallion, Passed Away

Dressage

KWPN

Rousseau, the influential KWPN keur preferent stallion and reserve World Young Horse champion, has passed away.

The American owned breeding stallion died On 11 October 2024 after a long, happy retirement with his owner, Harmony Sporthorses in Chesapeake City, MD.

KWPN Select Sale Price Highlight

Rousseau was by Ferro out of Zsuzsa (by Roemer x Homerus). He was bred by the late Jas Haak, who originally named him Rambo.

Haak sold him as a foal at the 1998 Prinsjesdag foal auction to stallion keeps Jan Lamers and the late Adriaan van der Goor. They presented Rambo at the 2001 KWPN Stallion Licensing in 's Hertogenbosch, where he was licensed and ranked 7th in the champion's ring.

In the very first KWPN Select Sale auction, which the Dutch breed society held, Rambo became the price highlight selling for a whopping 300,000 Dutch guilders (approx 150,000 euro) to Jane McElree of Hilltop Farm in Colora, MD. He was renamed Rousseau.

He won the KWPN Stallion performance test in May 2001 and scored 8.5 for walk, 7.5 for trot, 8 for trot and 8 for potential. He also got between 5.5 and 6.5 for his jumping ability. His performance test report indicated tenderness in his hind knee for which he needed different shoeing and some medication.

Young Horse Success

Under Dutch Nicolette van Lierop (née van Leeuwen) he won the 2002 Pavo Cup Finals and 2002-2003 KWPN Stallion Competition. His career highlight was winning silver at the 2003 World Young Horse Championships in Verden, Germany. He was reserve Pavo Cup champion in 2003.

”Rousseau was such a wonderful horse. A once-in-a-lifetime horse,” Nicolette told Eurodressage.

In 2003 Leslie Malone of Harmony Sport Horse bought co-ownership of Rousseau and they obtained full ownership in 2006.

Rousseau disappeared from the show scene in 2004 when he moved to Ingo Pape's station in Germany, where has was trained by Susan Draper-Pape. He stood there up for stud until the end of 2006 and then moved to Hilltop Farm in the U.S.A.

Move to the U.S.A.

Rousseau initially stood at stood at Hilltop Farm in the USA but retired from active breeding duty in the spring of 2015 when he began to struggle with a tear in his meniscus.

When Scott and Susanne Hassler left Hilltop Farm, Rousseau joined them at Riveredge farm in Chesapeake City, MD, where he enjoyed his retirement. Scott Hassler left Riveredge in 2018, his ex-wife Susanne is still in the area but no longer works for Riveredge.

“Rousseau was put to rest on October 11, 2024 and is now buried at Riveredge,” Susanne Owen (formerly Hassler) told Eurodressage. “He lived a quiet retirement and received the best of care from the Riveredge staff. He was 26 years old and in good health other than the injury behind that overcame him in the end.”

Influential Sire

Rousseau became one of the most influential dressage stallions for the KWPN breed society.

He is the only one, so far, who was able to sire three consecutive KWPN Stallion Licensing champions. He did so with Wamberto in 2006, with Blue Hors Zack in 2007 and with Ampere in 2008.

Wamberto never gained much popularity as he sold to Harmony Sport Horses and moved to the USA early in his career. He was the performance test winner there, but never made an impact in sport, nor breeding. Zack and Ampere, however, became line-producers in their own right.

Scott and Susanne Hassler with Rousseau
at Harmony's Riveredge Farm in 2016
(Photo © Primaequestrian/KWPN-NA)

Rousseau was approved for all major German studbooks. He sired 19 licensed sons in Europe and has 19 state premium daughters in Germany. Rousseau was proclaimed Keur stallion in 2016 and preferent stallion in 2018.

His most successful offspring in sport were Tokyo Olympic team horse Blue Hors Zack (Nanna Skodborg Merrald), as well as Grand Prix horses Fiorano (Susan Pape), Harmony's Duval (Adrienne Lyle), Joppe K (Jennifer Williams), Wilco V (Mario van Orshaegen), Zippo (Patrick van der Meer), Zamacho (Jill Huybregts), Watoeshi (Carlijn and Evelien Huberts), Entertainer Win T (Paulina Holzknecht), Zafriq de Jeu (Lea Windhausen), Romy (Alexa Fairchild), Elvis (Patricia Ferrando), and small tour horses Furst Rousseau (Naomi Winnewisser), Aida Luna (Lisa Breimann), Fazz van het Bloemenhof (Emma Nielen), and many more..