Pony Breeding Stallion Welcome Sympatico Passed Away

Breeding

Hanoverian

Welcome Sympatico, a popular versatile pony breeding stallion that sired numerous sport ponies, has passed away on 3 October 2025. He was 34 years old.

Welcome Sympatico was a Hanoverian stallion by Sandro out of Patella (by Prinz Gaylord x Gotthard x Perser xx). He was bred by Kurt-Heinrich Böttcher in Germany.

XL Pony

The 1.54 cm standing Welcome Sympatico was meant to be a horse, but ended up being an oversized pony. He was bred by show jumping but ended up becoming a very versatile sport pony producer.

He became the champion of the 1993 Hanoverian Pony Licensing in Verden and placed fourth in the 100-day stallion performance test in Adelheidsdorf in the autumn of 1995. He scored 125.25 points in total. He had a dressage score of 104.91 points (20th) and a jumping score of 138.85 points (2nd).

He proved to be a pocket rocket: He had 8 different riders in his career in Germany: Reinhard Ullrich, Rainer Peter, Niklas Engemann, Kurt-Heinrich Böttcher, Karin Ernsting, Daniel Augustun, Andres Quintero Palomar, and Frederick Troschke. With the competition name "Sympatico" he also showed under Laura Kraut (and Karin Ernsting-Engemann) up to CSI 4* level with 40+ rankings on 1.50 m and 1.55 m courses.

Versatile Sire

He first stood at stud in Germany and sired 74 offspring registered with the German FN. He sired 7 licensed offspring in Germany: Scampolo, Simply the Best, Special Dream TCF, Sunny Side Up, Welcome Shamrock, Welcome Sharan, and Welcome Sharan II.

The stallion sold to France to Syndicate Linaro in 2001, where he continued breeding. He has 264 offspring registered for sport in France.

In dressage his most famous offspring European Pony Championships participant Scampolo (Alessia @ Giulia Pignatti, Aline Kemps) and FEI dressage pony Welcome Sharan (Caroline Miesner, Georgia Ferrand).

Welcome Sympatico was retired from breeding in 2018 and spent his last years with Miléna Le Guen.

"On the eve of your 35th birthday and after a difficult winter, we knew we had to prepare to say goodbye," Le Guen wrote. "He passed away in my arms. The king is dead, long live the king."