Holsteiner Foundation Stallion "Cor de la Bruyère" passed away

Two years ago he celebrated his 30th anniversary looking very fit, and last year on the gala evening of the Holsteiner approval in Neumünster he had his last great appearance: Cor de la Bruyère. On April 27th, the Anglo-Normanne, who was so very successful in the Holsteiner breed since 1971, had to be put away on the stallion station of Thomas Petersen in Sollwittfeld due to acute heart disease. In that place "Corde" - his affectionate nickname among the Holsteiner breeders - spend his last years carefully nursed and taken care of by the Petersen-family.

28 years ago Cor de la Bryère came from the Normandie, and the breeders found it difficult to remember his name. Today the French-bred is present in more than 70 percent of the Holsteiner pedigrees. At first Corde was standing on the famous stallion station Siethwende of the Holsteiner Verband. His groom Bruno Grigat and the stallion stayed there together for more than 14 years. In 1974, as the first sons of Corde entered the approval ring in Neumünster, his offsprings impressed due to an excellent technique and their suppleness when jumping combined with the scope of the Holsteiners. So the experts could only hope, that Corde would mark the Holsteiner breed once and for all.

With certain mares Cor de la Bryère developed so called suitable pairings, which must be outstanding in the whole history of horse breeding. The mare Tabelle (by Heißsporn) brought five approved sons in a row. First of  all the sons Calypso I and Calypso II got big influence in the Holsteiner - and Hannoveranian - breeding of today. The mare Furgund (by Colombo) was bred by Cor de la Bryère 18 times and delivered five approved sons. One of them, Calando I, was German Champion in jumping with Karsten Huck, and today he is still one of the most important sires of the Holsteiner breed.

The mare Deka brought the approved stallions Caletto I, II and III by Cor de la Bryère. Calleto I was very successful in the international jumping circuit with Michael Rüping and today he is a demanded sire. The most important Cor de la Bryère-son for the breeding must be Caletto II, sire of the Olympic Champion Classic Touch, who lost his life by a tragic accident after only four years breeding.

The offsprings of Cor de la Bryère were also very successful in sport. First of all the dressage champion Corlandus, who was a highlight on the international dressage scene for many years, ridden by French Margit Otto-Crepin. The grey Corrado I, who has returned for breeding at the Holsteiner Verband, won several World Cup-qualifications under Franke Sloothaak. The overall winnings of Corde's offsprings amount to more than 4,5 mio. D-Mark. Cor de la Bryère leaves 49 approved sons and 536 registrated daughters, of which 86 received the state premium grade, to the Holsteiner breeding. 

Text by the Holsteiner Verband

Image copyrighted Bernd Eylers