The companion volume to Gottard to Garibaldi – the making of the modern Warmblood, has just been published in digital form on Amazon, so it is available worldwide… Here are the chapters   And a few more pages to give you a taste…   To purchase the book, just go to Amazon, and search for: ‘Heroes – The Foundation Sires of the Modern Warmblood by Christopher Hector ..read more

With the retirement of Bernard Le Courtois, a page turns for the Brullemail stud farm and French breeding In 2024, Bernard Le Courtois will see the fruit of his latest crosses born. To almost everyone’s surprise, the successful breeder and stallion, at the origin of the Mail affix to the plethora of champions and the discovery and promotion of several very good males, announced his retirement and the sale of his superb property, located in Orne. Bernard has bred many wonderful horses, but his name will always be linked with the great Almé, who he rescued and brought back to France… 1966 – 199 ..read more

It might have something to do with the fact that Aachen CHIO  it has been going for just over one hundred years and they really know how to make the show something very special… The first horse show was held in Aachen, together with a horse race. In 1927 the horse show lasted six days. The first show jumping Nations Cup was held in 1929. When you actually step foot  on the show grounds, it hits you! Suddenly you realise that you are somewhere really special… Aachen is really just for that one magic few days every year. The facility is fine tuned to produce equestrian sport at the h ..read more

Really the Greg Best Masterclass in the big indoor arena, was probably unnecessary, since his comments throughout the jumping classes were masterclass enough for the many who sat around the arena, hanging on every word. Greg certainly loves a microphone and has a wonderful way with words, which is kind of funny, since his personal jumping guru, Frank Chapot, was the exact opposite… “Frank just grunted once if you did it well and twice if you did it wrong, and that was it. That’s how you knew if you’d done a good job, there was never any advice on how to actually make it better; it was just on ..read more

1966 – 1991, 165 cm Bay Served France 1971-74; Zangersheide 1975-85, France 1986-1991 Breeder – Alphonse Chauvin The greatest single influence on showjumping breeding has been the French stallion, Ibrahim (The Last Orange / Porte Bonheur) and his most influential son has been the great Almé, who was out of a mare, Girondine by the Thoroughbred, Ultimate. Almé in the competition arena…. Thirty years after his death, Almé continues to influence showjumping at the highest level. The most successful sire at the Tokyo Games was Chacco-Blue with five representatives, but the most successful of tho ..read more

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by Christopher Hector The breeding rankings are designed to assist mare owners in their choice of stallions, but at times it feels like they are there to provoke debate amongst the observers of sporthorse breeding, here’s a good example. At the 2022 Frankfurt Show, I caught up with my friend and advisor of the past couple of decades,  Sporthorse breeding expert, Ludwig Christmann. Ludwig has recently resigned from his position at the Hanoverian Verband, but he assured me he was not going to stop writing, indeed he had found a new topic. I hope since your retirement you haven’t stopped wr ..read more

Words by Chris Hector and photos by Roz Neave Sit in on a master class with one of the world’s great showjumping rider / trainers, Greg Best as he works with two of the riders he selected fromYoung Horse classes that he judged, Paul Brent riding McMillan and Juliette Haddow riding Aussie Rules. “These two riders have been selected because they come with issues that I deal with a lot. Paul Brent had three horses in the Five Year Old class and they were all very consistent. There were just a few little issues that I discussed with him, I’d like him to soften his seat, soften his entire ride, and ..read more

Gemma Alexander and Christopher Hector analyse the breeding of the finalists at Leipzig… Looking at the 2022 World Cup Final was made somewhat more interesting with the entry of Equi-Ratings into the melange of jumping stats and rankings. The Equi-Ratings were remarkably prescient, which was no surprise. I was introduced to Equi-Ratings by an Australian eventing selector and I was fascinated when she described just how sophisticated the analysis was, which lead to a number of national federations buying access to assist in team selection. But the company’s founder, Sam Watson, was a little di ..read more

Christopher Hector reports from s’Hertogenbosch… After two years hidden away behind closed doors,  the KWPN stallion show returns to the Brabanthalle in all its glory, and I am free to travel to the beautiful city of s’Hertogenbosch. From my hotel room I can see the historic dragon fountain erected in 1903, it’s motif gleaming through the evening dusk, and I am happy to report that my favorite restaurants are just as good as I remember them… The Jumping Colts Out of 179 jumpers presented in 2023, 108 or 60.3% were approved to go on to den Bosch. The young stallions are pre-inspected for ..read more