VDL Stud is registered as the breeder of the only stallion invited to the championship inspection today. Celtic VDL made a strong impression in all aspects.

With four out of five presented stallions selected for the performance test, the Van de Lageweg family had a successful day. The only stallion that did not receive approval was Emerson VDL Z, a son of Emerald van ’t Ruytershof, directly bred from the top sport mare Cella (by Cento). “He’s a big horse, so he might just need more time. That’s no problem; we’ll give him that time, and perhaps he can be presented again in the future,” said Wiebe-Yde van de Lageweg.

Championship inspection
Back to Celtic VDL, a son of Chatinue out of the Grand Prix mare Sixtine de Vains/Sarena (by Calvaro Z), who achieved success under Ben Maher and Pius Schwizer. Today, he impressed with his conformation, stallion presence, strong jumping performance, and pedigree. “It’s great that he gets to return for the championship inspection tomorrow. We already had high expectations for him at home. We’ve bred several talented young horses from his dam, including Pardino VDL, a son of Zirocco Blue VDL, who was also selected by the KWPN as a three-year-old. He was later approved at Zangersheide and has already performed well in the stallion competition under Cristel Kalf,” said Wiebe-Yde. “Ben Maher owns two four- and five-year-olds out of Sixtine, and we sold her last year for breeding in England. She gave us a filly by Comthago before leaving, and since we still have several sons and daughters from her—and she was already 18 years old—we decided to sell her. We are very happy with Celtic, and tomorrow we also have five more interesting stallions in the second round viewing.”

No longer fertile
Celtic comes from the first crop of the genetically valuable Grand Prix stallion Chatinue, who stood at VDL Stud for 2.5 breeding seasons but was unfortunately found to be infertile last year. “Yes, that was really unfortunate because he produced well, and we brought him to the Netherlands for his excellent size, length, power, and performance. Celtic is from his first crop, and with him, Chatinue has made a strong statement. Fortunately, his story isn’t over, because with sons like this, we can still move forward.”

Results of the second viewing for show jumping stallions after day 1

JS for KWPN
Photo Celtic VDL: HippoFoto