When Esben Møller and his wife saw the 3-year-old stallion Zack back in 2007 in ‘s-Hertogenbosch at the KWPN Select Sale (KSS), they immediately thought: ‘This could be an interesting stallion for Blue Hors’. And that turned out to be an understatement, since Blue Hors Zack truly lived up to the high expectations and is nowadays seen as one of the leading sires in dressage breeding. “I think he is not only the most expensive stallion ever sold at the KSS, but also the best one”, Esben Møller smiles, referring to the top-price of 430.000 euro for Blue Hors Zack back in 2007.

Esben Møller still remembers the interesting history of Blue Hors Zack’s early days. “In October as a 2-year-old, Wouter Plaizier bought Zack together with another horse at the breeder’s place for more or less 11.000 euro. Four months later, we bought him for 430.000 euro! And the remarkable thing is that many professional Dutch dealers had seen Zack many times before the KWPN Stallion Show, but he never really caught their eye. Sometimes you have to be lucky and you have to make your own decision”, Esben Møller looks back.

‘Character and willingness to work’
But what did Esben Møller see in Zack back in those days? “Actually, we were not present on Friday when he was loose in the ring, but we only saw him in hand on Saturday. He immediately caught our eyes and we thought with these bloodlines, he could be a suitable stallion for Blue Hors. Then we noticed he was included in the KWPN Select Sale, so we went to check the x-rays and the clinical report, but in the meantime he was awarded champion of the KWPN Stallion Show. That is obviously good for the stallion, but not good for the price”, Esben Møller laughs.
In the end, Blue Hors Zack lived up to his value in all ways. As a breeding stallion, he is one of world’s most successful, however is oldest offspring are only 9-years-old. “We expect a lot of Grand Prix-horses from him in the next years. Zack’s best quality is his character and willingness to work and he clearly passes this on to his offspring. Their common thing is their great mentality.”

‘First sire, then Grand Prix-horse’
As a sport horse, Blue Hors Zack made his on the age of 13 in the beginning of 2017. “In the sport it took a little longer than expected, since he had an accident as a 6-year-old and got blind on his right eye. It took some time to recover from this and to get his confidence back under the saddle, but when Daniel Bachmann Andersen joined our team as a rider back in 2014, it all turned out very well.”
Most stallions become successful sires after their sports career, but with Zack it seems to be the other way around. “Blue Hors Zack was first known as a fantastic breeding stallion, producing offspring for the highest level. And then he also became a successful Grand Prix-horse himself. Now he can compete against his own children, since the first ones are already performing at the highest level as well.” With Daniel Bachmann Andersen, Blue Hors Zack already scored over 80% in the World Cups of Herning and Salzburg and for this year, the expectations are high as well.

‘New Zack’
Esben Møller of Blue Hors has great experience with the KWPN Stallion Show and the KWPN Select Sale over the past years. “A good thing about the system of KWPN Select Sale is that in a few minutes you can have all the information about the x-rays and the clinical report, et cetera. The transparency is very well in this auction. Overall, I think the quality of the horses in the collection are of a very high quality the past years. If there will be a new ‘Zack’ in this year’s auction, we will for sure try to buy it!”, Esben Møller concludes.

Collection KWPN Select Sale

Photo Blue Hors Zack: Dirk Caremans