Karin and Gerrit Huisman have proven that small-scale breeders can achieve great things. From a single dam line, they have bred several international showjumpers and the KWPN-approved stallions Power of Zsazsa and Rock Me Zsazsa. By focusing on sport aptitude and health from the beginning, rearing the young horses themselves, and actively competing their mares internationally, they have laid a solid foundation for their breeding program.

As breeders, Karin and Gerrit have made a name for themselves thanks to successful international sport horses like the 1.60m jumper D’Angelo (by Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve), La Zsa Zsa (by Cornet Obolensky), sold to Gerco Schröder, and Zsa Zsa (by Sam R), who performed well with Siebe Kramer. Their breeding journey began with the Aram daughter Francien, and since then, they have continuously raised the bar. By gathering information, critically evaluating their horses, and using sport performance as the ultimate benchmark, this couple consistently makes the right decisions.

Finding out on your own
Over the years, horse breeding has become a shared passion for Karin and Gerrit. Karin previously rode dressage with great pleasure, and her enthusiasm rubbed off on Gerrit, who brought in a business-minded approach. “If you're going to plant a tree”, Gerrit says, “I’d rather plant an apple tree so we can literally and figuratively reap the rewards.” That was the same for buying a horse, adds Karin. “My first horse came from the market in Hedel, and in 1989, Gerrit and I decided to buy a foal. That was a gelding, but by age three, he turned out to have health issues. So Gerrit suggested buying another foal, this time a filly, so one horse could become two. We had some space around the house, enough for a mare and foal.” After an extensive search for a promising filly, they eventually came across Francien, a two-year-old daughter of Aram. “She moved and jumped well but looked a bit rough because she’d rubbed her mane off. It was late summer, and an article in ‘In de Strengen’ that mentioned her grandmother convinced us to buy her. The article was about the performance predicate for mares, and Francien’s grandmother already had double 'preferent' and 'prestatie' status, which was the reason why she was mentioned.” That winter, Francien improved significantly, and at three, she was saddle-broken. “We were curious about breeding and had to figure everything out ourselves. I used to study ‘In de Strengen’ front to back. When Francien was saddle-broken, my instructor advised us to take her to the studbook inspection. That was all new to us, and we were over the moon when she was awarded ster status ‘just like that’. We thought it was amazing. After that, we consulted inspector Rob van Ruitenbeek about what we needed to do to get her keur status as well. He recommended having Francien do an IBOP test. So said, so done, we took her to Faan Pompen, and it turned out she was a very talented jumper.

Jumping oriented
Francien scored 8.5s for both character and aptitude as a jumper, after which she earned the keur predicate. The mare was originally purchased as a future riding horse for Karin, but due to circumstances, she had to hang up her riding boots. This gave them the perfect opportunity to use Francien for breeding. “In the early days of our breeding program, we sought out as much information and advice as possible. From the very beginning, we were ambitious and set ourselves the goal of breeding a UTV/NMK mare, an approved stallion, and a horse that would compete in the Grand Prix of Aachen. At that time, specialization within breeding was becoming more prevalent, and we started to look at things differently. The first foals Francien gave us were by dressage stallions. But thanks to her strong IBOP and the KWPN’s encouragement toward specialization, we decided to pair her with a jumping stallion. We chose the champion of the stallion inspection, Now or Never M, and that resulted in the mare Sabien”, Karin continues. Sabien developed into a very successful broodmare and also performed up to the 1.30m level in sport. As small-scale breeders, Karin and Gerrit made the conscious decision early on to have their mares compete in sport, and that has certainly paid off. Foundation mare Francien also produced the 4* eventing horse Camelot (by Namelus R) and several Z-level dressage horses. With Sabien, breeding was almost exclusively focused on jumping, and she clearly passed on a great deal of jumping ability. At age three, she successfully completed the EPTM, and just like her dam, her jumping potential was rewarded with a score of 8.5.

Sport as a benchmark
Only Sabien’s first foal was sired by a dressage stallion. This Flemmingh son, Woodstock, developed into one of the most successful jumping offspring of his father, who was primarily known as a dressage sire. With Harold Boisset, Woodstock jumped up to 1.50m level. The following year, Sabien’s daughter Zsa Zsa (by Sam R) was born to the Huisman-Holst couple, and she has proven to be an important link in their breeding program. “We chose Sam R because he was the champion of the performance test at the time and came from a good, and above all, healthy sport lineage from Stal Roelofs. After a few foals, we sent Sabien to Siebe Kramer so she could be brought into the sport. At that time, dressage foals were easier to sell than jumping foals, so it seemed wise to invest in the mares’ sport careers to make the foals more interesting from a sales perspective. Sabien jumped at national D-level with Siebe within a year, which is slightly heavier than the usual 1.30m level, so that went very well. Siebe told us he needed a bit more time to get her to 1.40m level. The goal was achieved, but partly due to the costs, we decided not to pursue that further and she fully went into breeding. We took the same route with her daughter Zsa Zsa, who is by Sam R, so she also went to Siebe. Her progress kept rising, and when she was jumping 1.30m, Siebe said he felt Zsa Zsa had even more potential. That’s why we continued, and at one point Siebe even got the chance to compete with her at the CHIO in Rotterdam. There, they placed eighth in the 1.50m, which allowed them to start in the 1.55m the next day. We are very ambitious and the mare was in good shape, but looking back, we didn’t make the right choice by having Zsa Zsa jump that class because she got slightly injured. Since she had already proven herself enough in the sport, she then fully transitioned to breeding.”

Good publicity
Mother Sabien produced, besides Zsa Zsa, six more international show jumpers, including the 1.50m jumper Curandero (by Chellthago Z) ridden by Jose Fumero Hernandez. In breeding, Zsa Zsa has more than earned her stripes and has made a lot of good publicity for her passionate breeders. “We believe you shouldn’t sell your best mare, so it was only natural that Zsa Zsa would return to us for breeding. She has always been a very special mare, at three years old she passed her IBOP and was selected for the VSN Trophy final. That made us very proud already, and then we shared many great adventures with her in sport together with Siebe.”Before her sport career started, Zsa Zsa had already produced two foals for her breeders, and these are certainly no small achievements. In combination with the performance stallions Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve and Vleut, she produced the international show jumpers D’Angelo and Elzelien. The latter, just like her mother Zsa Zsa, is now used for breeding at Karin and Gerrit after her sport career. “We sold half of D’Angelo as a four-year-old to Jan van Meever, who had previously purchased the Chellthago Z son Google from our breeding. He visited us with Simon den Exter, who knew Zsa Zsa from the sport. D’Angelo was just starting under saddle and was a bit mischievous. Simon and Jan asked if we wanted to let him free jump, which we had never done with him before, but I remember it like it was yesterday. He jumped fantastically. So when Jan asked what we wanted for him, I decided to sell only half. He first went to Simon’s daughter Sendy and later was ridden by Arnold Boerekamps.” With Arnold, D’Angelo took part twice in the World Championship for Young Jumping Horses and jumped his first 1.45m classes. For the next step up, the owners had to find another rider.

The importance of health
On the advice of Cor Loeffen, they were introduced to Wout-Jan van der Schans. “Cor told us that D’Angelo would probably be a good match for Wout-Jan. At that time, he had just had to say goodbye to Aquila SFN. That was at the end of 2016, and they formed a successful partnership for nearly four years. I’m not much of a flyer myself, but D’Angelo competed at many beautiful international shows. Jan van Meever went to watch in places like Shanghai, Monaco, and Estoril. Experiencing top-level sport up close taught us a lot. Also about how important management and the health of the horses really are. D’Angelo had three very good riders, Sendy, Arnold, and Wout-Jan, and he was never injured. Because of this, we became even more strict in our breeding program about health and correctness, having seen firsthand what the sport truly demands of horses. D’Angelo jumped at the 1.60m level and, because he was a gelding, we sold him during the corona period in consultation with co-owner Jan. That horse is one of the reasons why we became so passionate about the sport, and since then we’ve had more horses compete internationally.” The same goes for D’Angelo’s half-sister Elzelien (by Vleut). This elite mare competed with Siebe at international 1.45m level and now serves the breeding program. This daughter of Zsa Zsa is covered by Meganus PS and has already produced several promising offspring. Elzelien’s daughter Sparkling Zsazsa (by Conthargos) is pregnant with Cero Blue TN for next year, and Zsa Zsa herself is currently pregnant by the Olympic stallion Rahotep de Toscane. “We have never been afraid to think outside the box when it comes to stallion choices.” From now on, Zsa Zsa will only be used for breeding via ICSI. “We have had good experiences with this, and the technology has improved enormously over the past years.”

Sport mares
During and after her sporting career, the Sam R daughter Zsa Zsa produced several sport mares, including La Zsa Zsa (by Cornet Obolensky), Miss Moneypenny (by Vagabond de la Pomme), and Mayflower of Zsa Zsa (by Comme Il Faut), as well as the KWPN stallion Power of Zsazsa (by Kannan Jr.). “I dare to say that all of Zsa Zsa’s offspring can jump well. Of course, some better than others, but time and again she passes on her drive and jumping ability. On the advice of the Kramer family, with whom we’ve built a great friendship over the years, we used Zsa Zsa for ICSI during her sport career, resulting in Mayflower and La Zsa Zsa.” La Zsa Zsa was successfully trained by Siebe to international 1.45m level and was sold last summer to top rider Gerco Schröder. “If you get the chance to sell to such a good rider, you basically always should. We hope to hear a lot more from her in the future.” La Zsa Zsa’s half-sister, Mayflower of Zsa Zsa, became the Hippiade champion last year in the 1.30m with Siebe and is now being used for breeding via embryo transfer. A surrogate mare is currently pregnant with her Carthago foal. Mayflower’s three-year-old daughter Springflower (by Kannan) is pregnant by Catoki.

Approved stallions
Zsa Zsa’s son Power of Zsazsa made breeders’ dreams come true. “The Kramer family had suggested several times that we should use Kannan on this lineage, but with Zsa Zsa, we didn’t quite feel right about that combination. Kannan Jr. suited us better, also because we knew his dam Van Meta from the sport, as she often competed with Siebe at the same shows as Zsa Zsa. Van Meta always gave her best and comes from one of the best bloodlines in the Netherlands.” Power of Zsazsa was co-owned with the Kramer family from foalhood, and later Sjaak van der Lei joined in. At the stallion inspection, Power of Zsazsa was primed after a strong performance, then approved by the KWPN, and has since been sold for sport and breeding to China. “When I think back to the moment of the honors ceremony in Den Bosch, I immediately get emotional again. It was so special to stand there among the big names when our Power was primed. For years we had sat in the stands, and suddenly we experienced this. During the performance test, I went to watch every Tuesday and Friday with Marietje Kramer. With his approval, Power of Zsazsa truly fulfilled a breeder’s dream. Because there was demand from China for a young, KWPN-approved stallion and we could sell him well, he was sold there after mutual consultation. It was a good deal, but we do find it quite sad. At this moment, we no longer have horses in partnership because I prefer to keep full control myself. But of course, it was also very nice to share Power’s success with others”, Karin says. Last spring, the breeders achieved success again when Rock Me Zsazsa (by Lambada Shake AG), bred from the Cornet Obolensky daughter La Zsa Zsa, was registered with the KWPN. “Lambada Shake AG was a stallion owned by Jan van Meever, with whom we have built a good friendship, and he is an extremely good jumper. Jan wanted to secure the foal before birth, and when it turned out to be a colt, the sale was quickly finalized. It’s amazing that he has also been approved; we never expected to experience that twice in a row”, Gerrit adds. Rock Me Zsazsa is now performing impressively in the young horse competitions under Kristian Houwen.

Under own management
Karin and Gerrit raise their horses at home with great care and attention. “We prefer to keep everything under our own management and are very precise about it because we’re convinced that the early years are crucial for the rest of a horse’s life. We have spacious stalls, the group stables have an outdoor area with a hard surface so the horses walk on different types of ground, and we try to stay on top of everything. From deworming on time to maintaining the pastures. Gerrit and I are always busy with the horses and we talk about them a lot. In that sense, it’s actually a blessing that our son Laurens isn’t into horses, which gives us at least some other topics to talk about too”, Karin adds with a smile. “At home we have four hectares of pasture, and we produce our own hay on grassland we manage elsewhere. That means we’re not dependent on selling foals and can keep colts as well. We geld them early so they can walk with the mares. We’re aware that this gives us the ability to make different decisions than breeders who don’t have these facilities and therefore need to sell their foals. We don’t have to make deals with stallion owners and can truly make our own choices, which is a privilege. From the start, we’ve done everything we could to gather as much information as possible, and we still do. When it comes to selecting stallions, we never rush things, we research everything, especially the dams and dam lines”, Karin concludes.

Available information
Her husband Gerrit adds: “I also believe that as a breeder you should do everything possible to make the best stallion choice. Because the combination is decisive. We try to make progress with every generation. At a certain point, we had some success, and then you start wondering what it takes to maintain that. I find it very interesting to analyze everything, and I think it’s a shame when breeders merely reproduce. You have to combine your own knowledge and intuition with all the data that’s available. Websites like HippoMundo, HorseTelex, and the KWPN database offer very valuable insights. I believe success isn’t purely a matter of luck, because success comes from making the right choices, and then having some luck on your side. In terms of breeding, we started with nothing. We didn’t have an expensive mare or much knowledge, we were as green as grass. Of course, we’ve been very lucky that this dam line has developed so well, but we also did everything we could to make that possible. In the beginning, we bred mainly for inspections, but that focus has shifted completely to sport. We’ve bred several elite mares in a row, and the appealing and correct conformation is now anchored in this line. I would almost say we became wise in breeding through trial and error. Jo Rutten always had a fitting saying about that: ‘You only learn when you feel it in your own wallet,’ and that’s real wisdom. The game is too expensive to breed randomly. We hope to enjoy many more beautiful moments with our horses and remain as ambitious as ever”, concludes Gerrit Huisman.

Text: Jenneke Smit
Photos: Dirk Caremans and Digishots