Foals registered for dressage in 2025 can be traced back to three lines. In the coming years, a wealth of ideas will be required when naming horses with talent for dressage suitability when it comes to the initial letter “E”. Sons and grandsons of Escolar, Hubertus Schmidt’s former Bundeschampion and Grand Prix winner, can be found several times in the lists* of the most used stallions. But anyone who thinks they can still find a name with a V, preferably with “Vita” at the beginning, that has never been registered with the FN is showing ambition. Because the V, and therefore the genetics of the KWPN stallion Vivaldi and his son Vitalis, is also widespread in German breeding stables.
The top 10 in Germany: Escamillo and Sons
With every formative sire, the question arises: Has the stallion managed to sire a successor? In other words: Will the genetics be able to prevail over generations? In the case of Escolar, the Westphalian by Escolar-Fürst Piccolo, himself “only” 17 years old and descended from an Oldenburg dam line, the answer is “yes”. The stallion who not only allowed the Hanoverian E-line, which was in danger of disappearing, to survive, but also revived it – to greater importance than ever before – has a successor in his son Escamillo, who was immensely popular.
Escamillo, a Rhinelander licensed in Verden, is out of a Rohdiamant dam. He sired at least* 239 foals in 2025 that were shown at registration events. Escamillo cannot deny his dam’s sire in appearance. The stallion’s dam line is maintained by the Wendeln family in Garrel, Oldenburg. This family was already well known in the 1980s. Mares from this line were ranked highly several times at the national mare shows held at that time and were singled out as the winning family.
Statistical basis
*The evaluations presented here do not claim to be absolutely complete, because in some horse breeding associations the exact number of registered foals born in 2025 will actually still be known in March of the following year, i.e. 2026. Nevertheless, the number of offspring of the stallions at the top of the associations’ rankings is so high that minimal changes of a few additional foals do not change the general picture.
Escamillo and two sons in Top 10
It is interesting to note that Escamillo also appears with two sons in the top 10 stallions with the most dressage foals in 2025. Together with Extreme US (164) and Escanto PS (140), both born at Paul Schockemöhle’s Lewitz Stud, the trio has more than 540 foals. Escamillo, whose stallion career began with Tobias Schult in Hünxe, is stationed at Paul Schockemöhle. And the breeding policy in Lewitz is also likely to have had an influence on the figures. After all, Paul Schockemöhle also owns a considerable number of dressage mares.
Something else stands out: athleticism seems to be relevant in the breeder’s decision. After the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses and third place in the final of the Nuremberg Burg Cup, Escamillo is successful in 3* competitions. His sire Escolar and his grandsires Estobar and Rohdiamant are Grand Prix winners.
Vivaldi – the Dutchman with a Holstein background
Like the sire-son trio at the top, the sire of the second most dressage foals born in 2025 is also in Paul Schockemöhle’s stallion stable in Mühlen: Vitalis, the Dutch stallion by Vivaldi-D-Day, has more than 200 foals to his name, 213 to be exact. He won the Nuremberg Burg Cup and his offspring, such as Vamos Amigo and Vayron, have already won medals at World and European Championships and the Olympic Games. Vitalis’ sire Vivaldi was the most sought-after stallion in his home country, the Netherlands, for several years. Vivaldi goes back through his grandfather Flemmingh, a Holsteiner “emigrant” by Lacapo, to the thoroughbred Ladykiller xx, who actually went down in the history books as the sire of the show jumping legends Landgraf and Lord.
Vitalis’ dam’s sire D-Day is a grandson of the legendary sire Donnerhall, who can be found in many pedigrees among the top stallions of 2025. The offspring of his son Veneno (139), his grandson Vjento by Valdiviani (135) and Va Bene (116), who is popular in the south, alone resulted in more than 600 foals from Vitalis’ paternal line being registered with German horse breeding associations last year. Veneno and Vjento were or are owned by the Schult family, Va Bene by the Wadenspanner family.
Then there is the Celle state stud stallion Von und Zu. He was the most popular stallion among breeders in Hanover 2024: 122 dressage foals were registered by the chestnut stallion in 2025. This puts him at the top of the number of offspring in 2025.
As Vitalis himself has more than 100 licensed sons, the nationwide number of foals that can be traced back to the now 19-year-old stallion is likely to be even greater.
Viva Gold for the next generations
A direct Vivaldi son is Viva Gold, who made his spectacular international debut in March 2026 under Isabell Werth. His dam is a daughter of the Olympic silver medallist from Rio, the Oldenburg mare Weihegold. His son V-Power, owned by the stallion owners Andreas Helgstrand and Paul Schockemöhle, has 127 foals to his name. His career began as the winner of the Westphalian licensing.
St. Emilion – the most popular stallion from the Zack line
The seven-year-old St. Emilion, the most popular stallion at Klosterhof Medingen, goes back to the 2022 World Team Champion, Zack by Rousseau: St. Emilion was a premium stallion at the Oldenburg licensing and was able to make a name for himself early on thanks to his uniform heredity. He is a grandson of the three-time world champion of young dressage horses, Sezuan, and was bred several times to Donnerhall. St. Emilion was able to present 158 foals to the major associations in 2025.
A direct son of Sezuan has also made it into the ranks of stallions with 100+ offspring: So Perfect, once a reserve champion stallion in Oldenburg, is now a gelding under the Swedish rider Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfvén in 3* sport. He has 130 offspring to his name in 2025.
Donnerhall – in demand in Westphalia
Finally, a representative of the Donnerhall line also made it into the ranking: the Westphalian state stud stallion Diamantenglanz, an Oldenburg son of Diamond First, who is now being prepared by Carina Scholz for use in high-level dressage sport (123).
Who else was among the top sires in 2025?
Other stallions with more than 80 registered dressage foals were Proud James by Jamesson (Zack line), Dynamic Dream by Dream Boy, Venturo by Valdiviani (Vivaldi), Bon Bolero by Bon Vivaldi, Bon Esprit by Bon Courage, Bon Courage by Bon Coeur (all Bolero) and For Romance by Fürst Romancier and his son Fiji (Florestan).
Dressage stallions with more than 110 registered foals in 2025
| name | Breeding area | Pedigree | Number of foals** |
| Escamillo | RHLD | v. Escolar-Rohdiamant | 239 |
| Vitalis | KWPN | v. Vivaldi-D-Day | 213 |
| Extreme U.S. | OLD | v. Escamillo-Vivaldi | 164 |
| St. Emilion | OLD | v. Suarez-Dante Weltino | 158 |
| Escanto | OLD | Escamillo prince ball | 140 |
| Veneno | WESTF | v. Vitalis-Diamond | 139 |
| Vjento | RHLD | v. Valdiviani-Sir Donnerhall | 135 |
| So Perfect | OLD | v. Sezuan-Sir Donnerhall | 127 |
| V-Power | WESTF | v. Viva Gold-Fidertanz | 127 |
| Diamond shine | OLD | v. Diamond First-Bon Coeur | 123 |
| From and to | HAN | v. Vitalis-Floriscount | 122 |
| Va Bene | DSP (BAY) | v. Veneno-Belisssimo M | 116 |
*The figures are approximate values based on the published top lists of the associations. There will be a few more registered foals from one stallion or another, but the trend reflects the breeding activity in Germany in 2025.
