Hanoverian licensing 2025 - coveted dressage stallions -

Hanoverian licensing 2025 – coveted dressage stallions

Breeding 11.12.2025

from Dominique Wehrmann

Most expensive candidate at the Verden Stallion Market 2025: the award-winning Vivaldos son from Danish breeding, who went to Helgstrand Dressage for 500,000 euros. Photo: Hannoveraner Verband

The Hanoverian licensing also took place over two weekends in 2025. The dressage stallions made the start. 41 of 76 stallions were licensed, eight were awarded prizes. This year, the sons of the KWPN stallion Opoque, who presented his debut crop, were among the most striking.

Even before the Hanoverian licensing 2025 had begun, a stallion from the dressage collection was on everyone’s lips and that was catalog number 1: a chestnut by Opoque out of a Bon Bravour-Show Star-Wolkenstein II dam, who represents the same mare line that also produced Ulla Salzgeber’s team Olympic champion Rusty. The breeder of this youngster is Dr. Christina Beuke in Lilienthal. He was exhibited by Bollmoor Partner GmbH & Co KG in Lütjensee, which is owned by the Oatley family, who also own the sire Opoque.

Even those who were not present at the pre-selection could guess from the video in the online catalog that this elegantly presented chestnut had the overall package that one would want from a stallion in sport and breeding – at least as far as looks and movements were concerned, and the expectations that the youngster named Onatopp was able to meet during his licensing were correspondingly high. He was awarded a premium. He was not for sale. He will start his career as a sire at Pascal Kandziora’s station. Kandziora had also prepared him for Verden.

Striking Opoque sons

Catalog number 1 was one of four sons of Opoque (by All at Once-Davino V.O.D.-Fürst Heinrich) who were present at the Verden licensing. The chestnut was the acclaimed premium stallion at the KWPN licensing in 2022. At the time, he was already owned in part by Helgstrand Dressage and the breeder, Willeke Bos.

Opoque passed his Dutch performance test as second best with 85.5 points and went to Helgstrand in Denmark for further training. Under Mette Sejbjerg Jensen, he won the test for four-year-olds at the World Breeding Dressage Championships for Young Horses in 2023. In 2024, he would have been in the KWPN line-up for the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses. However, he was sold to the Oatley family beforehand, who returned the 2021 World Champion Dressage Horse Down Town, who was victorious in medium class this fall with Sejbjerg Jensen, but was so unruly in the Prix St. Georges in Aarhus that the rider gave up.

2023 marks Opoque’s first licensing year. However, he has only had offspring in Verden so far. There were no other sons by him in Münster-Handorf, Vechta or Redefin. However, three of the four offspring in the lot were licensed in Verden and two were also awarded prizes.

Two country stallions by Opoque

The second award-winning Opoque son was catalog number 3, a dark chestnut from Swedish breeding with a De Niro-Prince Thatch xx-Eldorado dam. This mare, named Darina, has a total of four licensed sons, two of which have been awarded premiums. The stallion will continue his career at Celle State Stud. State Stable Master Dr. Axel Brockmann spent 135,000 euros on the youngster.

The other licensed Opoque son out of a Christ-Raphael-Bolero dam(breeder: ZG Lange) from the Schwanjungfrau line (including Frande prize winner Don Frederico) will also become a civil servant. Under the name Obsidian, he will enrich the Warendorf State Stud’s stallion line-up in future.

Premium stallions brand Vivaldi

Vivaldi also left his mark on this licensing with five award-winning offspring. The Sosath station can look back on the Hanoverian licensing 2025 with particular satisfaction. Their station stallion Vivaldos, who was once a premium stallion in Verden himself, had two representatives in the collection, both of which were awarded prizes and one of which also became the top prize winner.

The horse in question was catalog number 34 by Vivaldos-Revolution-Ferro-Lancier, a chestnut bred and registered in Denmark, who also returned to his home country for an official 500,000 euros. The winning bid was awarded to Helgstrand Dressage.

The other Vivaldos son out of a dam by De Niro-Lauries Crusador xx-Pik Bube I, a candidate for the Verden Elite Foal Auction 2023, will be a stablemate of his sire. The Sosath station purchased the bay, who has solid foundations, for 90,000 euro.

The second-highest hammer price was 365,000 euros. This is how much customers from the USA invested in the only son of S*** winner Valdiviani (Werth Stables) out of a Feinrich-Sir-Donnerhall-Lord Loxley dam. Dr. Norbert Grittern in Heinsberg had bred the bay, who has numerous S-successful relatives. Theo Lenzen exhibited him.

Helgstrand also secured a second premium stallion in Verden, a powerful bay by Viva Vitalis-Dante’s Junior-Nor Or Never M-Stakkato out of the dam line of Imke Schellekens-Bartels’ championship mare Sunrise. Hendrik Schäfer in Vechelde was the breeder and exhibitor and was delighted with the knockdown price of 350,000 euros.

The premium stallion with the catalog number 85, a noble bay by Livaldon-Diamond Hit-Fidertanz-Alabaster , was not for sale. The granddam is the full sister of Ingrid Klimke’s Franziskus. His breeder, Elisabeth Albers, is also the breeder of this premium stallion, who was exhibited by Allerhop Stud in Hambühren in Verden. The Vivaldi grandson began his career as a sire at Celle State Stud.

Also unsaleable was the award-winning number 66 by Feliciano-Fürst Romancier-Competent-Glorieux from the dam line of Burg Pokal finalist La Vie (Therese Nilshagen). He was born at ZG Muhle in Burgdorf and was presented in Verden by 360° Sportpferde in Duisburg. The company has had good experience in Verden this year, as it also produced the silver medal winner of the World Championships for five-year-old dressage horses in the summer, the Oldenburg mare Viva Diamond OLD under Linda Weiß.

36 licensed dressage stallions came to the auction and were sold for an average of 82,444 euros.

Licensing of show jumping stallions

A large part of the Niedersachsenhalle was covered with tarpaulins when, one week after the dressage stallions, the youngsters with jumping pedigrees competed at the Hanoverian licensing 2025. Apparently there was less interest in the 52 youngsters with future prospects for the show jumping ring. In the end, 29 stallions were licensed and five were also awarded prizes.

The most sought-after of the Verden jumping talents was catalog number 108 by Aganix du Seigneur-Cascavello-Colman-Barnaul xx. Rafal Krajewski was the proud breeder and, together with Ralf Ferri, also exhibitor of the colorful chestnut from the line that also produced Patrice Delaveau’s licensed 1.60 m show jumping stallion Carinjo as well as Gerco Schröder’s Olympic horse Monaco, among others. The winning bid of 125,000 euros went to customers from Belgium.

Not the most beautiful, but standing in the tradition of his ancestors at the jump – that’s how catalog number 115 came along. Caterina Schulz-Beelitz bred the Chacco Blue-Nabab de Reve-Lord Z-Carthago son out of the best Belgian dam line (Emerald van’t Ruytershof, Le Blue Diamond van’t Ruytershof, Jilbert van’T Ruytershof, Messi etc.). He was sold as a foal to Hauke Heinrich in Lensahn via the show auction at Hof Rosenbusch, who now witnessed his youngster go under the hammer for 102,000 euros. A breeding and training stable in Lower Saxony won the bid.

Also auctioned as foals, but in Verden, were two further premium stallions. The first was catalog number 130, a smartly presented black bay, unmistakably influenced by his sire, the number one versatility sire in the world, Diarado. Paul Bergen had bred the former Holstein champion stallion to his Chacoon Blue-Contender-Grundstein daughter Candy Girl. Carola Grotheer in Worpswede secured the contract for the correct young stallion at the Verden Foal Spring in 2023. He is now going to the USA. 95,000 euros was invested by a regular customer from overseas.

The other former Verden auction foal that left the Niedersachsenhalle as a premium stallion was catalog number 111, a still young, blood marked son of Baloutaire PS out of a Van Helsing-Carismo-Prinz Gaylord dam, who represents the line of the 1986 World Champion The Natural. Breeders are Bernhard and Helmut Jasken in Hagen. IB Berger presented the black bay for licensing. A sport stable in the Czech Republic won the bid for 33,000 euros.

Last but not least, number 99 was awarded a prize, a correctly presented black gray by Valensky-Stolzenberg-Contendro-Raphael, bred and exhibited by Peter Wisch in Otterndorf. His dam, the state premium mare Stina, is a highly successful show mare and already has an award-winning son by Grey Top. The line has not only produced successful show jumpers, but also highly decorated dressage horses, such as Matthias Alexander Rath’s Sion son Sterntaler or Frederic Wandres’ former World Champion of Young Dressage Horses, Zucchero by Zonik. The hammer fell at 28,000 euros for this premium stallion.

The average price for the 26 licensed show jumping stallions for sale was 37,981 euros.

Hanoverian Association

Licensing