Information on Gribaldi?

[password]

Can anybody comment on Gribaldi? Temperament, size, and movement of offspring, what kind of mares he needs, etc... Anything is helpful, thanks!

[siegi b.]

Gribaldi needs a mare with a fair amount of blood and a really good hind leg. This is according to a very good source in Holland....

[TwinGates]

Gribaldi needs a mare with a fair amount of blood and a really good hind leg. This is according to a very good source in Holland....

Agreed, Siegi. I owned a Gribaldi out of a 1/2 TB dam and he was a phenomenal mover (now sold to CA, but boy, did everyone stop what they were doing & head to the arena @ the training facility when he was schooling) with a tremendous work ethic.

Temperament & work ethic are classic to the Kostolany/Enrico Caruso line, which is to say OUTSTANDING. If I'm nit-picking, I'd try to find a mare w/a bit more length and of neck as Gribaldi necks can be sizeable, and extra length lends some elegance. Also, heads can be a bit plain (also classic Kosto/EC), so a typey mare will not hurt @ all!

[TKR]

What do you mean by "a good hindleg"? Is that conformational or movement or what?
PennyG

[siegi b.]

Good hind leg = well moving, powerful with good articulation of the joint (hock).

[password]

I've always heard wonderful things about the work ethic of the Enrico Caruso line, but heard that Gribaldi was a bit more difficult. Is this accurate?

[Oakstable]

How do Dutch and German breeders find mares with a lot of blood?

[vandenbrink]

I own a Gribaldi out of a Burggraaf/Duc de Normadie mare. I love this mare. She's quite tall (16.2+) lots of bone without being coarse. She is a stunning mover with a tremendous ability to sit and carry and a very free front end.

Her head is beautiful and she received 8s and 9s in almost everything at her inspection.

Temperament is fine...but she's not the easiest horse. She has a very strong and independent character.

I'm using her as a broodmare.
http://www.vandenbrink.ca/uniquefiles/unique.JPG
Her first foal is great.

[siegi b.]

Oakstable - "a lot of blood" typically means modern and sires like Jazz tend to infuse that quite a bit. So it's not that hard to find but you wouldn't want to use a Gelders mare in that type of scenario....

[password]

Any comments on sons such as Painted Black and Distelzar?

[Maren]

Kim said it all, rideability of this line - exceptional. And IMHO the most outstanding example is actually Gribaldi himself. He has put up with *unconventional* training and the fullest breeding books ever for a VERY long time - still willing under saddle and we just saw him a few weeks ago at the Gala in NMS where he was named "Trakehner Stallion of the Year".

Best son w/o doubt Distelzar - more compact and more powerful than Gribaldi, smaller frame, more type in the classic sense - and pretty much every son he had in NMS was a stunner - also over jumps btw! Very interesting connection in his dam with Arogno - Matador right there. Only available via frozen, not standing at stud in Europe.

[cheekyhorse]

I agree with the others, the Enrico Caruso/ Kostolany bloodline is the best for rideability and temperment. Gribaldi himself has a perfect front end, but I find him to be lacking behind and feel he needs a mare with a strong hind end to offset this. (he is weak in the loin connection and rather straight through the hind end which is why he finds the collection difficult - must come from his dam line as Kostolany/E.C. are very strong behind)

[horsechica58]

I saw Edward Gal and Gribaldi at the 2007 World Cup in Las Vegas, where they did not do as well as hoped/expected. The horse, however BEAUTIFUL, seemed almost stubborn to me (the piaffes unfortunately didn't go very well, IMO). The ride just wasn't as fluid as I expected from the pair :no:

[Maren]

Exactly, horsechica58. My point was just that. The horse performed at the top for many years, and you may want to go on youtube and see some of the training videos of Gribaldi and Edward to see what I mean by *unconventional*. I hate it when the reputation of a perfectly fine horse is questioned, knowing what he has out up with for many years. Btw, the World Cup was not the end of that "behavior". He pulled the same stunt later in Holland, was then withdrawn from showing for a while and when they reappeared, all seemed fine. His freestyle in Neumünster about 6 weeks ago was breathtaking and VERY well executed. No weird behavior at all. Give the horse a little credit. Besides, I would think through his offspring, his proven more than enough that he is a sire of outstanding performance horses.

The more open hind end is not from his dam, you actually do see this quite a bit from Kostolany. His latest approved son How Ever would be a good example. If you had seen Gribaldi as a 2yr old at liberty,with no training under his belt, I doubt we would be talking about a weak hind end.

[Maren]

How do Dutch and German breeders find mares with a lot of blood?

Is that a serious question?? Do you have any idea how many full Arab and TB mares are in the Trakehner stud book alone in Germany?

[password]

Maren, I really liked Distelzar but was worried that he might be a bit small? Have you seen him in person or seen any tendency to throw it?

[password]

Also, while we have trak experts on board here, what do you think about Connery?

[Sacha]

Connery I adore. So elegant, so light on his feet, beautiful. To be critical, he seems to lack a little power for collection. His son Imperio is of course breathtaking and I also really really loved his son Ettinger who was Reserve Champion of the licensing last year.
Distelzar I've never seen in the flesh, but time and time again I see something I like, and it turns out to be one of his. He and what he produces is one of the reasons I have Gribaldi on the shortlist for one of my Trakehner mares for next year. I cant get away from how much I am drawn to that sire line. His two colts at Neumunster this year were 16.1 and 16.2 and last year both 165 ( I dont know why I recorded it in hands one year and metres the next)

[Maren]

Maren, I really liked Distelzar but was worried that he might be a bit small? Have you seen him in person or seen any tendency to throw it?

Yes, he is fairly small himself, but with the exception of his approved son Donauzar (who jumped the moon, btw), he has produced very good-sized horses. C'est Bon is big and substantial, Donauklang and Düsterberg, Herzog von Nassau, any of them clearly past the 16.1h mark.