When watching the recent HANN stallion licensing one of the most attractive young stallions was catalog no 56 by Escolar / Rohdiamant, and like some of the other very attractive stallions he was not offered for sale, but he was not owned by one of the big German stallion stations.
From H2R point of view it became quite interesting to find out more about his story, and therefore H2R contacted the owner of this special boy named Escamillo, American Kimberly Davies to make her tell the story from being an entusiastic breeder buying a colt with her dream bloodlines, and then making it all happen during this years HANN stallion licensing.
Who is Kimberly Davies and what´s her background?
"My mother and grandmother always had a special place in their lives for horses. Neither rode competitively, but rode ponies as kids for fun. My mother always wanted her children to be involved in some type of sport, and my sister and I both took a liking to horses. We grew up riding backyard ponies and then ex-racehorse thoroughbreds in the pony club (United States Pony Club). We kept our horses our own small farm and always did the work ourselves. I always had a passion for dressage but as we were riding ex- racehorses, we focused on eventing. I competed through the Preliminary level of eventing in the USA and graduated from the United States Pony Club with my HA rating.
I continued to ride throughout my time at college (university) where I rode young horses for the jumping trainers in exchange for reduced board. During college, I purchased my first warmblood for $5000 on a payment plan - a 10 year old Westfalen mare by Polydor that had competed in jumping and I turned her into my dressage horse. Now that I had a warmblood, I started to follow the German breeding, stallion licensings, mare shows, read every book I could find. The feeling of riding a warmblood bred specially bred to be a riding sport horse is unlike any other. This is when I realized I wanted to breed and ride these horses.
My first foal was born in 2007 from the Polydor mare (and by the Holsteiner Ariadus) and is a successful eventing horse in the USA with his amateur owner. My husband and I named him Ariston which then became the name of our farm - Ariston Farm. Ariston means excellence which is what we are striving for", tells Kimberly.
Breeding 2-5 foal each year and active competition rider
"Since then, I've slowly purchased mares and foals from breeders in Germany, Holland, Canada and the USA to build up a small breeding program. We breed 2-5 foals a year at our farm. I am very hands on - I personally foal out the mares in the US myself which I find so exciting (albeit exhausting as you know). I also start the youngsters in the US under saddle myself and with a helper. My current PSG horse Sigur Ros (Sandro Hit x Brentano x Hill Hawk xx) was started under saddle and trained by myself. My coach and FEI judge Gabriel Armando comes to my farm to coach me once a week. Sigur Ros and I are still green at PSG but she has a lot of potential. I hope to have 3 horses competing PSG in 2018.
Our philosophy is all about the horses. We want the best for the horses - to best prepare them for success in sport, to be healthy and happy and for their longevity. We, of course, sell horses to become profitable and provide services such as raising and starting young horses for clients," says Kimberly.
The German connections
"Back in 2010 I met the Lenzen family when I purchased the broodmare SPS Royal Nature (Royal Hit x Fidermark) from them and kept her in Germany with the Lenzen's to foal out. The Lenzen family are the breeders of Ehrentusch, Roman Nature, De Beers, the champion mare Romanika (full sister to Roman Nature) and the 2nd placed 4 year old Bundeschampionat horse this year named Flawless Diamond. My broodmare and most of Lenzen horses are from the mare line that is the same as Florestan, Woodlander Farouche and the GP horse Favorit ridden by Sönke Rothenberger.
Theo Lenzen introduced me to Iris Jansen, of Reitlanlage Rickhof, who starts his young horses under saddle. This turned into a super partnership because Iris is close to my age and speaks perfect English - and we got along well and shared the same taste in horses."
In love with the bloodlines of Escamillo
"Back in 2015, Iris and I talked of finding some potential stallion prospects. We purchased Escamillo from the Wickrath foal auction and purchased 2 others directly from their breeders. Escamillo was bred by Carolin Langhorst of Gestuet Tenterhof (they also bred another 2017 Premium Hanoverian stallion by Danzador X Royal Highness).
I loved Escamillo's bloodlines (Escolar x Rohdiamant x De Niro x Landadel). Escolar was a really interesting stallion to me because of his power and bringing back some of this older E blood mixed with Fidermark (one of my favorite stallions of all time). And of course, Rohdiamant is one of the "greats" - this is blood that is important to keep in the horses - R line horses like to work and usually are super to deal with. Then add in De Niro - the ultimate in producing GP horses. I also love seeing the Landadel blood in there - going back to Ladykiller xx (another "great"). In addition, he had no S or Londonderry blood. Escamillo's mare line is the Cinderella mare line (same as Sir Heinrich, Candy OLD, Cindy OLD, Ashley Holzer's small tour horse Radondo by Romanov). Escamillo's mother's has 2 full brothers: one named Romanist is an approved stallion and a successful S level horse in Germany, and the other is Romeo Niro a successful Grand Prix horse. Escamillo had impressive movement with a natural cadence, expression and balance. He always had a super character - happy and willing," adds Kimberly in the best horsy breeder nerd way.
Escamillo as a foal - private photo: Kimberly Davies
Easy selection from the field
"He was reared with a small group of colts in large grass fields at the Lenzen Farm in Heinsberg. (They also have the most beautiful herd of dairy cows there!).
In early summer of 2017, we checked on the development of the colts. Escamillo looked great and moved with much power and expression - all 3 gaits were very impressive. The other colts also looked good, but one did not have enough stallion presence, and the other was just a bit too small," tells Kimberly.
Escamillo enjoying his childhood at Lenzen Farm in Heinsberg, Germany.
Private photo: Kimberly Davies
The professional stallion eyes
"We showed him to Tobias Schult of Hengstation Schult who agreed to prepare him for the next few months and present him for the pre selections. Iris sent me a little video of him when he had been learning to lunge for 2 weeks - I was very impressed - a naturally gifted mover. During the pre-selection, he started to stand out even more - he was 1 of 2 stallions that received applause from the audience - and the audiences in Germany are well educated so this was quite a big deal!! Tobias said he was a stallion that he really liked working with so this was also very positive."
"During the licensing, Escamillo continued to stand out. His jumping is good - and again received applause from the audience. He was calm and impressive during the in hand presentation on the grass, and he "wow'ed" everyone with his lunging. I am so proud of him and the way he presented himself. Like the Hanoverian Verband said, he has "intelligence and charisma", tells a proud and humble Kimberly.
Kimberly Davies and Iris Jansen selfie during the HANN licensing
"Tobias did an excellent job preparing him and I cannot thank him enough. Also, huge thanks to Iris for always watching over him and being a big part of his development."
It was such an honor
"It was such an honor to have him at the Hanoverian stallion approvals. It was an amazing time - so much fun. I encourage everyone to attend if they can. The excitement of the Verband, the breeders, and the crowd over Escamillo was just a dream come true. I had tears in my eyes and goosebumps as everyone clapped for him.
I am so excited for his future - he will stand at Hengstation Schult this year, where he will be available for the breeder, and he will do his stallion performance test next year, and I hope he will continue to impress!
I hope that this inspires people to buy foals with bloodlines they love and hopefully make dreams come true! It was such a honor to attend the Hanoverian licensing and have Escamillo get Premium stallion and be one of the favorites! It was amazing to meet all the different people - breeders, riders, the commissioners of the Verband. It was really a dream come true. I have other younger colts that I am also excited for, and I do hope one day to be able to present another stallion for licensing," finishes Kimberly Davies.
Happy owner with her Premium stallion - private photo.
Thank you very much to Kimberly Davies for telling her honest story with a lot of nerd spirit, and to her great way of developing the breeding abroad by using the huge experience from the European breeders and stallion owners. This is the way making progress breeding the future dressage horses all over the World.