|
Caretino is one of Germany's top stallions,
producing horses that excel in both the dressage and jumper
rings. From the latest (2001) WBFSH rankings of top jumping
sires, he is ranked #5 and is the youngest, at 18 years old,
in the top ten. With more than 100 offspring, known for their
astonishing movement and jumping ability, in sport, Caretino
has 18 approved sons and 114 daughters, of which 12 are German
State Premium. Recently Caretino was one of four to be accredited
as an approved KWPN stallion without having been presented
at the Stallion Show nor evaluated on the constitutional requirements
of the KWPN.
Caretino is by Caletto II, the most important
son of the Holsteiner breed mainstay, Cor de la Bryere. Caletto
II is said to embody the perfect traits of the Holsteins:
noble and expressive, long-bodied, correct conformation, excellent
gaits and exceptional jumping ability.
As a young stallion, Caretino won his
100-day test in the Holsteiner Verband with the brilliant
scores of 9.0 and 9.5 in jumping and 9.0 in general performance.
In his early competitions he won the 1998
Holstein State Show Jumping Championship that, in turn, qualified
him for the Federal German Championships in Mannheim at which
he won. Shortly afterwards he become a successful international
jumper with rider Bo Kristoffersen. Their efforts included
40 placings in national and international competition and,
as part of the Danish Nation's Cup team at Gera in 1992, they
brought home a fourth place finish.
The promising Caretino showed outstanding
potential and in early 1994 the ride was taken over by the
legendary Ludger Beerbaum. Just six months later his international
career was cut short after he sustained injury. Caretino was
retired from sport but began his career as a leading sire.
By 2001 12 of Caretino's offspring had
competed at the international level including AK Caridor Z
(Jos Lansink), Crocodile Dandy (Alison Firestone), Chandra
(Sören von Rönne), Toyzrus (Jill Henselwood) and Ballerina
124 (Marcus Merschformann). Most recently, his son Camirez
(Marcus Merschformann) won the 2001 Hamburg Derby, one of
the most demanding events in the international circuit. In
dressage Caretino has proven himself as well with the approved
sons Cheenook, Carpaccio and Cockney who are considered some
of the best movers ever to have entered the sport.
The definite breakthrough of the Caretino
offspring in international show jumping, Chandra (Sören von
Rönne), Ballerina (Markus Merschformann) and Caresino (Thieß
Luther), confirms that the Caletto II son ranks alongside
the best stallions within the current Holsteiner breeding.
Caretino was represented by an excellent collection of sons
during this stallion approval [31st edition of the annual
Holsteiner stallion approval and auction in Neumünster, Germany],
with no less than four being approved for breeding. The most
striking Caretino son was the dark brown Casario II (dam's
sire Leonid x Ahorn Z, lineage 6893), the best jumper, who
was bred from a sister of the stallions Concerto I and II
(Contender - Bagina x Ahorn Z (Jann)). Casario II, deservedly,
finished as championship runner-up in the approval. At the
auction for approved stallions, Casario II was bought for
DM270,000 ($118,800) by the Belgian Luc Verelst, who is the
sponsor of international showjumping rider Marc van Dijck.
- Jac Remijnse, Breeding News for Sport Horses, No. 61
- January 2002.
|
