With 40 years of experience Fred van Straaten knows what to look for. His current horse file is the result of years of tough selection. The dam lines with not enough sport in their veins were dropped; only the best have remained. The carefully chosen horses characterise themselves in terms of health, attitude, size, correctness and of course quality. “It al started with the Uron daughter, Isabelle, who my father bought. She is the mother of Belle-Amie S, the Le Mexico daughter, who is the basis of our most successful dam line. Over the years I bought other mares from other famous dam lines. For example, the Tivonne, Koteusi, and Lottie/ Zottie line but also the Holsteiner lines 173, 6893 and 890 have representatives in our stables. Over the years we have selected a lot on health. I want to breed horses that can compete on the highest level for many years.”

Van Straaten is aware of the fact that health alone is not enough. Just as important is attitude. “That’s the reason why we compete with all of our mares. We need to know if they want to do the job. The interior of a horse can make or break him. A young horse showing temperamental behavour might be doing so out of a kind of self defence, and can suddenly mature into an agreeable horse. That’s why it’s of huge importance to really know the dam lines, and to understand their characters.”