Louisville at Hassler Dressage
December 9th, 2009
Offield Farms’ KWPN stallion Hexagon’s Louisville/Burgraff will be returning to his birthplace before the end of the year.Louisville will stand at stud in the Netherlands at Stal Hexagon and have the opportunity to directly influence the mare base of that region and other parts of the Europe. Hassler Dressage has been proud to manage Hexagon’s Louisville over the past few years and we will dearly miss his charismatic presence and enormously kind nature in our stable every day. We appreciate how much it will mean to Louisville’s breeder Leunus van Lieren to have Louisville retire at ‘home’ and to have the opportunity to produce more top offspring like Hexagon’s Wonderella and Hexagon’s Welnetta, both top mares which have shone for their sire Louisville in international sport. Hassler Dressage will continue to manage mares to Hexagon’s Louisville through frozen semen. ” I am really excited that Louisville will return to Holland . I have watched his babies grow up in Holland, and there are a couple older colts here in the US . I am thrilled that Louisville passes on to his mares his incredible character and work ethic. He was, after Lingh, my favorite ride, as he was as light as a feather, as steady as the Rock of Gibraltar and the MOST FUN HORSE TO RIDE I EVER HAD ! I want to thank Mike Etherly for helping me purchase him, we must have seen 50 Grand Prix horses on that trip and it was at Stal Hexagon that we saw Louisville for the first time. I encourage any breeder to look at him carefully for their mares.”
Bron: Offieldfarms
It’s official, Hexagon’s Louisville has made his way back to Holland. It’s a long journey crossing from America but Louisville arrived safely through the hands of Tim Dutta and his Dutta Corporation Equine Transport. Thank you Tim!! Leunus and I have been working on this transition for months, making sure that the timing was ideal for getting Louisville to Holland in time for the 2010 breeding season. I have had great feedback from the mare owners here in the U.S. who have bred to Louisville and I encourage our North American breeders to continue accessing this amazingly generous stallion though frozen season.
Many people have asked me why Louisville is primarily a breeding stallions and no longer in competition. His career-ending injury followed the days of the Freestyle Championships in Wellington, prior to the 2005 World Cup in Las Vegas. When I arrived at the stable one morning, Mike Etherly, my coach, told me that Louisville had been injured in his paddock that morning. He had bucked and played and injured his stifle. This injury required surgery. With the help of Hassler Dressage and their qualified team, we brought Louisville back to optimum health day by day, week by week. It’s been a difficult journey and my heartfelt thanks go out to the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center and Unionville Equine where Louis had the very best equine attention. He will never be able to load his hindquarters for upper level work, and it’s very risky for him to be turned out again, but he is kept comfortable and ridden lightly twice a day. He loves life. Aptly named “King Louis” at the Hassler’s beautiful stables in Maryland, he was the favorite horse to work with by both staff and attending vets! Ashley Madison, groom and rider wrote to me recently:
Hi Karin,
I will gather those things to send to you. I want to thank you so much for the opportunity to work with and care for Louie the past few years. I know I don’t have to tell you, he is so special. He has touched my soul, I have so many wonderful memories with him at the farm and will miss him dearly. Thank you again for allowing me to be a small part of his beautiful life.
-Ashley
I respectfully acknowledge the care which Louis received over recent years. His excellent condition and healthy attitude today is a strong testimony to that care. Louis was a lucky horse to have the Hasslers and their level of service that cared enough about his well-being to provide for his needs on an optimal level. When Louis’ sport career came to an end with his stifle injury and subsequent surgery, as is typical in such cases over time, arthritis has set into the joint. Louis’ arthritis has indeed required intensive supportive treatment—all very standard and appropriate to support an active breeding stallion who must rely on the comfort of his hind end to breed. In addition, thanks to the therapeutic support we provided Louis, we were able to keep him in an exercise program which supported his overall physical condition to the high standard in which he arrived back in the Netherlands.
Hexagon's Louisville - An honor to ride him !
I am very excited that Leunus and Erika and Hexagon Stables have welcomed back Louis with open arms. The neighborhood is visiting their barn to visit Louis; stories are being written about the famous horse that left Zeeland and has returned home again. He whinnies each morning when Leunus arrives at his stable and I am very satisfied that it is a beautiful life for my beloved Louis.
For more information on Hexagon’s Louisville as a choice for your mare, click on his name on the left side of the website. I have posted many stories about his offspring under this New News.
Veel belangstelling voor Hexagons Louisville
Hexagons Louisville maakt het goed. Hij heeft geen last van jetlag-verschijnselen en hij blijkt snel gewend te zijn aan zijn “nieuwe – oude” omgeving.
Het Hexagonteam zal de aandacht zoals hij die in Amerika kreeg, niet helemaal kunnen evenaren.
Tot in detail bijgehouden logboeken en DVD-opnamen tonen ons dat er dagelijks zeer intensief nauwgezet voor hem gezorgd werd.
Deze zorg was volledig op zijn behoeften en karakter afgestemd.
Toch heeft Louisville niet te klagen over belangstelling.
Er kwamen al veel mensen naar naar hem kijken.
Een aantal van hen wil met hem fokken. Het feit dat Louisville in Duitsland is goedgekeurd, speelt hierbij naast alle goede eigenschappen en kenmerken, natuurlijk een rol.
Ook zullen de uitstekende prestaties van Hexagons Wellnetta wellicht van invloed zijn.
Wij zijn natuurlijk erg blij dat Karen Offield (Offieldfarms; www.offieldfarms.com <http://www.offieldfarms.com> )
en Hasslerdresage (www.hasslerdressage.com <http://www.hasslerdressage.com> ) ons in de gelegenheid
gesteld hebben Louisville weer bij ons op te nemen én met hem te fokken.
