It was American Olympia, Bill Steinkraus , who partnered the iconic and eye-catching grey Thoroughbred, Ksar d’Esprit . This famous five times Olympic rider from the last century only died two years ago in 2017 at the age of 92. The grey Ksar d’Esprit was his mount at the Rome Olympics in 1960 helping the United States Equestrian Federation to win team silver. In 1968, Bill Steinkraus made history by becoming the first American rider to win Olympic gold in any equestrian discipline.
Ksar d'Esprit was inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame in 1987.

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Sixth In A Series Of Eight Articles
The Thoroughbred sire Nearco was bred in Italy by Federico Tesio, an Italian breeder and author who was nicknamed "The Wizard of Dormello" because of his successful breeding program at his estate, Dormello.

Nearco was never defeated on the race track, winning 14 races at distances from 5 furlongs to 1 1/4 miles. As a three-year-old, he was purchased and exported to England, where he was champion sire three times and champion broodmare sire three times.

Some of Nearco's greatest influence was asserted by his sons *Nasrullah and *Royal Charger, who were three-quarter brothers; the former was out of Mumtaz Begum, who also produced Sun Princess, the dam of *Royal Charger.

Both descend from The Tetrarch through Mumtaz Begum. Mumtaz Mahal, a daughter of The Tetrarch, was the dam of Mumtaz Begum. *Nasrullah and *Royal Charger were... More

Fifth In A Series Of Eight Articles

The Teddy line has been extremely important in both racing and jumping on both sides of the Atlantic.

Teddy was sired by the stallion Ajax, who had won the French Derby and the Grand Prix of Paris on the race course.

The dam of Teddy was the English mare Rondeau, a daughter of Bay Ronald. Bay Ronald was the sire of Dark Ronald mentioned earlier as the founder of one of the leading sire lines in Germany.

As a race horse, Teddy won several important races,including a race substituted for the French Derby because of the war. He also won the San Sebastian Grand Prix and the San Sebastian St.Leger.
Like his sire, Teddy stood at stud in France, where he sired two famous full brothers, Sir Gallahad III and Bull Dog, before being sold to America at 18 years of age.
He stood at stud in America until he was 24 years old. Both his sons, Sir Gallahad III and Bull Dog, were exported to the United States.... More

The evaluation of the exterior of horses has always played a significant role in the breeding. It presents valuable conclusions about the quality and the use already in young horses and thus gives an indication on the value of the horse (and its offspring) as a riding horse in the respective disciplines.

Evaluating horses is not exactly a science. Criteria on how a good riding horse should be constructed were developed through the experience of many generations of horse experts. This manifests the absence of an ulterior motive in the evaluation of horses. We clearly strive to breed a typy horse, however the evaluation of the exterior focuses on the functionality of a horse more so than on its beauty.

The Hannoveraner Verband divides the evaluation of broodmares and stallions into six exterior components, all of which are scored between 1 (very bad) and 10 (excellent). The components are the head, neck, saddle... More