The world number one Grand Prix dressage horse producer De Niro has passed away early this morning 11 October 2017. The 24-year old Hanoverian stallion was euthanized as he began to suffer from old age.
St. Georg spoke with owner Burkhard Wahler who said that "since last week De Niro's condition went downhill. This morning he no longer looked happy from his eyes. The shine in his eyes was gone and then we know the time had come to let him go."
Born in 1993 and bred by Brigitte Pahl from Fockbek, Germany, De Niro was by Donnerhall out of Alicante (by Akzent II x Wiesenbaum xx).
His entire career he was owned and stood up for stud at Burkhard Wahler's Klosterhof Medingen in Bad Bevensen. He was approved at the 1995 Hanoverian stallion licensing and did his Stallion Performance Test in Adelheidsdorf in 1996 and scored 141.93 points to finish second out of 50 participating stallions. He had the highest dressage score of 145.00 points and earned 117.75 points for show jumping.
Dolf-Dietram Keller trained him up to Grand Prix-level. In 2001, De Niro won the German Championships for professional riders and in 2003 he reigned in the German Dressage Derby in Hamburg. In 2006 and 2007 he was successfully competed by young rider Theresa Wahler. He did no showing in 2008 and in June 20009 De Niro did his last competition in his career at the CDR Sandbostel.
In 2016 De Niro ended his active breeding duties as he could no longer jump the phantom. The stallion spent his last year in full retirement with daily turnouts in his paddock. He had been suffering from chronic laminitis for a while.
De Niro sired 86 licensed sons in Germany alone and 193 State Premium Mares. In Germany 1245 broodmares by him are registered. His offspring have earned almost 3 million euro in prize money. No less than 215 of his get are competing at S-level in Germany. The list of successful Grand Prix horses is endless and Desperados, D'Agostino, Dablino, Daily Pleasure, Delgado, Deveraux, Daintree, Dandelion, and Disneyworld are just a few.
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