Abglanz, Foundation Stallion of All Breeds

The chestnut Abglanz did his name honour. As regards the transmission of type, he was able to predominate against every other bloodline. He derives from a famous dynasty. His dam Abendluft was the full-sister of the renown hereditary transmitters Absinth, Absalon and Abendstern. In 1946 Abglanz was first stationed at a covering station of the Celle state stud, in Handorf, which was the forerunner of the Roydorf station of today. He remained in Handorf until 1949, where he merely left the grandam of the sought-after Duden I son Dirigent (Warendorf state stallion) as a permanent relict. 

In the immediate post-war years, this lightly built true to type Trakehner did not have it easy. Agricultural horses were in demand and they were not his forte. His big moment came in Jork in the Alte Land, at a studfarm that no longer exists today. At this new location Abglanz had bulls eyes in series. Mated with the Aktionär I daughter Ankerhirtin, he sired the triology of brothers Abhang I, II and III as well as their full-sister Zukunft who celebrated international successes with Alwin Schockemöhle. All four siblings were very variable: The 1.60 metre sized Abhang I was a prime upgrader of type in Badbergen, yet only occasionally did his elegant progeny manage the jump into the higher spheres of riding sport. Abhang II at 157 cm stick measure was the smallest of the group. In Hohnstorf, Groß Liedern and its successor station of Hanstedt II, as well as in Frankenburg he produced outstanding dressage horses of great charm, rideability and quality of motions. Abhang III, the tallest of the three brothers sired predominantly showjumpers and even today can still be found in numerous performance bloodlines. The full-sister Zukunft overshadowed them all. She was neither elegant nor charming in her demeanour but she could jump endlessly. The square shaped down to earth Absurd did not have a great impact in breeding, but he had a famous full-sister, Fritz Ligges’ Zuckerpuppe. Abglanz’s blood has been able to prevail in the paternal line via Absatz, who from Otersen and Roydorf became a prolific disseminator of his sire’s genotype. Stallions such as Argentan I, Arsenik, Akzent I and II, Admiral I and II, Aktuell and most certainly also Aderlaß , started a real “Absatz boom”.

Today the Argentan I son Argentinus is the most popular sire of this dynasty. Archimedes had already mastered the complete advanced programme. He belonged to the same age class as the approvals winner Akrobat, who in contrast to Archimeds, was a tenacious fellow. His progeny were good jumpers, but were not always easy to handle. The Hechthausen period also produced Aalfänger and the proven Trakehner Kassio. As Abglanz was stationed in Celle all of his life as a sire, his influence on his own population remained limited. The Trakehner studbook only lists nine registered daughters and three sons. Of these three stallions Kassio, Morgenglanz and Valentin, the last two derive from the few months that Abglanz spent in Hunnesrück in the Winter of 1963/1964 before he had to be put down on the 14th of March 1964 because of geriatric infirmities. 

Text from Ausgewahlte Hengste Deutschlands
Images copyrighted Bernd Eylers
Cover image A Jungle Prince by Argentinus x Argentan x Absatz x Abglanz
Abglanz page - check out his pedigree with Tempelhuter and Hyperion in it