Hanoverian Sire Rotspon Passed Away

Breeding

Hanoverian

The Hanoverian breeding stallion Rotspon has passed away. He was 28 years old.

Rotspon was a 1995 born stallion by Rubinstein out of Antalia (by Argentan I x Pik Bube I x Wendekreis). He was bred by the late Hans-Heinrich Müller and owned by State Stud Celle.

Reserve Champion

As one of the last direct sons of Rubinstein, the black stallion became the reserve champion of the 1997 Hanoverian Stallion Licensing, where the state stud Celle acquired him. They named him Rotspon, a tradition-rich North German expression for high-quality red wine.

Rotspon went on to win the 300-day stallion performance test (HLP) in Adelheidsdorf in 1998 with an overall score of 145.67 points. He scored a dressage index of 148.72 points and for show jumping he got 118.74 points. He beat 1997 licensing champion Londonderry at the time (though Londonderry already became Hanoverian Stallion of the Year in 2013) and breeder Hand-Heinrich Müller received the Freiherr von Stenglin-Award in 1999 for Rotspon's HLP victory.

Legacy

Rotspon never competed in sport, but turned out to be a producer of not so flashy but horses of excellent rideabilty. He sired over 3000 offspring.

He sired 31 licensed sons in Germany (of which 20 made it into Studbook I), amongst them U.S. Olympic team horse Rosevelt, Rascalino, Royal Blend, and Re Primeur. He sired 122 state premium mares, amongst them first crop mare Romanze, winner of the 2002 Ratje Niebuhr-Show in Verden.

His most successful offspring in sport are Rosevelt (Alison Brock), Rose Response (Nuno Palma e Santos), Rodrigo III (Mary Hanna, Tayla Desmet), Rolex (Maike Mende), Renoir (Nina Rathjens), Riva del Garda (Anja Hermelink), Rom (Carola Koppelmann), Roman Lifestyle W (Hermann Burger), Rosenstolz (Qabil Ambak), Rotspon's Rockin (Kaya Probst), Woodlander Rockstar (Eilberg), Rapallo CL (Maite Colling). Other well known offspring are Proud Rocketti, Rudi XXL, Rapture R, Rotano, Rachmaninoff, QC Roberto Cavalli, and Sabbatik Rubi.

In 2017 he was proclaimed Hanoverian Stallion of the Year.

Retirement

In 2021 he was retired from stud duty at age 26.

Today Celle announced his passing.

"It is always very difficult for us to say goodbye to our stallions, but in this case it hits us particularly hard. Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to our Rotspon v. Retire Rubinstein I/Argentan due to old age," Celle posted. "Our Landstallmeister Dr. Axel Brockmann has many shared experiences with Rotspon, because the Rubinstein I/Argentan offspring was bought at the first stallion market that he was able to witness as a stud assistant. Since then, the two of them have been to countless events at home and abroad, including several times in Calgary, and Rotspon was also a scheduled point of contact for every stud tour. But Rotspon was not only one of our favorites at work, because Rotspon also became a star among our fans on social media."