Hilltop Farm's Contucci Passed Away

Breeding

Hanoverian

Hilltop Farm's foundation stallion Contucci has passed away on 10 July 2020. He was 27 years old.

Contucci was a Hanoverian stallion by Caprimond out of Laureen (by Lungau x Akzent II). He was bred by Klaus Storbeck.

German Beginnings

The chestnut stallion was initially owned by Dieter Wulf and named in Germany "Contucci CWS"

He was approved at the 1995 Hanoverian stallion licensing in Verden and did his 100-day stallion performance test in Medingen in 1996. He scored 147.11 in dressage (1st) and 81.12 in show jumping (23rd) to finish third overall out of a group of 28 participating stallions with an index of 127.60 points.

He began his competition career in Germany in 1996 under Holga Finken, who rode him in the riding horse tests as a 3-year old, first in local shows in Hildesheim, and Guxhagen, and in 1997 in Verden, Hildesheim, Gottingen; Norten-Hardenberg, and Euskirchen.

Sold to the U.S.A.

He was purchased by Jane MacElree in 1998 and has been a cornerstone of the Hilltop Farm stallion roster ever since.

Trained by Scott Hassler, Contucci was briefly competed at Medium level in the early 2000s, but never made the transition to competitive FEI level. At home Contucci was schooling the higher level movements.

Contucci’s impact on North American breeding has been significant. His accolades include having earned the titles 2005 USEF Dressage Breeding Sire of the Year and 2009 USEF Dressage Sire of the Year, and he has been consistently ranked in the Top 10 of the USEF Sire Rankings for the past five years.

"Contucci proved time and again his ability to sire winning offspring," said Hilltop Farm. "From in-hand at inspections and breed shows and up through the Grand Prix level, Contucci offspring have been champions. He has sired licensed stallions and many Premium/Elite mares and his influence on US dressage breeding will be felt for generations to come."

Maker's Mark

Contucci's breeding career in Germany, with only two years standing at stud, was limited. He has no licensed offspring in Germany but 27 mares are registered as broodmares and two are state premium.

In the U.S.A., however, his most successful offspring was Cabana Boy, who was the 5 and 6-year old U.S. Young Horse Champion and the 2009 U.S. Developing Young Horse Champion. He died after a field accident in 2010. Canadian Tom Dvorak is currently competing Cyrus (by Contucci x Cor Noir) at international Medium Tour level. The foals Cha Ching and Chiquita HTF were the 2011 and 2008 Devon Foal Champion. Conturri was the 2010 Devon Breed Show reserve Grand champion

"Contucci’s character endeared him to everyone who had the pleasure of working with him over his many years here at Hilltop," said Hilltop farm. "As we spent our last hours with him, there were a lot of tears but also a lot of smiles over the many Contucci stories we all had. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this special stallion’s life over the years. He was truly a great one!"