He is a chestnut stallion, and he epitomises Hannover's values like no other: the Celle state stud stallion Edward is Hannoveraner Stallion of the Year. He began his career as a dressage horse sire and is now also in demand among show jumper breeders after his son Kind Edward won double gold at the World Championships in Herning/DEN. Five years ago, his breeder Hans-Heinrich Dittmer from Radbruch was already delighted with the Grande-Prize in the Niedersachsenhalle.
Pedigree, career, versatility, colour, heredity: there are many attributes that identify the Hannoveraner Stallion of the Year as a true Hannoveraner. The big-framed chestnut was born at Hans-Heinrich Dittmer’s place in Radbruch in 2005 as the third foal of St.Pr.St. Fabienne. Fabienne herself was once the champion mare at the show in Luhmühlen and also was awarded at the Louis Wiegels show in 2003. Her sire Fabriano is just as versatile as Edward's sire Embassy.
Edward's path led him straight to the Celle State Stud as a foal. He grew up at the Hunnesrück stallion rearing stud and passed his stallion performance test in Adelheidsdorf with 120.72 points in jumping and 142.93 points in dressage. Following his stallion performance test, he was licensed and moved into a stallion box in Adelheidsdorf for the first time as a four-year-old before being stationed in Ankum from 2010. Due to his dual disposition, Edward came into the spotlight right from the start and gained a fan base that breed him to jumping, predominantly dressage and half-blood mares.
Edward's sporting career was launched by Birte Senftleben before the experienced Hans-Peter Klaus took his place in the saddle of the handsome chestnut after the 2011 breeding season and led him to his first successes in advanced (S) level dressage competitions in less than a year. Just 12 months later, the stallion was ridden by Charlott-Maria Schürmann, who was able to seamlessly build on the successes of the previous year. In 2013, the pair won silver with the team at the European Dressage Championships for Young Riders in Compiegne, France.
Initial results of the breeding value estimation showed high scores in young horse tests for both disciplines. Consequently, Edward was awarded the Grande-Prize in 2018. In the meantime, his offspring have reached top level in all three disciplines. This makes Edward unique in today's world. To date, "only" just under 500 foals by his sire have been registered, the vast majority of which have been registered as Hannoveraner horses. But the most outstanding of them all represents the Belgian colours of the BWP. Henrik von Eckermann's King Edward also has a purely Hannoveraner-bred dam, whose pedigree starts with the foundation mare Hornburg. The chestnut won gold with the Swedish team at the Olympic Games in Tokyo/JPN and the World Championships in Herning/DEN. He was also crowned World Champion in Denmark and won the World Cup Final in Omaha/USA in April this year.