The mare makes the difference: Usha van ‘t Roosakker

In breeding the focus should be on the mare. An old saying by breeders is that the mare contributes 60 % to her foal and therefor it is very important to have a mare with top qualities. One of those marelines that has given already quite some international sport horses and approved stallions is the van ’t Roosakker line. Belgian breeder Marc Kluskens started with the BWP bred mare Rosanne van de Withoeve (Major de la Cour – Hawai vd Padenborre x Fleuri du Manoir, bred by Willy de Beck). She became the mother to three daughters, the most important daughter is Usha van ‘t Roosakker (Chin Chin), who jumped at 1m50 under the saddle of Marlon Modolo Zanotelli. She had herself nine daughters. The first five daughters of Usha van ‘t Roosakker have all produced offsprings that are jumping at 1m55 and higher, except the youngest: Forme Dubra (Querlybet Hero), Goya (Kannan) and Nusha (Emerald). I have no doubt that they will produce also some outstanding sport horses.

This line has some extraordinary qualities. In breeding, puzzle pieces have to come together to make the click. Sometimes you see marelines that haven’t produced much in earlier generations, but when the right crosses are made and a special extreme natural talent is coming into the right hands they start to flourish. The ability was there but it just had to be set on fire. Also the breeder Marc Kluskens used only top stallions in the right combinations with the mares. Usha van ‘t Roosakker was not a horse for 1m60 level, but she had all the other champion’s characteristics which she has passed on to all her offsprings. One of these qualities made it not always easy, she was extremely sensitive/spooky. Her freejumping was breathtaking but you were not allowed to move. Her jumping technique was a 10, her willingness to perform was also a 10, her quality was a 10, she had a rectangular conformation, not the most canter and sometimes the horses from this line are a bit stiff. Her daughter Cella (Cento) had an outstanding career at 1m60 under the saddle of Ben Maher. Also her two sons and full brothers Emperio van ‘t Roosakker and Equador van ‘t Roosakker (Nabab de Reve) jumped at 1m60.

Usha van ‘t Roosakker her daughter Britt van ‘t Roosakker (Carnute) jumped at 1m45 under the saddle of Jerome Ringot and is one of the first five daughters that produced international offspring. This mare produced the 1m55 jumping horse Athena (Berlin) who jumped under the saddle of Vincent Voorn.

Usha van ‘t Roosakker’s daughter Atoucha van ‘t Roosakker (Darco) might not have a mighty size and reminds a lot of Darco in her conformation, but her quality was maybe even better than from her mother. The breeder Marc Kluskens was very wise to keep her for breeding. Top breeder Luc Henry from Belgium bought five of her offspring. Luc Henry says:

“Atoucha van‘t Roosakker was a powerhouse, she had an tremendous amount of energy and power.”

Atoucha van ‘t Roosakker is mother to the famous mare Electra van ‘t Roosakker, she jumped at 1m60 under the saddle of Jos Lansink. Electra van ‘t Roosakker is now in part ownership of Richard Dick, he says:

“For me Electra has everything that I am looking for in a mare: a top pedigree, top performance and a fantastic character. Now I need find out which stallions will fit her well. My wish is to breed top sport horses out of her.”

Gatoucha van ‘t Roosakker (Diamant de Semilly) was an outstanding mare in sport and breeding. She resembled the most her mother Atoucha van ‘t Roosakker with having a lot of blood. She was started under saddle when she was 6/7 years. Before that she was used in breeding, unfortunately several of her offspring died. Also Gatoucha’s full sister Hiamant van ‘t Roosakker has so far only young offspring. The oldest Kerswin van ‘t Roosakker is born in 2010 and is jumping currently at 1m45. The stallion Ganesh Hero Z (Gemini xx) is one to keep an eye on.

Babbe van ‘t Roosakker jumped at 1m60 under the saddle of Michel Hecart and Cara Raether. It is interesting that her daughter Grand Cru van ‘t Hagenhof became also a broodmare at Haras de la Roque of family Hecart and mother and daughter have produced offspring for family Hecart. Geena (Darco) is also a very interesting daughter out of Babbe van ‘t Roosakker, she produced the 1m60 jumping horse Jivaro Imperio Egipcio and two 1m45 horses.

From this family are also coming the very promising stallions George Z (Kannan) and Kassander van ‘t Roosakker (Echo van ‘t Spieveld)!

This line has produced many outstanding sport horses and it will be interesting to see how the stallions will pass on the genetics. For now the daughters Atoucha van ‘t Roosakker and Babbe van ‘t Roosakker are the two that seems to be able to carry on the line. A few of the other daughters of Usha van ‘t Roosakker are still too young. However there is one slight danger with this line. It takes vision and an idea to breed horses. I hope that breeders will wisely choose their stallions and are not being driven too much by the market.