Lipizzaner Horse Stud, Annwn Park, New South Wales, Australia

Annwn Park Stud’s Mission Statement is to produce Purebred Lipizzaners & Lipizzaner derivatives of the Highest Quality. With a focus to breed horses that display faultless temperaments, movement, substance & trainability.

ABOUT US
Annwn Park Lipizzaner Stud was foundered in 2001 with the objective to produce outstanding quality Purebred Lipizzaners & Lipizzaner derivatives of the Highest Quality. The principals of Annwn Park are Simmone & Tony Kalanj.

Annwn Park Stud – heading into the future

Breeding horses is certainly not for the faint of heart. It is expensive & at times very heartbreaking. However, it is also extremely rewarding to see hard work & effort come to fruition in the form of beautiful foals. We began our pursuit of breeding quality Lipizzaner horses in 2000 with the purchase of the mare 202 Bonnie (dec) by 100 Favory Neapolitano I from 114 Bonita. It was very much trial & error to find out what particular lines in Australia would produce certain traits along with what lines seemed to be more pre-potent over others, what lines were fertile & which not so fertile & which breeding’s & linage would bring us what we believe to be correct Lipizzaner horses. We wanted horses with type, temperament, that outstanding movement, substance & if lucky enough, some height. It was allot of study to finally nut out which lines were stronger in certain areas & what would come of certain matings…..Well worth the research.

I spent loads of time talking with other breeders looking at horses (in the flesh & photos) & taking notes on the similarities between horses & what their common linage traits were etc. It gave me allot of insight & knowledge into our lines out here in Australia. Our 1st venture into having our own breeding stallion began with the purchase of 100 Favory Neapolitano I, an exceptional filly producer. After breeding some foals from ‘Fred’ & keeping fillies by him to continue with, it was time to retire him from stud duties. He had many offspring & it is important, in such a small genetic pool, to not dilute out the lines by over-breeding from one horse.

After much careful thought & consideration, along with breeding over a few seasons to see exactly what our mare lines would produce, the time then came to cull most of our broodmare mare band. We kept only a select couple of mares that I felt would breed on what we are after. It was a decision that was very hard to make & definately not one done lightly as our horses are a big part of the family. But being responsible breeders & being serious about producing 100% quality Lipizzaner horses meant it was a necessary step to take.

We kept our best mares in the lovely 237 Sagana (100 Favory Neapolitano I x 110 Szuzi) – A Multi Champion in hand (before a paddock injury) & 114 Bonita (Pluto Plutona 14 imp x Conversano XX-17 imp). **We also purchased, based on his breeding, our future Stud Stallion, 257 Favory Pallavicina (226 Favory Naussica x 227 Pluto XXIX-23) at only days old. ‘

Merlin’ absolutely epitomises Lipizzaner type. He is the grandson of the great Piber stallion 370 Pluto Rovigo (through his dam) & is faultless in conformation, presence, charisma, movement & temperament (& of course…trainability). ‘Merlin’ is a Multi Champion & Grand Champion in hand & will begin covering our stud’s mares later in the 2010/2011 season after being placed under.

The next focus, after watching him develop & waiting for the time where we could cover mares with him, was to secure at least 2 more mares similar in type to the 15.2hh 237 Sagana. (regardless of height, it was that strong ‘baroque’ type I wanted).

This said, I had a certain type in mind for those 2 mares & if you look at ** 103 Lili I think you can pretty much see what that is. She is Baroque, correct, loaded with classic type & exuding charisma, & she can really move. Just the type of mare to compliment 237 Sagana in our broodmare band. I am of the strong belief that - In order to breed uniform quality foals, you need uniform quality mares. Your mares & mare lines are the foundation to any breeding program & the quality of your mares, which includes their temperament, can make or break your breeding program. Allot of pressure is placed onto the Stallions to ‘over come’ a mares miss-giving’s. It has been proven in studies that the mare influences the foals more so then the stallion & this also incorporates how the foal behaves. If there is a problem, automatically judgements are made as to the stallions suitability as a sire…..we should also be asking, what about the mares suitability as a dam?? What’s behind her breeding as well as the stallion?

Simply having a mare does not mean you should breed her. If there have been fertility issues in her direct line or bad conformation & temperament issues, you run the risk of perpetuating these faults. The same goes for entires. We actually purchased ‘Merlin’ based on his dam line. She is an outstanding mare in every way incl. her breeding & temperament. 114 Bonita is also partly the reason for us wanting a foal from “Merlins’ dam (both very similar in type). ‘Merlins’ sire is also exceptionally well bred & highly pre-potent in producing quality off-spring with super temperaments.

Our next goal after purchasing 103 Lili was one more young mare or filly. I have wanted desperately to have a female from 114 Bonita’s linage but also mixing the linage of the grand stallion 100 Favory Neapolitano I. We lost this cross when we lost 202 Bonnie during birth & then 114 Bonita could no longer carry a foal to term which was yet another blow as she is perhaps one of the best Lipizzaner mares we have had in Australia. This cross has excellent type, temperament, movement & is very highly fertile.

Finally the clouds parted & we were able purchase Monza. An amazing Baroque style filly sired by 224 Conversano Allegra V (imp) & from the stunning 211 Beckescaba (100 Favory Neapolitano I x 114 Bonita). Being from 211 Beckescaba gave us that ILLUSIVE mix of ‘Fred’ & 114 Bonita with of course the added bonus of ‘Leo’s’ magnificent breeding. Monza is also very tall which is an added bonus as well - on top of her wonderful type.

Monza is very much like 237 Sagana & 103 Lili, she is related to both of these mares through the Hungarian mare, Neapolitano XIX-2 (dec) & related again to 103 Lili through *Pluto Plutona 14 (imp/dec) - * This stallion is the sire of 114 Bonita. We now have our 3 exceptionally bred uniform type mares to go back to one extremely superlative young stallion in 257 Favory Pallavicina, meaning we can be pretty confident in foreseeing what these matings will produce in the future. Type, temperament, presence, movement, substance & hopefully some height.

I must admit, I have had allot of fun breeding these horses especially with the experimentation & then the outcome. Breeding is a science & you don’t always get what you hope for. But you can increase that percentage by ensuring you dig a little further back into you horse’s pedigree making sure you have all the facts & even study horses of similar or the same breeding.

A good horse in front of you may not produce a good foal
ABOUT THE STUD

Annwn Park had a humble beginning in the Central Western town of Bathurst. Before long the Stud was relocated. Now situated on a lovely 30 acre Property at Stuart Town, NSW. With lovely peaceful views & gently undulating hills. The property has been pasture improved with mineral holding soil & calcium infused water, ensuring excellent growth & development of our horses, along with plenty of room to exercise. While still a work in progress, currently our facilities boast 3 secure & close foaling paddocks, a stallion paddock, 7 electrified rotational paddocks (with piped water) a 40 x 20 outdoor arena, an outdoor round yard, two 3.6m x 3.6m stables, indoor wash area, outdoor cross tie area/wash bay, 6m x 6m foaling & weaning stable, all with power & lighting and strong crush.