As was the case last month, February once again sees a promising young horse take the title of ‘Holsteiner of the Month’. We are talking about Unikum. The son of Uriko (out of a Contender-Coriolan-Farnese dam) hails from the Holsteiner line 4539, which the Köhncke family from Badendorf has successfully maintained for generations. Horses such as the three-time Derby winner Collin by Contender (Toni Hassmann) and the licensed stallion Zuccero by Zirocco Blue have emerged from this line. Furthermore, Unikum’s granddam, Varese, is the half-sister to the licensed stallion and internationally successful Chin Chin.

But now to Unikum himself: just under two and a half years ago, the now seven-year-old was purchased by the Valdez family from Peru for a top price of 142,000 euros at the Elite Riding Horse Auction in Neumünster. His new owners then decided to give the large-framed gelding a little more time to develop further before he was due to make the journey to his new home in the USA. And so Unikum initially moved into his stall at the Luther family’s training stable in Wittmoldt. Over the course of two competition seasons, Thieß, Jarka and Jesse Luther trained the gelding at a steady pace and guided him to his first successes.

Most recently, Jarka was in the saddle on Unikum: “After we managed to secure a victory in a 1.30-metre class at the end of last year, we agreed with the Valdez family that giving the horse time to mature had paid off. It was clear from the outset that Unikum has the ability and character to prove himself on the big stage,” reports Jarka Luther. And he has already shown that he is on the right track, having won a young horse show jumping competition in Wellington in January under Alonso Valdez Prado and finishing second in another. We can look forward to seeing what the future holds for this Holsteiner.

Photo: Anne Reichmuth