15 foals in 20 years of breeding – that is the impressive record of the currently third-most successful broodmare under the Holsteiner ‘Sternchen’ model. And these are not just any foals: among them are three licensed stallions and three sport horses that have enjoyed success at the 1.60-metre level. All these offspring of Milka I by Contender–Caletto II–Roman from line 6786 are full siblings and are descended from Colman, a son of Carthago, who is known to have sired numerous top show jumpers. 

Milka was born in 1997 at the stud of the late Jörg-Peter Kröger in Elpersbüttel. It was there that she gave birth to all her Colman foals. And the names of some of them are well known to everyone interested in breeding and sport. There are, for example, the licensed stallions Culture I to III. Culture II, born in 2003, jumped up to 1.60 metres under the American flag with Saer Coulter, whilst Culture III, born in 2007, bears the suffix L.B. and was trained for competition by Christina Liebherr (SUI). This year, Milka I gave birth to a filly by Colman, who is well known not only in Schleswig-Holstein. We are, in fact, talking about Kuschel’s Ulika, with whom Evi Bengtsson became German Ladies’ Champion in Balve in 2005. “I initially had Ulika trained by Peter Kröger when she was a young horse. When she was seven years old, I was able to acquire half of her ownership, and later the full ownership. Her sister Elika, who, like Ulika herself, is now a broodmare with us, I bought as a foal,” recalls Evi Bengtsson. With Cultino by Casaltino and Culiko EB by Casall, Ulika herself is now also the dam of two stallions. And then there is Womanizer, a grey mare, with whom Carsten-Otto Nagel competed internationally until 2018. 

Womanizer by Colman and Carsten-Otto Nagel

When Peter Kröger passed away, Milka was sold. Kröger’s brother-in-law, Otto Peters, arranged for the dark bay mare to be taken in by the Block family from Hemmigstedt. “Milka, who had previously failed to become in foal with another owner, was to enjoy her retirement with us,” explains Gesa Block. “We still had space in our paddock, so we wanted to give this well-deserving mare a comfortable retirement. At the time, we had a young stallion in our pasture who was due to be gelded. However, as Milka hadn’t conceived before, we didn’t see any problem in letting the two of them be together. And then, of course, the inevitable happened: the following year – at the age of 24 – her belly changed and she developed udders.” Three days later, Milka gave birth to a healthy filly, who is now two years old and lives with the Block family. “We named her Orchidee, in memory of Otto Peters’ former champion horse,” reveals Gesa Block happily. Orchidee is the fifteenth and final foal of the flagship broodmare Milka I. 

Milka’s most successful offspring:
Kuschel’s Ulika by Colman, *2004, 1.60 metres
; Culture II by Colman, *2003, 1.60 metres, licensed
; Womanizer by Colman, *2007, 1.55 metres
; L.B. Culture III by Colman, born 2010, 1.45 metres, licensed
Elika by Colman, born 2012, 1.40 metres
L.B. Culture I by Colman, born 2001, licensed

Milka by Contender

Photos: Stefan Lafrentz, private collection; (cover photo: Ulika and Evi Bengtsson)